State v. J.M.

189 So. 3d 1079, 2015 WL 629298
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 11, 2015
DocketNo. 14-KA-579
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 189 So. 3d 1079 (State v. J.M.) 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. J.M., 189 So. 3d 1079, 2015 WL 629298 (La. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

HANS J. LILJEBERG, Judge.

' ^Defendant, J.M.,1 was charged by bill of information with one count of molestation of a juvenile under the age of 13 (count one), in violation of La. R.S. 14:81.2, and one count of indecent behavior with a juvenile under the age of 13 (count'two), in violation of La. R.S. 14:81. A trial was held, and a jury found defendant guilty as charged on count one and guilty of the lesser charge of attempted indecent behavior on count two. Defendant was sentenced to 25 years at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence on count one and ten years at hard labor with two years to be served without benefit of probation, párole or suspension of sentence on count two. The court ordered the sentences to run concurrently with each other. Defendant now appeals his convictions and sentences.

J^FACTS

The victim in this case is defendant’s daughter, B.M. At trial, S.M., the mother of B.M. and the wife of defendant, testified that prior to March 26, 2012, B.M., S.M.’s minor son C.M., and S.M. all lived with defendant and his mother, M.M., in Luling, Louisiana. She stated' that B.M. was two or three years old'when they moved there. On March 25, 2012, S.M. decided to leave M.M.’s house, because she was unhappy about everything, including her marriage. According to S.M., she was attempting to call her father to ask him to pick her and the children up when M.M. pushed her and attempted to take the phone because she did not want her to leave. S.M. explained that after M.M. pushed her, she was trying to catch her balance and knocked M.M.’s glasses off. She testified that M.M. called the police because she felt that S.M. had assaulted her. After the police arrived, S.M. was able to leave with the children.

S.M. explained that while they were staying with a friend on the night that they left M.M.’s house, B.M. approached her and stated, “Well, I’m glad we’re gone because something happened.” She explained that B.M. did not disclose any specifics at that time. However, S.M. testified that' something happened between B.M. and defendant in 2004 involving the court system, so she asked her cousin, C.S., to pick them' up the next day, and they took B.M. to the police. After Sergeant Sampson interviewed B.M., without [1084]*1084S.M. present, S.M. brought B.M. to Children's Hospital for an examination.

Sergeant Roanne Sampson of the St. Charles Parish Sheriffs Office testified that on March 26, 2012, S.M. and B.M., who was 12 years old at the time, came to her office. After Sergeant Sampson interviewed S.M., she met with B.M. independently, and B,M. provided a disclosure to her. Based on B.M.’s disclosure, Sergeant Sampson advised S.M. to bring her to Children’s Hospital for a medical | ¿examination. On March 27, 2012, Sergeant Sampson watched on a monitor in a separate room as Lieutenant Kinler -conducted a video-recorded forensic interview of B.M. On April 19, 2012, Dr. Jackson examined B.M. at Children’s. Hospital and then informed Sergeant Sampson that B.M. made a disclosure. As a result, Sergeant Sampson conducted another audio-recorded statement with B.M. on May 4, 2012. After B.M.’s second statement to Sergeant Sampson, Lieutenant Kinler conducted a second video-recorded forensic interview of B.M. Sergeant, Sampson arrested defendant on July 6, 2012.

Sergeant Sampson testified that she had previously arrested defendant in. 2004 based on allegations that he had molested B.M. Sergeant Sampson stated that defendant provided an audio-recorded statement regarding the 2004 incident, in which he admitted to “accidentally” touching B.M.’s vagina with his mouth. Sergeant Sampson also testified that the 2004.case against defendant began when B.M. made a disclosure to a babysitter, not because of domestic separation.

Lieutenant Rene Kinler, a juvenile investigations division supervisor and forensic interviewer for the St. Charles Parish Sheriffs Office, testified that she participated in the investigation in this case. In her first forensic interview on March 27, 2012, B.M. stated that defendant would enter her bedroom at night after first checking that the other bedroom doors were closed. According to B.M., defendant would then ask if he could “play,” which she explained meant to touch her body parts. B.M. stated that she replied in the negative, so defendant would leave her room. B.M. explained that this occurred approximately 20 times per month, and it started happening about a year pri- or to her interview.

In her first forensic interview, B.M. also stated that the night they moved out of the house where defendant lived, her mother asked if anything happened between her and defendant. According to B.M., she told her mother that defendant Lhad been asking if he could touch her, but she replied in the negative. B.M. stated that defendant told her every night not to tell anyone what he had been asking her. B.M. stated that she told her mother that she knew defendant was asking because he was a sex offender. She explained that she learned that defendant was a sex offender when a child on her bus saw defendant’s photograph on the internet.

Lieutenant Kinler conducted a second forensic interview of B.M. on June 26, 2012. In this interview, B.M. stated that she remembered one night when defendant asked her if she wanted to “play,” and she responded in the negative. According to B.M., defendant waited until everyone was asleep and asked her to “play” when she was half-asleep, ^but she said no. B.M. stated that when she woke up an hour qr two later, her underwear was gone, the blanket was off of her, her shirt was pulled up, and her door was open.

During this second forensic interview, B.M. also explained that defendant would sometimes touch, squeeze, and rub her “top area.” She stated that while one hand was touching her breast, defendant [1085]*1085would touch himself by moving back and forth with his hand in his pants', and she could hear a “crunching” sound “like [sic] paper towel.” B.M. stated that this would happen 15 to 20 times per month. She explained that- one night when she was half-asleep, she felt him touching her breast and she found her underwear off that night. B.M. stated that when defendant touched her breast, it would be skin on skin.

Dr. Jamie Jackson was accepted as an expert in the field' of child abuse pediatrics. Dr. Jackson testified that on April 19, 2012, she examined B.M. and took a history from her. ■ She testified that B.M. disclosed sexual abuse by her father involving contact with her breasts, which was always on her skin. Dr. Jackson explained that B.M. demonstrated that her father touched her breast, “[l]ike a cup.” According to Dr. Jackson, B.M. stated that her father told her not to |Rtell anyone. B.M. also stated that the abuse occurred while she was sleeping. Dr. Jackson stated that B.M. further disclosed that her father had his hand in his pants in his private area when he touched her breast. Dr. Jackson testified that B.M.’s physical exam resulted in non-specific findings, which neither confirmed nor denied maltreatment. Dr. Jackson- also explained that children often say that a person has done something to them while they were asleep as a coping mechanism.

At trial, B.M., who was 14 years old at the time, testified that when she moved out of the house where her grandmother and father lived in March of 2012, she disclosed to her mother that something had been occurring between her and her father. B.M. stated that her mother brought her to the sheriffs office and she spoke with Sergeant Sampson.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
189 So. 3d 1079, 2015 WL 629298, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-jm-lactapp-2015.