State v. Edgar

140 So. 3d 22, 2012 La.App. 4 Cir. 0744, 2013 WL 5274263, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 1884
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 18, 2013
DocketNo. 2012-KA-0744
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 140 So. 3d 22 (State v. Edgar) 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. Edgar, 140 So. 3d 22, 2012 La.App. 4 Cir. 0744, 2013 WL 5274263, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 1884 (La. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

JAMES F. McKAY, III, Chief Judge.

hThe defendant, Jamel L. Edgar, appeals his conviction and sentence. Finding no merit to his appeal, we affirm the conviction and sentence.

STATEMENT OF CASE

The defendant was charged by an indictment filed on June 11, 2009, with two counts of aggravated rape and two counts of aggravated kidnapping. He entered a not guilty plea on June 23, 2009, and on December 4, 2009, the district court denied the motions to suppress the evidence, statement, and identification. On May 23, 2011, the defendant’s trial began; it resumed on May 25, 2011, and concluded on May 26, 2011. The jury found the defendant guilty of attempted aggravated rape (count 1), attempted aggravated kidnapping (count 2), attempted forcible rape (count 3), and aggravated kidnapping (count 4). He was sentenced on August 11, 2011. On counts one and two, the defendant was sentenced to serve forty years at hard labor; on count three, he was sentenced to serve fifteen years at hard labor, and on count four, he was sentenced to serve life imprisonment at hard labor. The sentences are to be served without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence and were ordered to run concurrently with each other and Lwith any other sentence that appellant may be serving. His motion for appeal was granted that same day.

STATEMENT OF FACT1

[26]*26M.L.2, testified that in February 2009, she lived in New Orleans. At approximately 10:30 p.m. — 11:00 p.m. on February 9, 2009, she was walking home on Ursuline Street, near Claiborne Avenue. When she got to the intersection of Ursuline and Claiborne, a man, later identified as the defendant, driving a purple Chrysler drove up and offered her a ride home. She accepted his offer and got in to the car. They talked about her day. The defendant asked if she minded if he made one stop before dropping her off. She said yes, and they proceeded down Derbigny towards St. Bernard Avenue. At that point, the defendant pulled out a gun and put it in her face. He told her to perform oral sex and not to bite him, or he would shoot her. M.L. testified that the gun was a black semi-automatic, which she identified at trial. She stated she was very scared and complied with his order. M.L. testified that the defendant held the gun to her head while she did as he ordered.

When the vehicle came to stop, the defendant told her to stop. He told M.L. that they were going to get out of the car and go into his house. The defendant came around to the passenger side of the vehicle and got her out of the car. M.L. stated that she did not want to go into the house because she was afraid that the defendant was going to kill her. The defendant told her to close her eyes. She Inclosed her eyes at first and then opened them. When she opened her eyes, she saw two women in Muslin attire standing across the street. M.L. broke away from the defendant and ran towards the women, screaming for help. When they would not help her, she ran on Pauger Street and toned the corner. She ran another block and turned onto St. Anthony Street, where she saw a house that had lights on. M.L. banged at the door, and a woman answered. She asked the woman for help. The woman called the police, who arrived shortly thereafter. M.L. spoke with the police officer and rode in the back of the police car to the area where the defendant parked his vehicle. When M.L. saw the defendant’s vehicle on Pauger Street, she started crying and identified the vehicle for the officer. As they drove past the car, a woman jumped out of the car, yelling “Help, he’s raping me.” The police officers then apprehended the defendant. M.L. identified the defendant on the scene. Detective Haynes, one of the officers on the scene, asked her to submit to a rape kit, but she refused because the defendant did not ejaculate or penetrate her. M.L. stated that she did not want to be probed after everything she went through. She acknowledged that she had a prior conviction for prostitution in 1998 and a conviction for possession of cocaine in 1999. M.L. identified the defendant at trial as the perpetrator.

M.G.3 testified that in the late evening hours of February 9, 2009, she was walking home from work when the defendant stopped his car, got out, pointed a gun at her and demanded that she get into the car. She was a kitchen helper at Brennan’s Restaurant. M.G. stated that she was walking on Dumaine Street between Orleans Avenue and Claiborne Avenue. Once she got into his car, the | ¿defendant told her to perform oral sex. When they arrived at his house, he told her to stop. M.C. noticed the gun and reached for it. She and the defendant fought for the weapon, and the defendant took it from her. He hit her in the head and told her to take off her clothes. As she was taking off her clothes, she saw the police vehicles passing. She jumped out the ear and [27]*27started screaming. The police officers took her and wrapped a sheet around her. The officers told the defendant to get out the car. M.G. acknowledged prior hospitalizations for her mental illness. She also acknowledged prior convictions for possession of cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia and prostitution. M.G. identified the defendant at trial as the perpetrator.

New Orleans Police Officer Shacretta Pearson testified that on the night of February 9, 2009, she was working alone in a marked police vehicle. A little before midnight, she received a complaint call, went to 2407 St. Anthony Street, and met the homeowner, Mrs. Delores, who stated that the victim came to the house. The officer spoke with M.L., the victim, who told her she had been raped. When the officer arrived on the scene, the victim was hysterical and crying. It took the officer five minutes to calm the victim down. The victim stated that the incident occurred on Pauger Street. Officer Pearson contacted her sergeant and arranged to meet at the incident site. The victim stated that an unknown black male picked her up in the Sixth Ward area. The officer put the victim in her car, and they headed back to Pauger Street, looking for the perpetrator’s vehicle, a purple Chrysler. As they proceeded up Pauger Street, the victim began crying. When the officer observed a purple vehicle, she asked the victim if that was the vehicle. The victim answered affirmatively. The officer passed the vehicle and parked her car at the intersection of Rocheblave and Pauger Streets. Sergeant | sFrankIin’s vehicle was behind Officer Pearson’s vehicle. As the sergeant’s vehicle passed the purple vehicle, a half-naked woman jumped out of the purple vehicle, yelling “He is raping me.” The woman was naked from the waist down. The defendant exited the vehicle, and the officers ordered him to the ground. The officers then handcuffed him. Both victims identified the defendant in a one-on-one identification at the scene. The victims did not have any contact with each other. They were placed in separate police vehicles. The defendant was transferred to Central Lockup after the identification procedures. Officer Pearson stated that no cash was found in the defendant’s car.

Sergeant Rita Franklin testified that she was working the night of February 9, 2009, and the morning of February 10, 2009. Around midnight, she received a call from Officer Pearson because the officer needed to relocate from where the victim was located to the area where the incident allegedly occurred. She met up with Officer Pearson at the intersection of N. Tonti and Pauger. They were searching for a purple vehicle on Pauger Street.

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

Related

State of Louisiana v. Arec J. Billiot
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2025
State Of Louisiana v. Percy Stalls
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2024
Cheri Hayden Versus Frederick Boutte, Warden
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2023
State v. Smith
237 So. 3d 29 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2018)
State v. Brown
219 So. 3d 518 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2017)
State v. Scott
197 So. 3d 298 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2016)
State v. Jackson
193 So. 3d 425 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2016)
State v. Barbain
179 So. 3d 770 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2015)
State v. Woodberry
171 So. 3d 1082 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
140 So. 3d 22, 2012 La.App. 4 Cir. 0744, 2013 WL 5274263, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 1884, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-edgar-lactapp-2013.