State v. Francois

945 So. 2d 865, 2006 WL 3613592
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided December 13, 2006·No. 06-788·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinion

945 So.2d 865 (2006)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Craig FRANCOIS.

No. 06-788.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

December 13, 2006.

*867 J. Phil Haney, District Attorney, New Iberia, LA, Jeffrey J. Trosclair, Assistant District Attorney, Franklin, LA, for Plaintiff/Appellee, State of Louisiana.

Mark O. Foster, Foster & Foster, Natchitoches, LA, for Defendant/Appellant, Craig Francois.

Court composed of GLENN B. GREMILLION, ELIZABETH A. PICKETT, and J. DAVID PAINTER, Judges.

GLENN B. GREMILLION, Judge.

In this case, the defendant, Craig Francois, was convicted of one count of battery of a correctional facility employee, a violation of La.R.S. 14:34.5, and sentenced to serve eighteen months at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence, with credit for time served since August 9, 2004. He is now before this court on appeal asserting that the evidence was insufficient to convict him of battery of a correctional facility officer, that the sentence imposed was excessive, and that the trial court erred in providing a defective definition of the crime when instructing the jury. For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTS

On August 9, 2004, Defendant was in a cell block of a holding area at the St. Martin Parish Correctional Facility. Deputy Shelly Picard had arrived for her shift at 6:00 a.m. and informed the warden, Helen B. Wiltz, that since her arrival, Defendant had been banging on the door and complaining that he should be released. Warden Wiltz instructed Deputy Picard to get Defendant out of his cell block and bring him to her office. Defendant was not shackled or handcuffed at the time he entered Warden Wiltz's office.

Warden Wiltz testified that Defendant was very agitated and was claiming that he was being illegally detained and should be released. Warden Wiltz said she informed him that he had been sentenced and that she had no authority to release him at that time. Due to his subsequent agitated behavior, Warden Wiltz believed she would have problems with Defendant if she returned him to his cell that housed twelve other inmates. Accordingly, she instructed Deputy Picard to take him to the special restraint room to allow him to calm down.

Deputy Gary Talley assisted Deputy Picard in bringing Defendant to the restraint room. The testimony reflects that Defendant did not cause any disturbance as he was escorted to the special restraint room, and he was not shackled or handcuffed and was free to move around the room. According to the witnesses, after he was placed in the room and the deputies had walked away, he began banging and kicking on the door and hollering and screaming. Although the deputies asked him to stop, Defendant continued to bang and kick on the door, causing disharmony among the other inmates. The evidence shows that eventually, the vibration from Defendant's kicking and banging on the door caused a light bulb to fall from a fixture located inside or just outside the room. Because Defendant's continued behavior was becoming a security issue, Warden Wiltz gave orders to restrain him with handcuffs and shackles and to put him in a restraint chair to prevent him from banging on the door.

Defendant was handcuffed by Deputy Talley through the hatch on the door and given the verbal command to go to the back of the room and face the wall. He complied. The deputies said that they entered the room and that Deputies Talley *868 and Noel stood with Defendant while Deputies Picard and Kim Duplantis placed the restraint chair in the room. They said Defendant was asked to sit in it, and initially, he sat down. The testimony reflects that Defendant stood back up before the deputies could strap him in and he began swinging, kicking, and pushing even though he was handcuffed at the time. According to their testimony, during the scuffle, Deputy Talley was struck in the hand and Deputy Noel was struck in the stomach by Defendant. Deputies Noel and Talley began to wrestle Defendant to the floor. The deputies testified that in an attempt to subdue Defendant, Deputy Duplantis sprayed Defendant with pepper spray.

Deputies Picard and Noel said that Captain Marjorie Alleman was also in the room with an electric shield. Those deputies, along with Deputy Talley said that before Captain Alleman was able to use the shield, Defendant pushed her against the wall with his feet, causing injury to her arm. Deputy Talley testified that once Defendant was restrained on the floor, Deputy Picard placed shackles on the Defendant's ankles. The deputies were ultimately able to get Defendant into the chair.

Marjorie Boudreaux, a licensed practical nurse at the St. Martin Parish Sheriff's Office, testified that she evaluated the deputies, as well as Defendant, for injuries following the incident. She said that Captain Allemon had some swelling in her wrist and was subsequently sent to St. Martin Hospital for further evaluation. Nurse Boudreaux observed a scratch on Deputy Noel's forehead and a scratch on Deputy Talley's hand, to which she administered first aid.

Defendant testified and his version of the event was somewhat different from that of the warden and deputies. He said that when he was facing the wall, prior to the introduction of the restraining chair, a third person had him by the collar while Deputies Talley and Noel were on each side of him. According to Defendant, there was some confusion as to what the deputies wanted him to do. He explained that Deputy Talley was telling him to step back while Deputy Noel was telling to him stay against the wall. Meanwhile, he said that the person behind him was pulling on his jumper.

Defendant claimed that he was unaware that the restraining chair was in the room, and that when the back of his calves hit it, he did not know that it was the restraining chair. He testified that he began resisting because he had no idea what was going on and had become alarmed and fearful. He maintained that the deputies did not tell him that they were going to place him in the chair. Defendant also testified that Captain Alleman shocked him on the arm with the shock shield, so he attempted to grab the shield to prevent her from shocking him again. But Defendant somewhat recanted his statement, explaining that the shield made an electrical sound, but that it really did not hit him at any time.

Defendant maintained that he did not attempt to assault anyone at any time. According to him, he was merely defending himself from excessive force, and he denied hitting, pushing, or kicking the deputies. He also testified that he did not intend to hurt any of the deputies. On cross examination, he admitted that Deputy Noel may have been inadvertently kicked when Deputy Noel raised up his foot. He denied, however, hitting Deputy Talley, stating that Deputy Talley had grabbed him around the neck, and thus, he was unable to hit him.

ERRORS PATENT

We review all appeals in accordance with La.Code Crim.P. art. 920 for errors *869 patent on the face of the record. After reviewing the record, we find there is one error patent. We will also discuss another issue that has brought concern to the courts of appeal throughout the state.

We initially begin our discussion of errors patent by considering whether the trial court may have imposed an illegally lenient sentence by failing to impose a fine. The pertinent penalty provision mandates that the offender be fined not more than $1,000.00 and imprisoned for one to five years. La.R.S. 14:34.5(B)(2). The trial court did not impose a fine in the instant case.

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

State v. Francois, 945 So. 2d 865, 2006 WL 3613592 (La. Ct. App. 2006).

945 So. 2d 865 (State v. Francois) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

State Of Louisiana v. Joshua Jamar Coleman
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2020
State v. Allen
177 So. 3d 771 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2015)
State of Louisiana v. Robert Harris
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2015
State of Louisiana v. Ronald Millard Irby
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2014
State v. Thompson
123 So. 3d 360 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2013)
State of Louisiana v. Dennis Weldon Thompson
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2013
State v. Barnett
118 So. 3d 1156 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2013)
State v. Turner
82 So. 3d 449 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2011)
State v. Frith
109 So. 3d 907 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2011)
State v. Wilson
30 So. 3d 149 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2009)
State v. Kerlec
957 So. 2d 810 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2007)