State v. George

908 So. 2d 79, 2005 WL 1536807
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 1, 2005
Docket39,772-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 908 So. 2d 79 (State v. George) 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. George, 908 So. 2d 79, 2005 WL 1536807 (La. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

908 So.2d 79 (2005)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee
v.
Charles R. GEORGE, Appellant.

No. 39,772-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

July 1, 2005.

*81 Carey J. Ellis, Louisiana Appellate Project, for Appellant.

Iley Evans, District Attorney, John F. Aplin, Assistant District Attorney, for Appellee.

Before BROWN, STEWART, and CARAWAY, JJ.

BROWN, C.J.

Defendant, Charles R. George, was convicted of second degree murder, and sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. The sentence was to run consecutively with another life sentence he received for aggravated kidnapping. Finding no error, we affirm defendant's conviction and sentence.

Facts

The victim, Dondi Walker Copeland, was a real estate agent in West Monroe, Louisiana. On May 11, 2001, the owner of the realty company which employed Mrs. Copeland contacted the West Monroe Police Department because the victim had not been seen or heard from for several hours. At about 1:00 p.m. that afternoon, Phyllis Wood, who was driving along a rural section of La. Hwy. 4 in Caldwell Parish, saw a woman tumble from a small white car onto the road. Ms. Wood stopped and called 9-1-1. The woman Ms. Wood saw was Dondi Walker Copeland, who was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of death was cranial cerebral trauma.

Carl Layne Womack was driving a log truck ahead of the white car. He stated that he first noticed the car following him as he pulled onto George Road. Womack said that the driver of the white car honked at him, but did not pass him although he gave it ample time to do so. Womack never saw the occupants of the vehicle.

The victim's car was discovered parked on a side road approximately one-half mile from where her body was found. The sleeve of a red sweater was seen hanging from the trunk. The victim had been seen wearing a red sweater. Boot prints led away from the car. A search for the driver of the car was unsuccessful. The next day, defendant, who had spent the night in the woods, was stopped while walking along La. Hwy. 548. Defendant told the officers that "he was the guy they were looking for." After being taken into custody and Mirandized, defendant gave a statement which was recorded by both video and audio tape.

While his story changed during questioning, it can be summarized as follows. Defendant arranged by telephone for the victim to show him some houses. Defendant parked his vehicle at the Glenwood Medical Center and walked to the real estate office. He stated that he and Mrs. Copeland looked at houses and that she stopped at least once to unlock a door for a repairman. Afterward, she drove defendant back to the medical center, where his car was parked. Defendant grabbed her wrist, told her he needed $150 or $200, and forced her to drive her car to her bank so she could withdraw money from the A.T.M. He then gave her directions to a camp his family owned located on George Road in Caldwell Parish.

*82 Defendant pulled the victim inside the camp house and told her that he intended to have sex with her. The victim prayed out loud as defendant made her undress, and he attempted to have intercourse with her. He was unsuccessful, prematurely ejaculating on her left leg. Defendant cleaned the victim's leg up with a towel and told her to get dressed. Defendant described the victim's clothing as a white blouse, printed skirt, and red sweater. Defendant forced the victim to get into the trunk of her car and drove off. Defendant remembered following a log truck and meeting a dually pick-up truck. While he was driving the car, the trunk opened and the victim jumped out. Defendant stated that he continued driving before parking the car and running into the woods where he stayed until his apprehension by police.

The state at trial presented additional evidence supporting defendant's statement. The victim's co-worker reported to police that she had seen the victim with defendant around 9:30 a.m. on the date of the offense. Jeremy Foster testified that he saw the victim with defendant at a house "around lunch time." Another witness testified that she saw the victim and an unknown man around 12:30 or 1:00 p.m. A photograph from Bank One shows the victim's vehicle at the A.T.M. at 11:45 a.m. Defendant had $200 in $20 bills on his person when he was arrested. Hair and semen were found on a towel at the camp house with DNA that matched both the victim and defendant. The parties stipulated that the victim's autopsy showed no evidence of sexual trauma. Both the victim's and defendant's DNA were found on the steering wheel of the victim's car.

Defendant was convicted of second degree murder under the felony murder doctrine, with the underlying felony being attempted forcible rape. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without benefit on July 28, 2004, the sentence to run consecutively with any other sentence(s).[1] Defendant has appealed the conviction and sentence.

Discussion

Sufficiency of the Evidence

Defendant argues that the evidence was insufficient to support a conviction of second degree murder. He contends that he cannot be convicted on his own uncorroborated confession, citing State v. Willie, 410 So.2d 1019 (La.1982), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1051, 104 S.Ct. 1327, 79 L.Ed.2d 723 (1984); and Summit v. Blackburn, 795 F.2d 1237 (5th Cir.(La.) 1986). According to defendant, there is no witness who can place him at the scene of the alleged attempted forcible rape or the victim's death. He further claims that the state failed to prove attempted forcible rape. Finally, defendant argues that the timing and locations were such that the attempted forcible rape and the victim's death were not connected.

The proper standard of appellate review for a sufficiency of the evidence claim is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); State v. Bosley, 29,253 (La.App. 2d Cir.04/02/97), 691 So.2d 347, writ denied, 97-1203 (La.10/17/97), 701 So.2d 1333. The Jackson standard is applicable in cases involving both direct and circumstantial evidence.

*83 This court's authority to review questions of fact in a criminal case is limited to the sufficiency of the evidence evaluation under Jackson, supra, and does not extend to credibility determinations made by the trier of fact. La. Const. art. 5, § 10(B); State v. Williams, 448 So.2d 753 (La.App. 2d Cir.1984).

Defendant was convicted of second degree murder. As it pertains to this case, second degree murder is the killing of a human being when the offender is engaged in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of one of a number of enumerated felonies. La. R.S. 14:30.1. In the defendant's case, the underlying felony was attempted forcible rape.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
908 So. 2d 79, 2005 WL 1536807, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-george-lactapp-2005.