State v. Duplantis

127 So. 3d 143, 13 La.App. 3 Cir. 424, 2013 WL 6331580, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 2460
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 27, 2013
DocketNo. 13-424
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 127 So. 3d 143 (State v. Duplantis) 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. Duplantis, 127 So. 3d 143, 13 La.App. 3 Cir. 424, 2013 WL 6331580, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 2460 (La. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinions

PICKETT, Judge.

| .FACTS

H.C.1 was referred for counseling with Rachel Hinton, a licensed professional counselor and licensed marriage and family therapist.2 H.C. indicated to Ms. Hinton he had been inappropriately touched by his brother and one time by the defendant, his mother’s boyfriend. Ms. Hinton stopped the questioning and notified H.C.’s Office of Child Services (OCS) worker.

Nicholette Joseph testified at trial as the representative of Hearts of Hope, a children’s advocacy center. She interviewed H.C. on June 2, 2010, when H.C. was six years old. The state played the videotaped interview to the jury over the defendant’s objection. On the video, H.C. said he could not live with his mom because she had a boyfriend, Jessie James Duplantis, the defendant, who did “mean things.” H.C. first said the defendant touched his private four times, and his brother Blake touched him four times. He said the first time the defendant touched him, he was four years old; the last three times, he was three. H.C. first said the defendant touched him “all over on the private,” keeping his hand still. Then he said the defendant touched his private with a paddle with H.C.’s clothes on and again with his hand with H.C.’s clothes off.

After H.C. made those comments, he asked to “start all over.” He pointed to where he said the defendant touched him, and this time, he said the defendant moved his hand. Ms. Joseph presented H.C. with a forensic drawing of what H.C. described as a boy with no clothes. Ms. Joseph told H.C. the boy had no clothes on | ^because he just got out of the bathtub. H.C. circled the area where he said the defendant touched him, and he called it his “bird.” He said the defendant touched his skin inside his clothes. His mother and brother were at home when this occurred. When asked what room of the trailer, where they lived, these acts occurred, H.C. answered only, “in the trailer.”

When Ms. Joseph asked H.C. if he had told his mom, aunt, and granny about what happened, H.C. nodded and said “they got mad.” He felt bad that he could no longer talk to the defendant. Toward the end of [145]*145the interview, H.C. said he was in the bathtub when the defendant came in, touched his private, and “that was it.”

H.C. also testified at trial after the trial judge questioned him about the difference between the truth and a lie. He was nine years old and in the fourth grade at the time of trial. H.C. used to live with his biological mother, Valerie Chauvin, and the defendant was her boyfriend. When H.C. looked around the courtroom twice, he testified he did not see the defendant. He then identified the defendant.

The defendant objected and asked for a mistrial. Apparently, someone in the audience made a comment defense counsel thought influenced H.C. Regarding H.C.’s identification of the defendant, the record states:

Q Do you see Mr. Jessie in the courtroom? Look around.
A I don’t see.
Q You looked all over? You need to stand up to look?
A I don’t see him.
Q You don’t see him?
A No.
Q You still don’t see him anywhere?
| sA Right there (indicating).
Q Okay. Where are you pointing? What color shirt does he have on?
A White.
Q Does he have a tie or does he not have a tie?
A He does.
BY [the State’s counsel]: Let the record reflect that he’s pointing to the defendant wearing a tie.
BY [Defendant’s counsel]: May we approach?
BY THE COURT: All right.
(WHEREUPON, THE FOLLOWING WAS TAKEN AT A SIDEBAR OUT OF THE HEARING OF THE JURY.)
BY [Defendant’s counsel]: I need it reflected for the record that I wanted to do this out of the presence of the jury because I didn’t want to point it out any further to them, but the child only pointed out the defendant after he stood up and after at least one of the ladies, who’s directly behind me — and although I almost always have tunnel vision for these kind of things — even I could hear her say where he was sitting and what he was wearing.
BY THE COURT: I could hear something, but I couldn’t tell what was said.
BY [the State’s counsel]: I didn’t see it; I’m sorry.
BY [Defendant’s counsel]: I could hear it and that’s unusual for me.
BY THE COURT: I think Autumn might have heard it, too, because her eyes got real big after the lady made a remark.
BY [the State’s counsel]: You want me to ask her to come up?
BY THE COURT: You want her to come over?
BY [Defendant’s counsel]: Well, I think the damage is done now. So I think I have no choice but to ask for a mistrial.
BY THE COURT: It would be whether the boy heard her, though.

|40n further questioning, H.C. commented “he thought [the defendant] was going to be in handcuffs and his handcuffs the legs, too. [sic] But he was kind of sad that — it wasn’t a dream, no.” When asked if he heard anyone in the room tell him where the defendant was situated in the courtroom, he replied the state’s counsel had told him “to look better and then I didn’t see him. Then I looked, then I saw.”

H.C. testified the defendant stayed at the trailer with him and his mother [146]*146“[sometimes].” When asked whether the defendant ever stayed at the trailer with H.C. by himself, H.C. responded, “I guess.” H.C. testified the defendant “did something that he wasn’t supposed to do ... He did something wrong and then he got in trouble ... Touched something that he wasn’t supposed to ... The private.” They were in the bathroom; H.C. “was taking a bath and [defendant] just — he just did it on purpose.” H.C. did not need help cleaning his “private.” This happened “[l]ike maybe once — one time.” H.C. did not recall if he had ever told anyone it happened more than once.

The defendant’s girlfriend, H.C.’s natural mother, was Valerie Chauvin. Valerie’s brother and his wife, also named Valerie, adopted H.C. in 2011.3 H.C. referred to the women as his “old mom” and his “new mom.” His new mom told him to “tj]ust tell the truth and don’t lie” about the touching incident.

The trailer where H.C. lived was in the same yard as his grandmother, “Granny Betty.” His older brother, Blake, also lived in the trailer; H.C. said Blake was thirteen. H.C. sometimes took baths at Granny Betty’s house. H.C. testified his memories were “kind of old and fuzzy.” He further testified that he did not have a conversation with his brother, Blake, about the incident. On crossjexamination5 he stated he did not remember a conversation with Blake, then stated he had no conversation about his testimony with his older brother. During follow-up with the state’s attorney, H.C. said it was true that the defendant touched his private, his mom and dad just told him to tell the truth, and he was telling the truth then.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
127 So. 3d 143, 13 La.App. 3 Cir. 424, 2013 WL 6331580, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 2460, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-duplantis-lactapp-2013.