State v. Gardner

524 So. 2d 1271, 1988 La. App. LEXIS 726, 1988 WL 16529
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 2, 1988
DocketNo. CR87-671
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 524 So. 2d 1271 (State v. Gardner) 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. Gardner, 524 So. 2d 1271, 1988 La. App. LEXIS 726, 1988 WL 16529 (La. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

LABORDE, Judge.

Terry Gardner was found guilty of aggravated rape by a jury of twelve on December 18, 1986. On January 20, 1987 the [1273]*1273trial judge sentenced Gardner to life imprisonment without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence in accordance with LSA-R.S. 14:42. Defendant appealed the conviction and sentence asserting 24 assignments of error. However, on appeal defendant briefed only nine of these assignments, therefore abandoning the other fifteen assignments of error. State v. Dewey, 408 So.2d 1255 (La.1982). The remaining assignments of error are as follows:

1. The trial court erred in denying the Motion to Quash the indictment for violation of defendants’ right to a speedy trial.
2. The trial court erred in denying the Motion to Suppress evidence seized as a result of an alleged illegal arrest.
3. The trial court erred in denying the Motion to Suppress identification testimony because of the one on one nature and because it was the product of an alleged illegal detention.1
4. The trial court erred in allowing the state to use a peremptory challenge to exclude a black prospective juror.
5. The trial court erred in denying the Motion for Mistrial based on prejudicial remarks of the prosecution.
6. The trial court erred in denying the Motion for Mistrial based on the state’s expression of personal opinion as to guilt.
9. The trial court erred in denying the Motion to exclude serological evidence.
22. The trial court erred in that the identification of defendant was insufficient to support the jury’s finding that defendant committed the crime.
23. The trial court erred in that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict.

After reviewing all of these assignments of error, we hold that the assignments are without merit. We thus affirm defendant’s conviction and sentence.

FACTS

The rape with which defendant is charged occurred on December 11, 1984. The victim was a female who was 47 years old at the time of the rape. The rape occurred in a wooded area near her home in LaSalle Parish at about 11:30 a.m. She had followed a path in the woods to attempt to find a trap that had fallen off of her son’s three wheel vehicle on the previous day. Her location in the woods was about 50 yards from her home. As she walked through the woods she was tackled and thrown to the ground by a black male whom she identified as the defendant. The attacker told the victim that he thought she was a man. She told him that it was obvious that she was not a man and he should let her up. He continued to hold her down and told her “we could make good love.” She told him that if they did, it would be rape. He then took her keys, which had been safety-pinned to her waistband, and told her that he would give them back to her if she consented. She again refused. The attacker put the keys in his pants pocket. He then started hitting her with his fist about the face and chest. He then attempted to drag her further into the woods to avoid being seen by anyone. The victim struggled with him and he slammed her back and shoulders against a pine tree and then threw her to the ground. He held the victim down and started to fondle her. In describing what happened next the victim stated “I grabbed a-hold of his balls and I tried to pull them off.” This prompted the attacker to bite her on the cheek. She stated that then “I found the head of his dick and I pinched as hard as I could and he quit biting me.” He then began hitting her again and slamming her to the ground. He then partially removed her pants and vaginally raped her. The victim said that the attacker then allowed her to put her pants back on. He then pulled her to her feet saying: “come on, baby, we can [1274]*1274have some more fun.” The victim could not remember exactly how, but at that point the attacker lessened the hold that he had on her and she pulled away and ran. She ran to her neighbors’ house which was about 40 yards away from the site of the attack. The neighbors immediately called the police (police records indicate that the time of the call was 12:14 p.m.). In a short time two police officers arrived, got a description of the attacker, and surveyed the scene of the crime. The description of the attacker was broadcasted over the police radio. Deputies of the LaSalle Parish Sheriff's Office then surrounded the wooded area where the rape occurred. Because of a prior investigation in a different case, the police officers were familiar with the woods, the paths, and where the paths exited the woods. Less than an hour after the rape was reported, several police officers, who were searching for the attacker, observed the defendant exit the woods and begin walking along a railroad track that runs parallel to U.S. Highway 84. The defendant fit the description given by the victim and the officers approached him. One of the officers knew defendant’s name and told him to stop. Defendant was wearing a long green trench coat despite the fact that it was a warm day. The defendant had his hands in his pockets and was told to remove them. He also apparently had a bulge in the back of his coat and at least one of the officers feared that this may have possibly been a weapon. One of the officers then “reached to get him,” and defendant’s coat came open. Underneath the coat the defendant had no shirt on, the fly of his pants was unzipped, and his penis and testicles were hanging out of his pants. He was then advised of his Miranda rights and placed under arrest as a suspect in the rape investigation. Defendant was searched and several articles of clothing which he was either wearing when arrested or which were found stuffed into the back of his pants under his coat matched the clothing that the victim said the attacker was wearing. The victim’s keys were found in defendant’s front pants pocket.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1

Defendant was arrested on December 11,1984. His trial for aggravated rape began on December 8, 1986 and the jury’s verdict of guilty was returned on December 18, 1986. Defendant claims that this was an unreasonable delay and denied him of his right to a speedy trial under Article I, Section 16 of the Louisiana Constitution. After reviewing all of the facts present, we hold that defendant was not denied of his right to a speedy trial.

Between the time of defendant’s arrest on December 11, 1984 and his subsequent trial which began almost two years after his arrest, a bevy of motions, hearings, and writs were filed by both defendant and the DA’s office. Much of the dispute was based upon the fact that defendant was initially charged under a bill of information rather than a grand jury indictment as required by the Louisiana Constitution.2 Further delaying the proceedings was the fact that defendant’s initial court-appointed attorney had to be replaced by a new court-appointed attorney.3 Defendant’s new court-appointed attorney filed extensive motions and pleadings that further delayed the trial on this matter. A complete list of all motions, hearings, etc. filed in this matter by both sides is too extensive to recite herein. Suffice it to say that these procedural matters were enough to cause a substantial delay in the start of defendant’s trial.

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Related

State v. Coutee
545 So. 2d 571 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1989)
State v. Gardner
530 So. 2d 89 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1988)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
524 So. 2d 1271, 1988 La. App. LEXIS 726, 1988 WL 16529, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-gardner-lactapp-1988.