State v. Elzie

865 So. 2d 248, 2004 WL 136378
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 28, 2004
Docket37,920-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 865 So. 2d 248 (State v. Elzie) 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. Elzie, 865 So. 2d 248, 2004 WL 136378 (La. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

865 So.2d 248 (2004)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee
v.
Jerry Barrioshena ELZIE, Appellant.

No. 37,920-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

January 28, 2004.

*249 Anita D. McKeithen, Shreveport, for Appellant.

Paul J. Carmouche, District Attorney, Edwin L. Blewer, J. Thomas Butler, Assistant District Attorneys, for Appellee.

Before WILLIAMS, CARAWAY & PEATROSS, JJ.

PEATROSS, J.

Defendant, Reverend Jerry B. Elzie, was charged with molestation of a juvenile on two grounds: by the use of force, menace and psychological intimidation and by the use of influence by virtue of a position of control and supervision over the juvenile, J.A.[1], in violation of La. R.S. *250 14:81.2(A)[2]. He was tried by a six-person jury and convicted as charged. Defendant was sentenced to serve 12 and a half years imprisonment at hard labor. He now appeals his conviction and sentence. For the reasons stated herein, we affirm.

FACTS

The victim, J.A., was born on October 10, 1980. Defendant is J.A.'s father and a reverend at a church in Shreveport, Louisiana. In the fall of 1995, when J.A. was 15 years old, she began using Defendant's address in order to attend Woodlawn High School.[3] During this time, Defendant and J.A. spent time alone at various locations, including Defendant's home. Ultimately, Defendant had sex with J.A. at least three times during the fall of 1995, twice at his office in his residence and once at his church. Defendant ordered J.A. to have sex with him each time. In two of the sexual acts between Defendant and J.A., Defendant rubbed J.A. with oil and had candles burning in the room. J.A. questioned Defendant as to why he ordered her to have sex with him and told him that she did not want to have sex with him, crying throughout one of the acts. Defendant explained to J.A. that others had "done it" and she also had to "do it" to get the blessings of God. J.A. did not tell anyone what happened to her because Defendant told her that nobody would believe her— they would believe him.

After a few weeks, having become upset with J.A.'s reluctance to continue having sex with him, Defendant took J.A. by a store he owned and showed her a bed with candles surrounding the bed. Defendant told her, "This is what you missed out on. This was all for you." Defendant then took J.A. back to her home; and, while she was being dropped off, J.A. exclaimed to her mother, in the presence of Defendant, that she did not want to have sex with Defendant anymore. In response to J.A.'s accusation, Defendant told the victim, "Do you see what you have done. Do you know this will take me to jail?" J.A. never returned to Defendant's household. Shortly after this encounter, the authorities were notified.

In November 1995, Lieutenant Mickey Lowe of the juvenile and sex crimes unit with the Shreveport Police Department received a call from a counselor at Woodlawn High School regarding a 15-year-old girl, J.A., who complained that her father had ordered her to have sexual intercourse with him on at least two different occasions. J.A. said that one incident took place at Defendant's office. The other took place in a room in Defendant's church. Lieutenant Lowe began the investigation by interviewing J.A. He also arranged for J.A. to have a medical examination with Dr. Ann Springer at LSU Medical Center. Dr. Springer, an expert *251 in pediatric medicine and evaluation of child sexual abuse, examined J.A. on November 30, 1995. J.A.'s exam was "normal"—it neither proved nor disproved sexual abuse.

In an interview conducted by Detective Carolyn Eaves Deal, Defendant denied any intimate sexual relationship with J.A.'s mother, denied that J.A. was his daughter and denied the allegations of sexual abuse. Until J.A.'s accusation of what Defendant had done to her, Defendant had never denied to J.A. that she was his daughter. Specifically, Defendant related that J.A.'s mother caused problems for him when she was pregnant by publicly claiming in church that he was "her man," and contacting his wife about her claim. Defendant claimed that J.A.'s mother then asked Defendant and his wife to be J.A.'s godparents, to which they agreed. Further, Defendant related to Detective Deal that J.A.'s mother approached him about letting J.A. use his address so that she could attend Woodlawn High School. Defendant explained that J.A.'s accusations of sexual abuse were because she was angry at him for having spanked her as punishment for bad grades. Moreover, Defendant told Detective Deal that his wife and daughters could confirm that he was never alone with J.A. Due to the lack of evidence to substantiate J.A.'s claims or to determine that Defendant was lying about his relation to J.A., the case was closed in December 1995. Detective Deal did not have the capability to take DNA samples in 1995.

The case was reopened in early 1998 when the Caddo Parish District Attorney's Office's newly formed screening section reviewed the case. A search warrant was obtained to collect epithelial cells from the cheek lining of Defendant and several other persons, in order to establish paternity. The collection was conducted by Detective Deal in accordance with instructions given by Connie Brown ("Brown") of the North Louisiana Crime Lab regarding the proper collection procedures. Detective Deal wore the same gloves throughout the collection process. Epithelial cell samples were also taken from J.A. and her mother at the police station.

After testing the samples, it was determined that J.A. was indeed the daughter of Defendant. Further, it was also determined that Defendant was the father of other children with two other girls. The police discovered that in 1983, Defendant fathered a child with one of the girls, who is his adoptive daughter, while she was under the age of consent and the other girl told police that she had sex with Defendant numerous times before she came into the age of consent and later gave birth to two of Defendant's children.

Based on the discovery of this evidence that Defendant had lied to the police and that he had shown a pattern of behavior of having sex with underage girls, one being his adoptive daughter, Defendant was charged with molestation of a juvenile, his daughter, J.A. At trial, J.A. testified against Defendant, describing Defendant's actions. On cross-examination, J.A. testified that she made some bad grades in September at Woodlawn High School. It was also brought out that Defendant had spanked J.A. because of those grades. J.A. explained that her bad grades were in response to what her father was doing to her. She steadfastly denied concocting the accusations against her father because she was angry about the spanking.

The State presented not only the testimony of J.A., but also that of the investigating officers and Dr. Springer. Dr. Springer testified that, during her exam of J.A., J.A. told Dr. Springer that her biological father had sex with her two times. As previously stated, J.A.'s exam was "normal"—it neither proved nor disproved *252 sexual abuse; but Dr. Springer explained at trial that, in 80 percent of the cases in which penetration is known to have occurred with a female victim, the physical exam will still produce normal results. Dr. Springer further explained that it is normal for an abused child to "act out," and it is particularly normal for an abused child to have difficulty in school. According to Dr. Springer, the latter is a "red flag." In her conclusion, Dr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
865 So. 2d 248, 2004 WL 136378, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-elzie-lactapp-2004.