State v. Enclard

850 So. 2d 845, 2003 WL 21414687
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 19, 2003
Docket03-KA-283
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 850 So. 2d 845 (State v. Enclard) 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. Enclard, 850 So. 2d 845, 2003 WL 21414687 (La. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

850 So.2d 845 (2003)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Michael P. ENCLARD.

No. 03-KA-283.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

June 19, 2003.

*848 Holli Herrle-Castillo, Louisiana Appellate Project, Marrero, LA, for Appellant, Michael P. Enclard.

Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Twenty-Fourth Judicial District Court, Parish of Jefferson, Terry M. Boudreaux, Margaret E. Hay, Appellate Counsel, John Maestri Gordon R. Konrad, Trial Counsel, Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, LA, for Appellee, State of Louisiana.

Panel composed of Judges THOMAS F. DALEY, MARION F. EDWARDS, and SUSAN M. CHEHARDY.

SUSAN M. CHEHARDY, Judge.

On May 17, 2001, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office filed a bill of information charging the defendant, Michael Enclard, with aggravated burglary, in violation of La. R.S. 14:60, and forcible rape, in violation of La. R.S. 14:42.1. The defendant was arraigned and pled not guilty.[1]

On November 27, 2001, trial commenced. The following day, the twelve-person jury found the defendant guilty as charged of forcible rape and guilty of unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling, a responsive verdict to aggravated burglary.[2]

Defendant filed motions for a new trial and for post-verdict judgment of acquittal, which the trial judge denied. On December 10, 2001, the trial judge sentenced the defendant to three years imprisonment at hard labor for unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling. On the forcible rape conviction, the judge sentenced defendant to fifteen years imprisonment at hard labor with the first two years without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. The trial judge also specified that defendant's crime of forcible rape was a violent crime under La.C.Cr.P. art. 890.1, and, thus, defendant was not entitled to diminution of sentence for that conviction. The defendant filed a motion for appeal, which the trial judge granted.[3]

Facts

By all accounts, A.Z.[4] and the defendant had a stormy relationship that lasted approximately *849 three years and produced two children, both of whom were less than three years old on March 11, 2001. The victim and defendant lived together for most of their relationship. According to the victim, the defendant frequently physically abused her by hitting, kicking, and punching her throughout their relationship, even while she was pregnant.

On November 27, 2000, the victim called the police to report that the defendant had hit her in the head. As a result, the defendant was arrested and the victim obtained a protective order dating from November 28, 2000 until May 28, 2001. Nevertheless, the victim continued living in the same house as the defendant until mid-December 2000.[5]

In mid-December 2000, defendant again hit the victim. As a result, the victim developed a black eye. Thereafter, the victim moved out of the apartment that the two shared. Defendant admitted at trial that his elbow "accidentally" hit the victim's right eye while they were wrestling during an argument.

In December of 2000, A.Z. and the children moved in with a friend. After A.Z. moved out, the defendant repeatedly called and harassed her at work and at her friend's apartment. In February of 2001, A.Z. obtained her own apartment on York Street in Metairie. She testified that she did not tell the defendant her address or telephone number but, according to defendant, he discovered that information on the Internet.

On the night of March 11, 2001, A.Z. arrived home at about 7:00 p.m. with her two children. About forty-five minutes later, her son spilled something on the floor in the den. While she was on her hands and knees cleaning up the mess, the defendant came out of the closet behind her, held a sharp object to her throat, and told her not to scream or he would kill her. She later saw that the object was a screwdriver and that defendant had cut her on the neck with the screwdriver. Defendant told her that he wanted to kill her and that she drove him to "this" because she did not want to be with him anymore.

Defendant then directed her to put the children to bed. During this time, he followed her around the apartment with the screwdriver. Although she wanted to call the police, the only corded phone was unplugged and defendant had both of her cordless phones in his pants' pocket.

After awhile, defendant asked A.Z. to remove her clothing but she refused. When defendant threatened to kill her, she removed her clothing from waist down. Defendant removed his pants, forced her to lie down on the floor and then vaginally raped the victim.

Afterwards, defendant made her turn onto her side with her back toward him and she felt defendant "doing something" with her hands behind her back. A.Z. begged him to let her go. Defendant remarked that he might leave if she let him tie her up, closed her eyes, and went to sleep. Abruptly, he stopped "doing something" with her hands and told her to sit on the couch. Defendant then removed all of his clothing and raped A.Z. on the couch.

*850 Afterwards, A.Z. asked defendant if she could put her clothes on and defendant agreed. Once she was clothed, A.Z. immediately ran out of the apartment to ask her upstairs neighbor to call the police. According to the 911 phone logs, the 911 call from the neighbor's phone number was received at 1:39 a.m. on March 12, 2001.

Deputy Rose Eddy of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office was one of several officers who responded to the scene. Shortly after 1:40 a.m., Deputy Eddy found A.Z. crying outside of her apartment. According to Deputy Eddy, A.Z. related that her ex-boyfriend had pried open the rear sliding door of her apartment, hidden in the living room closet, attacked her, and held her against her will for approximately six hours. A.Z. showed Deputy Eddy the direction defendant had fled and Deputy Eddy broadcast a description of the defendant on the police radio. Although they searched for him, the officers did not immediately find defendant.

At this point, A.Z. realized that the defendant had stolen her car keys after assaulting her. According to A.Z., the police told her to persuade the defendant to return to her apartment by telling him that she would not press charges against him.

A little later that morning, Sylvia McGarry, the victim's best friend, arrived at A.Z.'s apartment. After all of the officers left, the defendant telephoned, and A.Z. convinced defendant to return to the apartment. A.Z. called 911 again to report that the defendant was on his way to her apartment.

At approximately 7:05 a.m., Deputy Steve Caravella responded. When Deputy Caravella interviewed A.Z., she related that the defendant had raped her and he was on his way back to her apartment. Deputy Caravella left to canvass the area for the defendant. While he was searching for the defendant, Deputy Caravella received another call from dispatch that the defendant was knocking on A.Z.'s apartment door. Deputy Caravella returned and placed the defendant under arrest without incident. Deputy Caravella testified that, when he patted the defendant down, he found a "large bootlace" in the defendant's pocket, but he did not find a screwdriver on defendant's person.

After the defendant was arrested, Ms. McGarry took A.Z. to the hospital. Deborah Guzzardo LeBlanc was the triage nurse in the emergency room. Nurse LeBlanc testified that she telephoned the police to ensure that a report for rape had been made, and the police told Nurse LeBlanc that an officer would be sent to the hospital.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
850 So. 2d 845, 2003 WL 21414687, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-enclard-lactapp-2003.