State v. Franklin

648 So. 2d 962, 1994 WL 696659
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 14, 1994
Docket94-KA-409
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 648 So. 2d 962 (State v. Franklin) 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. Franklin, 648 So. 2d 962, 1994 WL 696659 (La. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

648 So.2d 962 (1994)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Lalandie FRANKLIN.

No. 94-KA-409.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

December 14, 1994.

*964 John M. Mamoulides, Terry M. Boudreaux, Dist. Atty's. Office, Parish of Jefferson, Gretna, for plaintiff, appellee State of La.

Laurie A. White, Angela A. Gerrets, New Orleans, for defendant, appellant, Lalandie Franklin.

Before DUFRESNE, GOTHARD and BOUTALL, J. Pro Tem.

JOHN C. BOUTALL, Judge Pro Tem.

The defendant, Lalandie Franklin, was charged with armed robbery in violation of La.R.S. 14:64. After he was evaluated by a sanity commission and found competent to stand trial, he entered a plea of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. Defendant proceeded to trial and was found guilty as charged. The trial court sentenced defendant to ninety-nine years at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. Defendant filed a motion to reconsider sentence, which was granted by the trial court; the original sentence was vacated and the defendant was resentenced to a term of ten years. Subsequently, the state filed a multiple offender bill pursuant to La.R.S. 15:529.1. After a hearing on the multiple bill, the trial court adjudicated defendant a third offender. The trial court then vacated the ten year sentence and resentenced the defendant to ninety-nine years at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

The defendant now appeals from his conviction and sentence. We affirm.

FACTS

In the early morning hours of August 13, 1992, Gwendolyn Alexander went after work to the Shell service station at Ames Boulevard and the Westbank Expressway, where she had arranged to meet her friend, Mary Marie Woodruff. The two bought some snack food at the Shell station and proceeded on foot down Ames Boulevard toward the apartment complex where Ms. Woodruff lived. As they approached Lincoln Middle School, Ms. Alexander and Ms. Woodruff noticed defendant walking behind them. After some time, defendant walked past them and then moved aside to allow them to walk ahead of him again.

Finally, defendant approached Ms. Alexander on her right side and held a butcher knife to her face. He told her to "give it up or take this." Defendant took Ms. Alexander's purse and ran to the other side of the street where he stopped to rummage *965 through the purse. He then fled the area on foot.

Ms. Woodruff and Ms. Alexander flagged down a passing van, told its occupants about the robbery and asked them to follow defendant. The "guys" in the van complied. The two women then went to Ms. Woodruff's apartment nearby and telephoned the police. While the women were reporting the incident to police, some unknown individuals arrived at the apartment and reported that the occupants of the van had apprehended the suspected robber. Ms. Alexander and Ms. Woodruff went to investigate, and found defendant lying on his back in a nearby courtyard. He appeared to have been beaten. When police arrived on the scene, both Ms. Alexander and Ms. Woodruff identified defendant as the man who had robbed Ms. Alexander, and he was placed under arrest. Ms. Alexander's purse and its contents and the knife allegedly used in the robbery were apparently not recovered, and were not introduced as evidence at trial. Both women identified defendant at trial as the man who had robbed Ms. Alexander.

On appeal, defendant assigns as error the following:

1. The evidence presented was insufficient to support a finding of guilty as charged to armed robbery.

2. Appellant was denied effective assistance of counsel at trial as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. [2052] 1052(sic), 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984.)

3. The trial court erroneously sentenced appellant to an excessive term without enumerating his reasons or considerations for sentence although extenuating circumstances existed.

4. The appellant was improperly found to be a habitual offender in violation of Louisiana Revised Statute 15:529.1 et seq.

SUFFICIENCY OF EVIDENCE

By this assignment, defendant complains that the findings of the court-appointed psychiatrist concerning defendant's sanity were contradictory and that the trial court did not lend sufficient weight to the testimony of defense expert, who defendant contends was more knowledgeable about the case. Defendant further argues that the absence of evidence regarding his actions immediately following the offense prevented the sanity commission from formulating an informed finding.

The state bears the burden in any prosecution of proving beyond a reasonable doubt each element of the offense necessary to constitute defendant's guilt. La.R.S. 15:271; State v. Bibb, 626 So.2d 913 (La.App. 5 Cir.1993), rehearing denied. In Louisiana, however, a defendant is presumed sane at the time of the offense; the state is not required to prove sanity. La.R.S. 15:432; State v. Weber, 364 So.2d 952, 956 (La.1978); State v. Bibb, 626 So.2d at 933. In order to rebut this presumption, the defendant must put forth an affirmative defense of insanity and prove his insanity by a preponderance of the evidence. La.C.Cr.P. art. 652; State v. Bibb, supra; State v. Jackson, 548 So.2d 29 (La.App. 5 Cir.1989). Legal insanity is defined in La.R.S. 14:14, which provides:

If the circumstances indicate that because of a mental disease or mental defect the offender was incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong with reference to the conduct in question, the offender shall be exempt from criminal responsibility.

The question of whether or not defendant has proven his insanity is one for the trier of fact. State v. Bibb, 626 So.2d at 934. When a defendant who affirmatively offered an insanity defense claims that the evidence at trial does not support a finding of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, the standard for review by an appellate court is whether or not any rational factfinder, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, could conclude that defendant had not proved by a preponderance of the evidence that he was insane at the time of the offense. State v. Claibon, 395 So.2d 770, 772 (La.1981); State v. Bibb, 626 So.2d at 934; State v. Jackson, 548 So.2d at 30.

In considering this question, we may properly look to expert and lay testimony and to defendant's actions. State v. Bibb, 626 So.2d *966 at 934; State v. Jackson, 548 So.2d at 31. Factors pertinent to the review of expert testimony, as set forth by this Court, include:

... whether lay testimony controverting the expert opinion was offered (State v. Claibon, 395 So.2d at 774), whether the experts specifically concluded that the defendant could not discern between right and wrong at the time of the crime (State v. Noble, 425 So.2d 734, 737 (La.1983); State v. Claibon, 395 So.2d at 774), to what extent the expert testimony was premised on the self-serving revelations of the defendant (State v. Parker, 416 So.2d 545, 551 (La.1982)), to what extent the expert analysis is controverted by other expert analysis (State v. Heath, 447 So.2d 570, 576 (La.App. 1st Cir.), writ denied, 448 So.2d 1302 (La.1984)), the duration of the expert's contact with the defendant and whether he had interviewed the defendant previous to the offense (State v.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
648 So. 2d 962, 1994 WL 696659, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-franklin-lactapp-1994.