State v. Guillory

176 So. 3d 742, 15 La.App. 3 Cir. 333, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 1961, 2015 WL 5834028
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 7, 2015
DocketNo. 15-333
StatusPublished

This text of 176 So. 3d 742 (State v. Guillory) 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. Guillory, 176 So. 3d 742, 15 La.App. 3 Cir. 333, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 1961, 2015 WL 5834028 (La. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

COOKS, Judge.

|2Pefendant, Michael Guillory, appeals the jury’s verdict convicting him of forcible rape and indecent behavior with a juvenile.1 The trial court sentenced Defendant as a second felony offender to fifty years at hard labor for forcible rape and ten [743]*743years at hard labor for indecent behavior with a juvenile.

Defendant alleges one assignment of error: He contends the State “failed to prove that [he] committed the crimes alleged, beyond a reasonable doubt, because no rational juror could have found [him] guilty, based on the evidence adduced at trial.”

On June 2, 2015, the State filed its response brief. The State acknowledged the case against Defendant contained discrepancies but countered that point by stating that the victims “never wavered fi’om their testimony that they were attacked by the Defendant.” The State maintained that its case excluded all reasonable hypotheses of innocence and that the jury’s determination was rational.

Defendant’s assignment of error requires an in-depth evaluation of the proof presented at trial to establish his guilt. Accordingly, we will thoroughly examine the evidence presented below to determine if Defendant’s sufficiency of evidence challenge has merit.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The State’s first witness was Detective Jason Alexander, who was an investigator with the forensic unit of the Calcasieu Parish Sheriffs Office at the time of the incident. He testified that he reported to Lake Charles Memorial Hospital on October 13, 2007, regarding “sexual allegations against Michael Guillory” being made by two minor female victims, N.W. and M.R., which ^occurred on or about October 6,' 2007. When asked to describe his interactions, Detective Alexander said N.W. “wouldn’t look at me.” The two girls were later interviewed by Emily Williams at the Children’s Advocacy Center, which Detective Alexander monitored via closed-circuit television. He also met with N.W.’s mother at the hospital. The detective testified Defendant called the mother twice while at the hospital and that he listened to two voicemails left by him, one in which he asked her to call him immediately, and another in which he said he had “explaining to do.” The detective later arranged for N.W.’s mother to make a controlled phone call to Defendant, which in turn resulted in a face-to-face meeting between the two that was recorded. The detective identified Defendant in court and testified that he obtained the victims’ medical records. On cross-examination, Detective Alexander acknowledged that two individuals spoke to the victims before he did.

Next, the State called Ms. Kim Burt Roland, who was working as a triage nurse at the hospital on October 13, 2007. She explained that her job was to document the chief complaint of those entering the emergency room (hereafter “E.R.”). M.R. told Ms. Roland she was raped by a twenty-five year-old man named “Mike” and that he licked her breasts and stomach and put her legs around him and started humping. Ms. Roland explained the procedures the staff follows when an individual enters the E.R. alleging sexual assault, which includes completing a SANE exam within seventy-two hours to collect physical evidence.2' The State then entered M.R.’s October 13, 2007, medical record into evidence, which indicated she stated the incident occurred “last week” and “Michael Guillory” touched her under the clothes on her chest area and behind, and they would both be in big trouble if she told anyone, that she said “No” several [744]*744times, |4he took out his “thing” (meaning “penis”) and asked her if she wanted to know how to play with it, and he showed her his condoms.

N.W.’s chief complaint was that she, too, was raped by her mother’s friend and he was wearing a condom when it occurred. N.W.’s medical records from October 13, 2007, were also entered into evidence. The record indicates that the rape occurred “one week ago.” It was explained that no SANE exam was completed because the alleged assault occurred more than seventy-two hours prior to N.W.’s visit at the E.R. On cross-examination, defense counsel highlighted that because of the delay in reporting, there was no physical evidence of a sexual assault as to either victim.

The State’s third witness was Ms. Emily Williams, who interviewed N.W. and M.R. at the Children’s Advocacy Center (hereafter “CAC”). The interviews were recorded and entered into evidence.

N.W.’s interview was played for the jury first. The interview was conducted on October 16, 2007, and N.W. began by saying she was “molested.” She explained that she went with her mother and “Mike” to get M.R. to .bring her back to her house for the night. Her mother first fell asleep on the couch, but then her mother went to sleep in her bedroom. Shortly after that, “Mike” picked N.W. up off the couch and brought her into her bedroom. She did not wake up until he put her on the bed. She says the first thing she remembers is seeing “Mike” molesting her. He was taking his clothes off and put something on his “private.” She explained that she was scared and froze at that moment, and she “guessed” that he spread her legs. Her shorts were loose, and he moved her underwear to the side and held them to the side to “molest” her. She described how she was laying on her back as this occurred, eventually saying that “he put his thing in me.” She alternatively described it as him putting his “private” in her “middle spot.” Throughout, he asked her “does that feel good?” and “does that hurt?” She said he 1¡¡also put his hand on her chest but did not remember if it was under or over her shirt. After some prodding, she said it was over the shirt. He did not make her do anything to him. After the encounter, she went back to the couch, laid on M.R. and cried. She said she could not remember if M.R. was asleep or not at the time and that her mother was in her room. She did not see if he did anything to M.R., but M.R. told N.W. that he “molested” her. N.W. said that M.R. told her that he put his thing inside of MIR. too. She said she was scared that he would hurt her and that a man named Andrew had hurt her before. Andrew had tried to remove her clothes, but she kicked him off. She told M.R. first about what happened, then her mother’s friend, Alicia. Ms. Williams showed her two drawings. The first was a female, on which she circled the chest and “middle spot.” She said he went inside her “middle spot.” The second was a male, on which she circled the hand and penis.' She also placed an “X” over the penis to signify where he put the “thing” on his penis, presumably meaning a condom. She - did not know what 'happened to the condom, nor did she see anything come out of his penis. Finally, she explained how her mother confronted him in her presence.

Defense counsel cross-examined Ms. Williams subsequent to the jury’s viewing of N.W.’s interview but before its viewing of M.R.’s interview. Ms. Williams acknowledged that N.W. spoke with an Alicia Daigle before her interview regarding the allegations against Defendant and that Ms. Daigle may have used techniques that Ms. Williams would not have used in her pro[745]*745fession, such as possibly asking leading questions to obtain information from N.W. Ms. Williams also acknowledged that, aside from Ms. Daigle, N.W. had also spoken with M.R. and her mother about what had occurred prior to her visit to the CAC. M.R. had apparently told N.W. that Defendant “put his thing in her [M.R.].” She also agreed with defense counsel that N.W. had said she was “halfway asleep” right

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Bluebook (online)
176 So. 3d 742, 15 La.App. 3 Cir. 333, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 1961, 2015 WL 5834028, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-guillory-lactapp-2015.