State v. Lampley

265 So. 3d 799
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 2, 2018
DocketNO. 2018 KA 0402
StatusPublished

This text of 265 So. 3d 799 (State v. Lampley) 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. Lampley, 265 So. 3d 799 (La. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

Higginbotham, J.

The defendant, Carlos Lampley, was charged by an amended grand jury indictment on count one with trafficking of children for sexual purposes, a violation of La. R.S. 14:46.3, and on counts two, three, and four with human trafficking, violations of La. R.S. 14:46.2.1 The defendant pled not guilty on all counts, and proceeded to trial by jury. Prior to the verdict, the trial court granted the defendant's motion to quash as to count four. The jury found the defendant guilty as charged on counts one and two, and guilty of the responsive offense of attempted human trafficking on count three, in violation of La. R.S. 14:27 and La. R.S. 14:46.2.2

*803The defendant was sentenced on count one to fifteen years imprisonment at hard labor without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence; on count two to twenty years imprisonment at hard labor without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence; and on count three to five years imprisonment at hard labor without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. The trial court ordered that all three sentences be served consecutively. The trial court denied the defendant's motion to reconsider sentence. The defendant now appeals, assigning error in a counseled brief to the sufficiency of the evidence and the constitutionality of the sentences, and assigning error in a pro se brief to the State introducing other crimes evidence without a hearing pursuant to State v. Prieur, 277 So.2d 126 (La. 1973), the State failing to disclose evidence in violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963), and the State misrepresenting its burden of proof during voir dire.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

On June 21, 2012, the FBI, the Louisiana State Police, the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office, and the Baton Rouge Police Department (BRPD) conducted a multi-agency operation targeting prostitution and human trafficking in Baton Rouge, organized by FBI Special Agent Taneka Blacknell.3 As a result of the operation, the defendant was arrested on that date. The operation took place at the Crestwood Suites Hotels in Baton Rouge, and targets were developed from the website Backpage as well as other websites. Further, under their procedure, an undercover agent was used to contact suspected prostitutes to arrange a date and, after an agreement for sex was negotiated, the police would enter the hotel room and make an arrest.

On the date noted above, June 21, 2012, an undercover agent negotiated a sex act with a sixteen-year-old high school student, then the agent gave an audible signal for the officers to enter the room. While at the hotel, the officers made contact with the defendant who was at the hotel with another female. The officers detained, separated, and questioned the defendant and the female. The officer conducted a search of the defendant and discovered he had a hotel key for Room 326.4 The defendant gave the officers consent to search the hotel room, and in doing so, they discovered a bag of alprazolam pills. Once the defendant was confronted regarding the pills, he denied that Room 326 was his room, indicating that Room 240 was his room. The officers then went to Room 240, where they located two other females, a substantial amount of paperwork5 bearing the defendant's name, and a DVD. The room was not registered in the defendant's name, and he did not have a key to the room on his person. The defendant was placed under arrest for possession of drugs, solicitation for prostitution, and human trafficking.

*804M.P., the victim on count one (trafficking of children for sexual purposes), testified that her date of birth is January 14, 1994.6 According to the indictment, the offense was committed "[o]n or about July 2011 to October 19, 2011[.]" M.P. first met the defendant at a studio in Baton Rouge. Although she was seventeen years old at the time, she told the defendant she was eighteen years old. After the initial meeting with the defendant, she became interested in the life that he described to her, and began participating in "dates." Her first date was obtained as a result of a "backpage" ad that one of the girls posted on her behalf. M.P. specifically described the date as her going to a room with the "trick" and having sex with him. She received payment in exchange for the sex and was told to go pay her "Daddy," the defendant. She went on more dates and eventually began working the "track," which consisted of her riding around to pick someone, preferably a New Orleans tourist, and attempting to obtain their personal information, including pin numbers. In addition to stealing pin numbers, on some occasions she performed sexual acts while working the track. Whenever she would obtain money, she would give it to the defendant. When she obtained credit cards and pin numbers, she would go to an ATM to check the balance on the card, retrieve funds, and then go to Walmart to purchase money orders to give to the defendant.

M.J., the victim on count two (human trafficking when the services include commercial sexual activity), confirmed that her date of birth is August 26, 1987. She further testified that she was a prostitute for the defendant. According to the indictment, the offense was committed "[o]n or about January 2008 [.]" M.J. first met the defendant in 2007, through a female who indicated that she needed help getting away from a male who she was staying with at the time. After prostituting for another pimp who would beat her, M.J. began working for the defendant instead. All of the money that she obtained from "tricks" was given to the defendant. M.J. considered herself as one of the defendant's higher earners. She testified that $90,000 was the most amount of money she ever made for the defendant in one night. She confirmed that if she ever failed to do something that she was supposed to do, the defendant would punish her by hitting her, withholding food, or raping her.

K.W., the victim on count three (attempted human trafficking when the services include commercial sexual activity), testified that her date of birth is July 30, 1996.7 According to the indictment, the offense was committed "[o]n or about June 21, 2012[.]" At trial, K.W. denied that she was ever solicited by the defendant to work as a prostitute, but stated that she and D.J., her close childhood friend that she referred to as "her sister," met the defendant at a hotel. K.W. recalled giving a pretrial interview to FBI Agent Blacknell, but did not recall the content of the interview. According to Agent Blacknell, during her pretrial interview of K.W. on August 2, 2012, K.W. confirmed that she and D.J. met the defendant at a hotel, and he described the concepts of pimping and *805

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
265 So. 3d 799, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-lampley-lactapp-2018.