State v. Larkins

243 So. 3d 1220
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 27, 2017
DocketNo. 51,540–KA
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 243 So. 3d 1220 (State v. Larkins) 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. Larkins, 243 So. 3d 1220 (La. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

PITMAN, J.

Defendant Anthony Lemarcus Larkins was charged with one count of aggravated rape in violation of La. R.S. 14:42. After a bench trial, he was found guilty as charged and sentenced to life imprisonment without the benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. He filed a pro se motion to reconsider sentence, which was not ruled on by the trial court. On appeal, Defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence and argues that the case must be remanded to the trial court to rule upon the outstanding motion to reconsider sentence. For the following reasons, Defendant's conviction and sentence are affirmed, and the matter is remanded to the trial court for sex offender registration notification.

FACTS

On October 17, 2013, Defendant was indicted by a grand jury for the aggravated rape of D.W. in 2003. At arraignment, he pled not guilty and elected to have a bench trial. He also chose to represent himself.

The first witness at trial was D.W., who testified that he was born on January 15, 1997, and currently lives in Shreveport, Louisiana, with his mother and two sisters. He stated that he, his mother and his sister previously lived with his great-grandparents in Shreveport from the time he was in preschool until about first or second grade. While they were living there, Defendant began dating his mother. D.W., his mother and his sister moved in with Defendant and his son in 2003.

D.W. further testified that his mother worked the night shift at Wal-Mart, and Defendant or D.W.'s great-grandparents would watch him and his sister while their mother worked. He stated that when Defendant *1222was watching them, Defendant would take him into the master bedroom and force him to perform oral sex on him. He noted that he was in the second or third grade at that time and that his sister was present on at least two occasions. He further stated that Defendant also forced him and his sister to remove their clothes and touch each other's private parts while he watched.

According to D.W., he eventually told his aunt about Defendant's conduct, and she called Child Protective Services ("CPS"). After his aunt contacted CPS, he briefly lived with his aunt in Shreveport, while his mother and sister moved into an apartment. He stated that after living with his aunt for one year, he moved to Georgia with his mother, his sister and his newborn sister, where they resided for approximately 2½ years. He testified that his family returned to Shreveport when he was age 10 or 11 and lived with his mother's friend, Keshia Prim. Defendant frequently visited the family at Prim's home, and D.W., his mother and his sisters moved back in with him a year later.

D.W.'s sister (whose initials are also D.W.) testified that shortly after her family moved into Defendant's home in 2003, Defendant called her and her brother into the master bedroom and twice forced her to watch D.W. perform oral sex on him. She noted that the incidents generally occurred at night when their mother was at work. She further stated that on at least one occasion, Defendant forced her and D.W. to remove their clothes and attempted to force them to have sex with each other in the living room. She testified, "I was laying on the floor, and he [Defendant] made [D.W.] get on top of me and try to put his private part in me. And if we didn't do it, [Defendant] would whoop us." She further testified that she told her mother of the incident, but she could not recall her mother's response. After the incident, she, D.W. and her mother first moved to the Villa del Lago apartments and then relocated to Georgia.

D.W.'s sister corroborated his testimony that upon returning to Shreveport several years later, the family lived with a friend for a brief period, but eventually moved back in with Defendant. She stated that, while living with him, Defendant choked her and then offered her money in exchange for sex. She testified that she initially resisted his repeated advances, but ultimately agreed to have sex with him. D.W.'s sister noted she was 15 years old when she and Defendant first had sex, and they engaged in vaginal sexual intercourse approximately two or three times a month. The encounters occurred either in her room or her mother's room and always when her mother was at work. She testified that her mother, K.W., discovered she and Defendant were having sex after reading text messages between her and her boyfriend, "Trey," which detailed her sexual encounters with Defendant. After reading the text messages, K.W. called the police and CPS.

K.W. testified that she has three children, D.W. and her older daughter (who are not Defendant's biological children), and her younger daughter (who is Defendant's biological daughter). She stated that she met and began dating Defendant in 2002 while working at the Wal-Mart on Mansfield Road. She, D.W. and D.W.'s sister were living with her grandparents at that time. The three of them eventually moved in with Defendant, his mother and his son in 2003. She testified that Defendant and his mother would watch the children while she was working. She further noted that she got into an argument with Defendant because he was spanking her children; and, as a result, the three of them moved back into her grandparents' home in 2004. It was there that D.W. told *1223her that Defendant forced him and his sister to engage in sexual activities either with each other or with Defendant. She stated that D.W. did not appear to understand that Defendant's behavior was inappropriate. She called CPS, but she did not know what happened with the investigation. She discovered she was pregnant with Defendant's child after reporting him to CPS. After she delivered the baby, she moved to Georgia with her children, where she lived for several years. She moved back to Shreveport, and Defendant moved into her house with her and her children.

K.W. further testified that Defendant had been living with her and the children for approximately eight months when she learned that he was paying her older daughter for sex. She stated that she confronted Defendant and began hitting him. She then locked herself in her car, called the police and remained there until the police arrived.

Sergeant Anthony Rei, a sex crimes investigator and officer with the Shreveport Police Department, testified that in 2007, he was assigned to conduct a follow-up investigation for the alleged crimes against D.W. and his sister in 2003. He stated that prior to his involvement, another officer had been assigned to investigate the allegations, but no action had been taken. He testified that he contacted K.W., via letter, informing her that he was following up on the 2003 investigation and asking her whether she was willing to pursue criminal charges. K.W. advised him that she did not want to pursue charges because she did not intend to return to Shreveport. Based on this response, he closed the case.

Corporal Stephen Desselle, a patrol officer with the Shreveport Police Department, testified that on August 12, 2013, he was dispatched to a residence at 3146 Pleasant Drive in response to an alleged sexual assault. Upon arriving at the home, he met K.W. in the front yard and took her statement. Based on that statement, he detained Defendant and placed him in the back seat of the patrol unit. After securing Defendant, he made contact with D.W.'s sister, who admitted that she had sexual intercourse with Defendant approximately ten times in exchange for money. He advised Defendant of his Miranda

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
243 So. 3d 1220, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-larkins-lactapp-2017.