State v. Diez

811 So. 2d 1020, 1 La.App. 5 Cir. 865, 2002 La. App. LEXIS 492, 2002 WL 272562
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 26, 2002
DocketNo. 01-KA-865
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 811 So. 2d 1020 (State v. Diez) 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. Diez, 811 So. 2d 1020, 1 La.App. 5 Cir. 865, 2002 La. App. LEXIS 492, 2002 WL 272562 (La. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

JAMES L. CANNELLA, Judge.

Defendant, Anthony Diez, appeals from his convictions of two counts of stalking and his sentences. For the reasons which follow we affirm and remand.

The record lodged in this Court was designated by retained defense counsel and only contains the testimony of two witnesses, the victim, Patricia Miller Sha-heen (Shaheen), and Sergeant Danny Le-Blanc of the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs [1022]*1022Office. Shaheen testified that she is divorced and has a daughter named Kristin. She met the Defendant in August of 1995 at a charity fundraiser. She began to see him socially, but not romantically, in September of 1995. She testified that she told the Defendant that she was dating other people and he agreed to a platonic friendship.

At the beginning of the relationship, the Defendant telephoned Shaheen one to two times a week. He occasionally accompanied her on outings with her daughter or other friends. At times he watched television with her at her house. Their relationship went smoothly for a few months. The Defendant then began to |3send Shaheen flowers, notes and gifts to her home and to the doctor’s office where she worked. He often arrived at her house unexpectedly. At times she would return home from dates to find him waiting for her. Sha-heen asked the Defendant to stop coming to her house unannounced, but his unwanted attentions continued. The Defendant did chores at her house without her knowledge or consent. At one point he learned that she planned to have her yard fenced, and he constructed the fence himself without her permission. The Defendant sent gifts and notes in increasing numbers to her home and office and his telephone calls increased until he was calling 20 to 30 times a day, 80 times on at least one day. In October of 1995, the Defendant took all of the tires from Shaheen’s car. When she confronted him about the incident, he told her they were flat and he replaced them. Shaheen testified that the Defendant’s calls and visits to her workplace led to her firing in early 1996. Thereafter, she worked a short time for the Defendant and he paid her. She began a new job in Metairie in April of 1996. The Defendant learned where she was working, and began to deluge her with telephone calls and gifts there. Some time after April of 1996, the Defendant moved from Baton Rouge to around the corner from Shaheen. He attempted to pay Kristin’s school and summer camp fees without Shaheen’s knowledge. He bought Kristin a television set and purchased a health insurance policy for Shaheen and her daughter. Shaheen testified that she did not ask him to do any of these things.

Shaheen further testified that the Defendant appeared increasingly unstable. She testified that she feared he was insane and would kill her and her daughter. She said that the Defendant followed her constantly. He appeared at restaurants and other places where she went with friends. He watched her house, driving by | ¿numerous times a day. Damage was done to her automobile and other property, which she suspected was done by the Defendant, although she admitted that she did not actually see him do it.

In late 1996, Shaheen contacted the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office to report the Defendant’s activities. Shaheen gave the officers the gifts and letters that the Defendant had given her. She also turned over telephone answering machine tapes of the Defendant’s calls. Officers warned the Defendant to stay away from Shaheen. The Defendant responded by becoming more belligerent. The Defendant sued her for the return of his possessions, which he claimed she had. After Shaheen made several more reports to police, the Defendant was arrested.

On March 17, 1997, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney filed a bill of information charging the Defendant with one count of stalking, occurring between July 14, 1996 and November 21, 1996, in violation of La. R.S. 14:40.2 1 The Defendant was arraign[1023]*1023ed on April 25, 1997 and pled not guilty. The State amended the bill on January 27, 1998 to add a second count of stalking, occurring between August 31, 1997 and November 17, 1997. The Defendant was arraigned that day as to the second count and pled not guilty.

The Defendant was tried by a six-member jury2 on March 31 and April 1, 1998. At the conclusion of trial, the jury returned verdicts of guilty as charged on both counts. The Defendant moved for a new trial. The trial court heard and denied the motion on June 26, 1998, The Defendant waived statutory delays and |sthe trial court sentenced him that day to one year imprisonment in Parish Prison on each count. As to Count 2, the trial court suspended the sentence and placed him on two years’ active probation with specific conditions that the Defendant receive psychiatric treatment, that he stay away from the victim and her family, and that he pay various court costs. The Defendant made an oral motion for appeal which was granted.

On November 17, 1998, the Defendant filed a Notice of Intent to Seek Writs from the jury’s verdict. On May 18, 1999, a panel of this Court refused the Defendant’s writ application, stating in part, “A writ of supervisory review is not available in cases tried to a jury. Relator may seek reinstatement of his right to appeal his conviction by application for post conviction relief in the trial court.”

The Defendant filed a Motion for an OuN-of-Time Appeal on March 14, 2000. The trial court granted the motion that day. On appeal, the Defendant assigned two errors and designated only a part of the record for appeal.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER ONE

The Defendant argues that the trial court erred in denying his two motions for a mistrial after the victim improperly testified about other crimes or bad acts of the Defendant. More particularly, the Defendant refers to the following exchange on re-direct examination:

Q. [prosecutor]: And just talk about ... Ms. Miller, what effect has this [harassment] had on you personally?
A. [Shaheen]: A tremendous effect. I pretty much don’t go anywhere anymore, ‘cause when I did, he would show up, or he would harass the people I was with. He would call me up and tell me about them. He would run a license plate; if they parked by my house, he would destroy their vehicles; so I pretty much ended most of my friendships until he’s put away.

DThe Defendant objected to the testimony and moved for a mistrial, arguing that Shaheen had testified to acts of which the Defendant was not accused. The trial judge responded, “I’m not going to grant a mistrial, but be careful of the questions you ask her, because I don’t want her to get into that kind of thing ... especially since you’re telling me she can’t — she didn’t see them happen.” Defense counsel then asked the trial judge to admonish the jury to disregard the testimony. The trial court instructed the jury:

All right. There was a comment that the witness made about vehicles, I think being marked or damaged, and I’m go[1024]*1024ing to ask that you disregard that at this point in time. It is not appropriate testimony; so I will ask that you disregard that, which means that ... put it out of your mind. It’s not evidence. It’s not in. All right?

Generally, evidence of other crimes or bad acts committed by a criminal defendant is not admissible at trial. La. C.E. art. 404 B(1); State v. Prieur, 277 So.2d 126 (La.1973); State v. McGinnis,

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Bluebook (online)
811 So. 2d 1020, 1 La.App. 5 Cir. 865, 2002 La. App. LEXIS 492, 2002 WL 272562, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-diez-lactapp-2002.