State v. DJ

691 So. 2d 839, 1997 WL 175103
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 2, 1997
Docket29474-JAK
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 691 So. 2d 839 (State v. DJ) 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. DJ, 691 So. 2d 839, 1997 WL 175103 (La. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

691 So.2d 839 (1997)

STATE of Louisiana, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
In the Interest of DJ, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 29474-JAK.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

April 2, 1997.

Alex Rubenstein, Shreveport, for Juvenile-Appellant.

Paul J. Carmouche, District Attorney, Lisa A. Rule and Tommy J. Johnson, Asst. District Attorneys, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

*840 Before NORRIS, WILLIAMS and CARAWAY, JJ.

NORRIS, Judge.

The juvenile, D.J., appeals from his adjudication as a delinquent based upon his commission of sexual battery, a violation of La. R.S. 14:43.1. For the following reasons, we affirm.

Factual background

On Wednesday, June 19, 1996, the victim, five-year-old S.T., and several other children were watching television in the home of S.T.'s mother in Shreveport. According to S.T.'s mother, the subject of buttocks came up and S.T.'s four-year-old brother, C.T. (a/ k/a "Braxton" and "Bubba"), told his mother that a person the children called "D.D." had hurt S.T.'s "butt." When S.T.'s mother asked S.T. if anyone had hurt her, S.T. stated that "D.D." had "stuck his wiener in her behind and her coochie," meaning that "D.D." had put his penis into the child's anus and vagina. S.T.'s mother asked when this had occurred, and S.T. stated once when Tasha, the family's babysitter, told the children to go into the house and once when everyone else in the house was asleep.

S.T.'s mother knew that "D.D." (a/k/a "Duke") was the children's name for the 14-year-old juvenile appellant, D.J., who had been living with the family on and off for about three months. Although D.J. was not in the home on the day S.T. revealed the sexual assault to her mother, he had been there the previous week before leaving for good on either Friday or Saturday. S.T.'s mother recalled being away shopping on one of these days and leaving her children with D.J. and the babysitter, 15-year-old Tasha Marshall. Tasha testified that D.J. was alone with the children on several occasions during this time and had, as part of a game she and D.J. played, locked her out of the house for about 15 minutes.

After her daughter told her what had happened, S.T.'s mother called the Shreveport Police Department. Officer Allain Jones responded to the call that same day. Officer Jones testified that S.T.'s mother related the incident and named D.J. as the perpetrator in S.T.'s presence. S.T. reported to Officer Jones that "he stuck his wee wee in her private area," referring to D.J. without calling him by name.

After an initial trip to a local clinic, S.T. was examined on June 24 at L.S.U. Medical Center by Dr. Ann Springer, an expert in pediatrics with a sub-specialty in child abuse. Her examination revealed that S.T.'s entire hymen was attenuated and destroyed. Because the damage to the vaginal area had healed and scarred, Dr. Springer estimated that the trauma had occurred at least 10 to 14 days prior to the examination. Dr. Springer also noted that S.T.'s anal examination revealed no trauma to that region, but explained that the absence of such evidence was common even in children who had been anally molested because of the tough elastic nature of the anal tissue. Dr. Springer opined that S.T. had been sexually molested and penetrated vaginally.

After questioning S.T. and her mother, Officer Jones referred the matter to Detective Barry Beck of the juvenile division of the Shreveport Police Department. Following Dr. Springer's examination, Detective Beck interviewed S.T. and her mother. Detective Beck testified that he used anatomical drawings to question S.T. After S.T. identified the "private parts," Detective Beck asked if anyone had touched her in this location, and S.T. replied that "D.D." had done so. In answer to further questions from Detective Beck, S.T. stated that "D.D." had placed his "wee wee" in her "coochie" and her "booty." According, to Detective Beck, she placed an "X" on the vaginal area and on the buttocks area of the anatomical drawings to identify these locations.

S.T. disclosed that "D.D." had committed these acts in the hallway and the TV room of her house and that "D.D." had said she was his girlfriend. Detective Beck asked S.T. if anyone else was present when these incidents occurred; S.T. named Tasha, the babysitter, and C.T., her own brother. Detective Beck then questioned C.T., who told him that "D.D." had made him "hunch" S.T. C.T. also told Detective Beck that "D.D." put his "wee wee" in S.T.'s "coochie" and "booty." C.T. *841 further revealed that "D.D." told him he would get C.T. in trouble.

After Detective Beck interviewed S.T., C.T. and their mother, and learned that "D.D." was D.J., he arrested the juvenile. The state filed a delinquency petition against D.J. charging that he had committed aggravated rape of S.T., a violation of La.R.S. 14:42. A delinquency hearing followed.

S.T. testified at the hearing. The state examined her using mostly leading questions that required only a yes or no answer. S.T. did not answer several of the questions regarding the alleged sexual attack and some of her answers were unintelligible. However, S.T. did point out D.J. as the person she knew as "D.D." She also affirmatively responded to questions concerning whether "D.D." had lived at her house and whether she, C.T. and "D.D." were ever alone in the house. Further, she answered yes to questions that either she or "D.D." took her clothes off and that "D.D." touched her. S.T. also indicated that this touching hurt her and was in her "private area." When the state asked S.T. to point to the part of her body that "D.D." touched, the child replied "I can't." S.T. did testify that her brother, C.T., was in the house with her when "D.D." touched her.

Later, the state recalled S.T., but again had difficulty in eliciting responses from the child. The state used generic drawings of the human body to question S.T. On the first drawing, representing herself, S.T. placed an "X" to mark her "private parts." In response to the State's question as to where she was touched, S.T. then circled the genital area and buttocks of the drawing. However, S.T. did not respond to questions about whether "D.D." was the person who had touched these areas. On another drawing, presented to S.T. as one of a male, she placed an "X" on the "private parts." When instructed to circle the "private part" of the male that touched her, S.T. drew a circle around the genital region of the male drawing. Again, however, she did not state that D.J. had touched her private areas with his penis. The trial court admitted both drawings into evidence.

There was also testimony that another man was staying at the home of S.T.'s mother. D.J.'s mother (who was formerly friends with the victim's mother) and Tasha testified that Donald "Don" Ware, the ex-boyfriend of S.T.'s mother, was "in and out" of the family home. Tasha stated that Ware sometimes spent the night. D.J.'s mother testified that she had once lived with S.T.'s mother and that Ware had a key to the house. She also stated that S.T.'s mother knew that Ware had a "criminal background." S.T.'s mother admitted that she knew Ware had spent some time in jail, but denied knowing that Ware, according to defense counsel, had been convicted of two counts of crime against nature. Both S.T.'s mother and Tasha testified that Ware was never left alone with the children.

D.J. testified and denied that he had ever engaged in any sexual conduct with S.T. He admitted that he was at the home of S.T.'s mother around the time in question and had lived there for approximately a month and a half. D.J. claimed that he left because of an altercation with C.T., S.T.'s brother.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
691 So. 2d 839, 1997 WL 175103, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-dj-lactapp-1997.