State v. Fink

601 So. 2d 694, 1992 WL 113633
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 15, 1992
Docket92-KA-005
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 601 So. 2d 694 (State v. Fink) 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. Fink, 601 So. 2d 694, 1992 WL 113633 (La. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

601 So.2d 694 (1992)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
William FINK.

No. 92-KA-005.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

May 15, 1992.

*695 John M. Mamoulides, Dist. Atty., Robert Grant, Dorothy A. Pendergast, Asst. Dist. Attys., Louise Korns, of counsel, office of Dist. Atty., 24th Judicial Dist., Parish of Jefferson, Gretna, for plaintiff-appellee.

Joseph A. Watters, New Orleans, for defendant-appellant.

Before KLIEBERT, C.J., and GAUDIN and GOTHARD, JJ.

KLIEBERT, Chief Judge.

The defendant in this matter was originally charged by the State with attempted simple rape and battery. Subsequently, by bill of information filed on July 15, 1991, he was charged with attempted forcible rape. (R.S. 14:27, 14:42.1). After pleading not guilty, the defendant proceeded to trial on July 16, 1991. On the following day the jury returned a unanimous verdict of guilty as charged. On September 13, 1991, after review of a pre-sentence investigation, the trial court sentenced the defendant to 20 years at hard labor with the condition that *696 he be evaluated by the Department of Corrections for possible psychiatric treatment within the system and with credit for time served.

The defendant has appealed urging four assignments of error as follows:

1. The trial court erred in granting the State's Prieur Motion and allowing the jury to hear the testimony of a female co-employee.
2. The evidence adduced at trial was insufficient to support a verdict of attempted forcible rape.
3. A rational trier of fact could not have found from the evidence the essential elements of attempted forcible rape.
4. The sentence of twenty years at hard labor was excessive and an abuse of the trial court's discretion.

There is little controversy regarding the facts of the alleged crime. They are as follows:

On the evening of May 2, 1990, Cathy Bounds, the victim, sat inside of Maxwell's, a bar located in the French Quarter in New Orleans La., after completing her bartending work for the evening. Having argued with her boyfriend earlier, Cathy was upset and soon began to cry. Because of the argument, she had planned to stay with her friend Teresa that night. As she cried, the defendant, whom she had previously met, approached her accompanied by Teresa.

Upon observing that Cathy appeared to be depressed, the defendant informed her about a therapy program that he was forming with a psychiatrist wherein people would be brought "down to their lowest level and then building them up high again."

Subsequently, Teresa asked Cathy if she would accompany them to Metairie where they would "party for a little while" and Cathy agreed. The three then proceeded in defendant's truck to the Metairie Inn to see whether Teresa's cousins would join them. After they declined to go, the three proceeded on their way stopping first at the Player's Den. Thereafter, they stopped by Maximillian's where Cathy became "pretty loaded." She testified that she did not remember leaving the bar.

Cathy remembers next waking up in an unknown room lying on her back in a bed in the nude. Her hands were tied behind her back and she was gagged. The defendant was standing at the foot of the bed fully clothed. When she began to kick and roll from side to side, the defendant straddled her stomach and bit her forcefully on her left side and right breast. The defendant later removed the rag from her mouth and Cathy informed him that he was hurting her. After he pulled her up and untied her arms, he asked her if she would inform anyone about what had just occurred. When Cathy stood up, she observed her clothes on the side of the bed. She also noted that she was menstruating and had bled on both herself and the defendant's bed. After dressing she asked the defendant where she was and he responded that he would take her home. He showed her out and once outside she waited by his truck momentarily. When the defendant opened the vehicle's door, Cathy entered it and with his car phone she called her boyfriend to tell him that she would be coming home for the night.

While driving her home, the defendant repeatedly said that he just "wanted to keep that between us." When the defendant dropped her off at her home, her boyfriend was waiting by the door, but she walked inside without telling him anything.

The next morning, having observed her bruises, he confronted Cathy wanting to know what had happened; however, she again refused to tell him anything before proceeding to work. After speaking to a friend, she eventually decided to inform the police about the incident. Initially, she spoke to Officer Rushing who told her to come to the station. There, she related an account of the evening and identified the defendant. Due to a prior incident involving the defendant which Officer Trapani had investigated, he knew the defendant and was able to ascertain that the incident had occurred at the defendant's apartment. Thereafter, Officer Trapani obtained an arrest warrant and search warrant.

*697 Prior to trial the State filed a Motion of Intent to Use Evidence of Other Crimes pursuant to Article 720 of the Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure; State v. Prieur, 277 So.2d 126 (1973) and State v. Abercrombie, 375 So.2d 1170 (1979), the purpose stated in the notice of using evidence of other crimes being to show defendant's knowledge, intent, guilty knowledge, system and motive. Following the "Prieur hearing," which involved an incident which occurred on March 13, 1990 involving defendant and another female co-employee, the trial judge ruled that the evidence would be admitted for the purpose offered. Thus, at trial the judge instructed the jury that evidence of commission of another offense was to be considered for the limited purpose of showing motive of specific intent to rape Cathy Bounds and that the defendant was not to be found guilty merely because another offense may have been committed with the other female. The latter was then allowed to give her testimony which revealed the following:

She met the defendant, a nurse (LPN), when he was attending to her boyfriend during his stay in Ochsner Hospital and he remarked to her that she looked like she was under a lot of stress. Because he was taking stress-related courses, he thought that he could help her cope with it. He gave her a form which she was to fill out and requested to go over it with her. At that time she was working at Ochsner Clinic adjacent to the hospital. Thereafter, the defendant proceeded to call her at work seeking to meet her. After declining several offers, she eventually decided to meet with him after work on March 13, 1990.

That evening at approximately 8:00 p.m. she arrived at the hospital where she had arranged to meet the defendant. The defendant was waiting outside in front of the hospital and approached her car on the passenger side. As she attempted to hand him the form through the window, he entered her car and said "Let's just park and we'll go over this." Since all of the parking spots were occupied in front of the hospital, she drove to the nearby parking garage where she was able to find a parking spot.

While they sat in her parked car, the defendant began talking to her about the questions on the form. After telling her to listen to him and follow whatever he said, he grabbed the seat belt and wrapped it around her arms and chest restraining her. Next, he reached in the back of her car and took a T-shirt which he stuffed in her mouth.

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Related

State v. Thompkins
896 So. 2d 1165 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2005)
State v. Dorsey
718 So. 2d 466 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1998)

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Bluebook (online)
601 So. 2d 694, 1992 WL 113633, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-fink-lactapp-1992.