State v. Dupree

950 So. 2d 140, 2007 WL 258289
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 31, 2007
Docket41,658-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 950 So. 2d 140 (State v. Dupree) 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. Dupree, 950 So. 2d 140, 2007 WL 258289 (La. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

950 So.2d 140 (2007)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee
v.
Henry DUPREE, Appellant.

No. 41,658-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

January 31, 2007.

*142 G. Paul Marx, Lafayette, for Appellant.

Jerry L. Jones, District Attorney, Stephen T. Sylvester, Assistant District Attorney, for Appellee.

Before WILLIAMS, GASKINS and SEXTON (Pro Tempore), JJ.

WILLIAMS, J.

A Ouachita Parish grand jury returned an indictment charging the defendant, Henry Dupree, with aggravated rape, a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:42. Following a trial, a jury convicted the defendant of the responsive verdict of forcible rape. The defendant was adjudicated a second felony habitual offender, and the trial court sentenced him to serve 50 years in prison without benefit of suspension of sentence or the accrual of good time credit, with credit for time served. The defendant now appeals. For the following reasons, we affirm the defendant's conviction. However, we vacate the defendant's sentence and remand this matter for a determination of the portion of the sentence to be served without benefit of parole or probation.

FACTS

During the early morning hours of June 22, 1995, R.B.G.[1] was asleep in the home she shared with her daughter, niece and foster child in Ouachita Parish when "something" awakened her. From the bed she was sharing with her ailing foster child, R.B.G. opened her eyes and saw an unknown nude black male standing in the doorway of her bedroom. After the intruder moved out of the doorway, R.B.G. looked for the telephone she always kept on the table next to her bed, but the telephone was not there. R.B.G. then got up to check on her daughter and niece, who were asleep in a nearby bedroom. As R.B.G. reached for the doorknob to pull the children's bedroom door closed, she was approached by the intruder, who grabbed her arm and pulled her down the hallway toward the living room. R.B.G. testified that she could only see one of the intruder's hands at all times and believed he had a weapon. The intruder repeatedly admonished R.B.G. not to look at him. He then ordered her to remove her t-shirt and sweat pants, but before she could comply, he removed her underwear and sweat pants. He pushed her onto the living room floor and performed oral sexual intercourse on her. The assailant then climbed on top of R.B.G. in a missionary position. R.B.G. could not recall whether or not the assailant had vaginal sexual intercourse with her. R.B.G. testified that she was never verbally threatened by her *143 assailant, and she did not see a weapon in his hands. However, she stated that she only acquiesced because she felt physically threatened and feared for her life and the lives of the children. R.B.G. also stated that she did not push the perpetrator away or scream because she thought he would kill her and her children. Throughout the attack, R.B.G. asked her assailant, "Why are you doing this?" However, he did not answer.

After the attack, the assailant left the living room and entered the kitchen where he dressed and then fled through the kitchen door. R.B.G. used the kitchen telephone to call the police. She looked for but could not find the telephone she always kept near her bed.

Deputy Mickey Watts of the Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office responded to the call and interviewed R.B.G. Deputy Watts testified at trial after refreshing his memory by looking over his police report. He testified that R.B.G. told him that an intruder performed oral sex upon her and raped her. Over the defense's hearsay objection, Deputy Watts was allowed to testify that the victim related to him that the perpetrator threatened to choke her. R.B.G. was then transported to a local hospital for a rape examination.

The registered nurse who assisted in the rape examination stated that R.B.G. appeared to be in shock and "cried an awful lot." The nurse testified at trial that she was present and witnessed the collection of the evidence by use of a rape kit, which included "private vaginal area and hair and scrapings from the skin, oral swabs, vaginal swabs, [and] rectal swabs."

R.B.G. was subsequently unable to identify her assailant during a photographic line-up, and no suspect was apprehended immediately following the crime. However, at trial, R.B.G. made an in-court identification of the defendant as the man who raped her.

Less than one year after R.B.G.'s attack, the defendant was arrested for aggravated burglary, and subsequent deoxyribonucleic acid ("DNA") testing linked him to the rape of R.B.G. In the early morning of May 22, 1996, R.H. was asleep in her bed with her young sons when she was awakened by the feel of an unknown man's head touching her inner thighs. The man was an uninvited intruder into the home R.H. shared with her mother and sons in Ouachita Parish. R.H. told the unarmed man that he had to leave and she pushed him. The man got off of R.H. and ran out of her bedroom, but returned to her bedroom doorway. R.H. pushed the man against the wall and ran screaming into her mother's room to awaken her. The man then left their home. R.H.'s mother looked for the telephone in the kitchen to alert the authorities. The telephone's receiver was missing, so she used the telephone in another bedroom. The receiver was later discovered under the sofa. R.H. did not get a good look at the intruder because she never saw him in the light, but described him to police and in court as a black male who was a little taller than her and had brown skin. The man was wearing short pants and had a white t-shirt in his hand.

A short time after being notified of the crime, the police K-9 unit apprehended a man fitting the description given by R.H. The man, who was later identified as the defendant, was hiding on top of an abandoned house. The defendant was wearing boxer shorts and his short pants were located on top of the house. He was arrested for the charge of aggravated burglary. After being Mirandized, the defendant refused to answer questions and would not explain why he fled from the police officers and was outside in his boxer shorts at that time of the morning. During *144 a subsequent photographic line-up R.H. was unable to identify the defendant as her assailant.

As the result of a cooperative investigation between the Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office and the Monroe Police Department, the defendant was developed as a suspect in the rape case with regard to R.B.G. because of the similarities with the aggravated burglary. An order was obtained and blood was drawn from the defendant for DNA testing. The DNA analysis expert compared the DNA sample drawn from the defendant to the DNA sample (sperm fraction) on the vaginal swab from R.B.G.'s rape kit and confirmed that the DNA from both samples were consistent. The DNA expert determined the probability of another African American possessing the same combination of genetic markers was one in 2.2 trillion.

The defendant was charged by grand jury indictment with the crime of aggravated rape. At arraignment, the defendant entered a dual plea of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. A Sanity Commission was appointed by the trial court. On May 3, 2001, the trial court found the defendant incompetent to proceed or assist counsel and ordered him committed to the Feliciana Forensic Facility. After a status hearing, on August 29, 2003, the trial court ordered the defendant to be returned to the Feliciana Forensic Facility.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State of Louisiana v. Landon R. Fuller
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2024
State v. Robinson
102 So. 3d 922 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2012)
State v. Blanche
92 So. 3d 508 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2012)
State v. Ealy
12 So. 3d 1052 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2009)
State v. Franks
975 So. 2d 836 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2008)
State v. Joshua
973 So. 2d 963 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2008)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
950 So. 2d 140, 2007 WL 258289, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-dupree-lactapp-2007.