State v. Granger

103 So. 3d 576, 12 La.App. 5 Cir. 193, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 1347, 2012 WL 5347837
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 30, 2012
DocketNo. 12-KA-193
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 103 So. 3d 576 (State v. Granger) 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. Granger, 103 So. 3d 576, 12 La.App. 5 Cir. 193, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 1347, 2012 WL 5347837 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

WALTER J. ROTHSCHILD, Judge.

^Defendant, Clevern Granger, was charged with one count of aggravated burglary in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:60 (count one), and one count of forcible rape in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:42.1 (count two).1 Defendant pled not guilty to both counts at arraignment. A competency hearing was held on July 15, 2009, at which time defendant was found incompetent to stand trial [578]*578and was then remanded to East Louisiana State Hospital. On April 29 and May 5, 2010, defendant’s competency was re-evaluated, and the court again found defendant incompetent to stand trial. At the conclusion of the third competency hearing held on January 19 and February 2, 2011, the trial court found defendant competent to stand trial. Prior to trial, the State filed a Notice of Intent to Use Evidence of Other Crimes, which was heard and granted by the trial court on August 15, 2011.

On August 17, 2011, defendant was found guilty on both counts by a 12-person jury. On August 29, 2011, defendant filed a Motion for Judgment of Acquittal, which was denied by the trial court prior to sentencing. Defendant was then sentenced to 80 years at hard labor on counts one and two, with credit for time | ^served. The trial court further ordered that defendant’s 80 year sentences be served concurrently, and that the first two years of defendant’s sentence on count two be served without the benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. The trial court also issued a permanent Louisiana Uniform Abuse Prevention Order, which the defendant refused to sign. After sentencing, defendant filed a Motion for New Trial asserting that defendant did not receive a fair trial because the State was permitted to submit evidence of defendant’s prior bad acts. The trial court denied defendant’s motion for new trial.

Defendant also filed a Motion to Withdraw as Counsel of Record and Motion to Appoint the Louisiana Appellate Project, which was granted by the trial court. Defense counsel failed to file a Motion for Appeal. However, pursuant to an application for post-conviction relief filed by the defendant, the trial court issued an order that it would construe defendant’s prior motion as a request for appeal, and thus ordered defendant’s motion for appeal granted. The instant appeal follows.

FACTS

The defendant and the victim are natives of Trinidad where they met and were married in February of 2000. The couple moved to New Orleans in November of 2001 and had two children during their marriage. During her testimony the victim described her marriage to the defendant as “rocky,” and included both verbal and physical abuse inflicted by the defendant. According to the victim, the first incident of physical abuse occurred in 2004 when they had a physical confrontation over bills and another woman the defendant had been seeing. During that incident, the victim testified that the defendant placed a chair over her neck, and when he moved the chair, “he came down on top” of her, and “slapped [her] around.” As a result, the victim testified that she suffered injuries to |4her back, chest, and neck, but did not report the incident to the police for fear that he would hurt or kill her. The victim testified that the defendant had told her that if she ever went to the police he would “finish what he started.” Six months later, the defendant engaged in another physical altercation with the victim where he slapped her across the face after she asked him if they could take their daughter out for her graduation. The victim moved residences several times to distance herself from the defendant but the physical and verbal abuse continued. In May of 2008 the victim obtained a restraining order against the defendant. Despite obtaining the restraining order, the harassment and abuse by the defendant did not stop. The victim testified that she moved to five different residences to avoid the defendant but he always found her.2

[579]*579By December of 2008, the victim and defendant were divorced and the victim had moved into an apartment located at 937 W. Monterey in Gretna.3 The victim testified that the defendant was not on the lease and did not have a key to the apartment.4 The victim recalled that while at the apartment on December 29, 2008, she called the police to report an incident which began the previous evening where the defendant had spent most of the night banging on her windows and doors. The victim further testified that the defendant had turned off the electrical power to her apartment. And although the victim asked defendant several times to leave, he refused. According to the victim, despite the finalization of their divorce, the defendant would continue to show up at her home and at her place of employment.

|fiDeputy Gerald Favaloro, of the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office, testified regarding the December 29, 2008 incident. Specifically, Deputy Favaloro testified that he responded to a call for service at an apartment located at 937 W. Monterey Court.5 Upon arrival, Deputy Favaloro testified that he met with the victim who appeared seared and who informed him that her ex-husband had been at the apartment all night banging on her doors and windows. While at the scene, the victim also showed Deputy Favaloro her 2007 divorce papers. Upon learning of their divorce, and after defendant refused to provide the officers with his identification, the defendant was asked to leave the property. Deputy Favaloro explained that the defendant refused to leave the premises so he and the other officers on the scene attempted to handcuff the defendant but were initially unsuccessful because the defendant pulled his arms away and began swinging at the officers. Eventually the officers were forced to use pepper spray to detain the defendant. Deputy Favaloro testified that he sustained a scratch to his arm as a result of the incident. On cross-examination, Deputy Favaloro testified that the defendant was arrested for trespassing, staying after forbidding, resisting an officer, and battery on a police officer.

The victim recalled another incident involving the defendant which took place on March 1, 2009, when the defendant’s sister-in-law asked the victim if the defendant could watch the children while she was at [580]*580work. The victim agreed, but when she arrived home that evening and asked the defendant to leave, he refused. The defendant finally left after she gave him $20.00. However, when the victim ^finished preparing for bed that evening, she found the defendant hiding behind a door in her apartment wearing white gloves. The victim testified that when she started to scream, he put his hand over her mouth, told her to “shut up,” and began hitting her as he held her down on the floor. The victim further testified that the defendant had a machete with him. The fighting continued throughout the night and into the next morning until the defendant permitted the victim to go to work upon the condition that she not tell anyone what had happened. The victim called the police the next day to report the incident. The 911 tape concerning this incident was played for the jury. On the tape the victim was heard telling the operator that the defendant beat her up and threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the incident. The victim further told the operator that the defendant was stalking her, calling her phone at all hours, and that the defendant had even broken into her house, beat her up and threatened to kill her if she told anyone.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
103 So. 3d 576, 12 La.App. 5 Cir. 193, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 1347, 2012 WL 5347837, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-granger-lactapp-2012.