State v. Chatman

855 So. 2d 875, 2003 WL 22197825
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 24, 2003
Docket37,523-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 855 So. 2d 875 (State v. Chatman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Chatman, 855 So. 2d 875, 2003 WL 22197825 (La. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

855 So.2d 875 (2003)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
Ricky E. CHATMAN, Appellant.

No. 37,523-KA.

Court of Appeals of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

September 24, 2003.

*876 Kidd-Culpepper by Paul Henry Kidd, Monroe, for Appellant.

Jerry L. Jones, District Attorney, Charles L. Brumfield, Assistant District Attorney, for Appellee.

Before GASKINS, PEATROSS and TRAYLOR (Pro Tempore), JJ.

TRAYLOR, Judge Pro Tempore.

Following a bench trial, the defendant, Ricky Chatman ("Chatman"), was convicted for the rape of a ten-year-old girl and sentenced to life imprisonment without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. Chatman now appeals, alleging six assignments of error. For the following reasons, we affirm.

Facts

The victim testified that Chatman, who was thirty-seven years of age at the time of the offense, offered her five dollars to help him. He then led the victim to an overgrown, deserted area at the end of a street. Once isolated, he forced her to the ground, removed her blue jeans and pulled her panties down. He removed his own clothes and got on top of her. Although Chatman's penis did not enter the victim's vagina sufficiently to damage the hymen, the trial court concluded that there was sufficient penetration to constitute rape. The victim also reported that Chatman tried to make her perform oral sex on him, but she refused to open her mouth. He let the victim go, and she rode her bicycle to her aunt's home where she reported that Chatman had raped her. The victim's family contacted the police and Chatman was subsequently arrested and charged with rape.

*877 Discussion

After trial, Chatman moved for a post verdict judgment of acquittal claiming that there was no evidence of penetration, and, therefore, the evidence could only support a conviction for attempted rape. The trial court denied the motion, and Chatman now alleges the court erred in denying his motion for post verdict judgment of acquittal.

La.C.Cr.P. art. 821 provides that "[a] post verdict judgment of acquittal shall be granted only if the court finds that the evidence, viewed in a light most favorable to the state, does not reasonably permit a finding of guilty." Because this is a question of legal sufficiency, it should be reviewed first. State v. Combs, 600 So.2d 751 (La.App. 2d Cir.1992), writ denied, 604 So.2d 973 (La.1992); State v. Hearold, 603 So.2d 731 (La.1992).

To sustain a conviction for aggravated rape in this instance, the state was required to show that Chatman had vaginal, oral or anal intercourse with a child under the age of twelve. La. R.S. 14:42. Completion of the crime requires penetration, however, "... any sexual penetration, when the rape involves vaginal or anal intercourse, however slight, is sufficient to complete the crime." La. R.S. 14:41.

The victim's hymen was not damaged by the assault, and the medical testimony, as well as the victim's, indicated that Chatman's penis did not enter her vagina beyond the hymen. The victim testified that Chatman tried to insert his penis in her. He moved up and down on her but failed to fully insert his penis. She testified that he emitted "pee," and forensic tests showed the presence of sperm belonging to Chatman in the victim's panties and a prostate specific antigen ("PSA"), indicating the presence of male semen, was recovered from a vaginal swab. There was evidence of abrasions on the labia minora consistent with a rubbing motion, possibly caused by Chatman's penis.

Chatman's version of the event was that he got on top of the victim, but his penis only rubbed her legs. After a few minutes, he said that he got off of the victim, stood up and masturbated until ejaculation. He argues that the presence of his sperm in the victim's panties, but not found in the vaginal swab (which showed only the presence of a minute amount of PSA), supports his version of the crime. He contends the PSA came from the victim's underwear when she put her panties back on. Regarding the abrasions to the victim's labia minora, Chatman claims they could have been caused by the seat of her bicycle.

Taken as a whole, the victim's testimony that Chatman put his penis on her vagina was corroborated by all of the evidence. The location of the injury to her vagina, the forensic evidence showing the presence of sperm on her panties, and the PSA on her vagina supports the conclusion that Chatman's penis penetrated only the external aperture of the victim's genitalia and rubbed against the labia minora, but did not go beyond the hymen into the vaginal canal. Even this slight penetration, however, is sufficient to meet this element of the crime. State v. Prestridge, 399 So.2d 564 (La.1981); State v. Murphy, 34,624 (La.App.2d Cir.04/06/01), 785 So.2d 197, writ denied, XXXX-XXXX (La.03/22/02), 811 So.2d 920; State v. Lewis, 577 So.2d 799 (La.App. 2d Cir.1991), writ denied, 582 So.2d 1304; State v. Allen, Jr., 2002-593 (La.App. 3rd Cir.11/06/02), 830 So.2d 606. Viewing this evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution reasonably permits a finding of guilty on the charge of aggravated rape. Therefore, this assignment is without merit.

*878 Turning to Chatman's other assignments of error, he claims that this case was not randomly allotted, and if it was, it was never formally reassigned to Judge Jones in Criminal Division Three.

The court minutes do not show any random allotment or assignment of Chatman's case to Criminal Division Three. The record also does not reflect any objection by Chatman to the assignment or manner of assignment of his case to Judge Jones' court.

The failure to object alone is fatal to this assigned error. La.C.Cr.P. art. 841. Nevertheless, assuming, for the sake of argument only, that the method of assignment of trial in this instance violated due process, Chatman must show some prejudice has resulted from the due process violation. The assignment of trial under a system that violates due process is subject to a harmless error analysis. State v. Mitchell, XXXX-XXXX (La.App. 1st Cir.06/22/01), 808 So.2d 664. (Citations omitted). No harm or prejudice has been shown or alleged in this instance. Accordingly, this assignment is without merit.

Next, Chatman argues that there was not an effective waiver of the right to a trial by jury. Louisiana C.Cr.P. art. 780 allows a defendant to "knowingly and intelligently" waive the right to trial by jury and elect to be tried by judge.

The transcript of the proceedings indicates that the trial court determined the extent of Chatman's formal education, which ended at the eighth grade, and satisfied itself that Chatman, who could neither read nor write, understood the English language well enough to understand what his attorney told him about the case. The court asked Chatman if he had discussed the case with his attorney and "the best way to handle it." Chatman said, "yes," and the court then asked:

And you have indicated that you want to waive jury and proceed with a bench trial alone, correct?

The transcript states that Chatman's response was "... inaudible ..."

The court then stated:

All right, I'm allowing you to do that as I indicated earlier. Now then, the court will proceed in the following way....

Our review of the transcript indicates that several of Chatman's responses and remarks were transcribed as "...

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
855 So. 2d 875, 2003 WL 22197825, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-chatman-lactapp-2003.