State v. Lauff

953 So. 2d 813, 2007 WL 465420
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 13, 2007
Docket06-KA-717
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 953 So. 2d 813 (State v. Lauff) 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. Lauff, 953 So. 2d 813, 2007 WL 465420 (La. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

953 So.2d 813 (2007)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Kimberly LAUFF.

No. 06-KA-717.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

February 13, 2007.

*815 Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Terry M. Boudreaux, Anne Wallis, Donald Rowan, Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, Louisiana, for Plaintiff/Appellee.

Bruce G. Whittaker, Louisiana Appellate, New Orleans, Louisiana, for Defendant/Appellant.

Panel composed of Judges CLARENCE E. McMANUS, WALTER J. ROTHSCHILD, and GREG G. GUIDRY.

CLARENCE E. McMANUS, Judge.

On January 8, 2004, a Jefferson Parish grand jury returned an indictment against the defendant, Kimberly Lauff, for second degree murder, a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:30.1. The defendant filed a motion to suppress her statements and a motion to quash the indictment, which the trial judge denied. After the State amended the indictment to charge the defendant with manslaughter, the defendant pled guilty to manslaughter under North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 91 S.Ct. 160, 27 L.Ed.2d 162 (1970) and State v. Crosby, 338 So.2d 584 (La.1976), reserving her right to appeal all pretrial motions, including the motion to quash. Thereafter, the trial judge sentenced the defendant to imprisonment at hard labor for 40 years. This timely appeal follows.

Because the defendant entered a guilty plea, this factual statement is developed from the hearings on the motions to suppress and quash and other information in the record.

On November 8, 2003, at approximately 8:30 a.m., a dead baby boy was discovered in a trash receptacle at an apartment complex located at 4209 Arbor Court in Kenner. Detective Brian McGregor spoke to a resident of the complex, Randy Hebert, who is Lauff's boyfriend's brother. Hebert related to Detective McGregor that Lauff and her boyfriend were visiting his apartment on the evening before, and that the defendant went to the hospital after experiencing bleeding.

*816 In her initial statement, made on November 8th to Detective McGregor, 23-year-old Kimberly Lauff explained the events leading up to the discovery of the baby's body. She said that, while at the Hebert's apartment, she began experiencing stomach cramps and thought she needed to use the restroom. While she was sitting on the toilet, a baby boy "popped out." She caught the baby before he hit the water. She wiped him off with a towel and saw the child was not breathing. She cut the umbilical cord with some scissors that were in her purse and called for her boyfriend to come to the bathroom. The child was out of sight and wrapped in a towel when her boyfriend entered. There was blood all over the floor and she was bleeding profusely. Her boyfriend told her that she needed to get cleaned up and then go to the hospital. She showered and put on clean clothes with the assistance of Mrs. Hebert. Lauff remarked to Mrs. Hebert that if Lauff's mother "found out about this," Lauff would never see her children again.[1]

Lauff kissed the child on the forehead and wrapped him up in a towel. She then put her bloodied clothes in a garbage bag. On the way to the car, she placed the bag containing her clothes in a trash can located outside the complex, put the child on top of the bag, and closed the lid. Lauff was admitted to the hospital at 2:36 a.m. on November 8, 2003, and underwent a D & C procedure.

At approximately 12:00 p.m. on November 8th, Detective McGregor went to the hospital, where he had an abbreviated conversation with Lauff. Detective McGregor read Lauff her rights, which she said she understood and she agreed to speak to him. Lauff denied giving birth and said she passed out. At that point, a nurse interrupted the conversation and told Detective McGregor that Lauff had been under a sedative. The nurse said that Lauff was probably clear of the sedative, but that they were waiting on Lauff to use the restroom. The nurse said the sedative would be out of her system at 12:30 p.m. Lauff agreed to go to the police department when she was discharged, and an officer brought her there at approximately 4:15 p.m. At this time, Lauff gave her second statement which was recorded.

Detective McGregor testified that Lauff was informed that she was under investigation for first degree murder. She waived her constitutional rights after another officer, Detective Cunningham, read them to her. She denied knowing that she was pregnant. Lauff claimed that the child was born dead and that she tried to resuscitate the baby by plucking his foot and rubbing his back to no avail. She stated that he never even opened his eyes.

After the statement, Lauff was released because the police did not have the autopsy results. However, Lauff was arrested on November 10, 2003, when the autopsy results revealed that the child was born alive and that the child's death was ruled a homicide. In particular, the State's forensic pathologist, Dr. Ross, found the child was 41 weeks in gestational age and died as a result of "homicidal violence and/or neglect including abandonment. Asphyxia due to suffocation/smothering is a likely cause of death." Drug and alcohol screening detected ethanol in the child's blood and vitreous. Cocaine was found in the child's plasma, vitreous and gastric fluid.

Detective McGregor testified that, after Lauff's arrest on November 10, 2003, she *817 was again advised of and waived her constitutional rights. Detective McGregor told Lauff that the autopsy indicated that the child was born alive and that the child's death was a homicide. This third statement, Lauff's second recorded statement, was largely consistent with the first recorded statement, with the exception of the fact that Lauff admitted she knew she was pregnant. She also said that the baby "flinched" after he was born. She became scared and immediately "wrapped" the baby up in a towel. She also told the officer that she wanted to die after giving birth because she felt she had "messed" her life up again, as well as the life of an innocent child.

Detective McGregor testified that, in both the recorded statements, Lauff cried periodically. However, he said she was very cooperative and coherent in both recorded statements and at the hospital.

In her first allegation of error, defendant alleges that the trial court erred in denying her Motion to Quash.

Initially, it is noted that the defendant's appellate attorney states in the appellate brief that the trial judge's denial of the motion to quash may be rendered moot, given the defendant's decision to plead guilty to manslaughter and considering that the defendant asserted in her motion to quash that the "charges against the defendant may be more appropriate under manslaughter." The defendant nevertheless contends that the trial judge erred in denying her motion to quash the indictment because the State's evidence did not support the charged offense of second degree murder, particularly insofar as there was no evidence of specific intent to kill or to inflict great bodily harm.

In State v. Crosby, supra, the defendants were indicted for first degree murder and filed motions to quash the indictment on the ground that the statute was unconstitutional because it imposed the death penalty. At the completion of the State's case, the defendants pled guilty to second degree murder, but reserved their right to appeal the pre-plea rulings of the trial court to which they objected.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
953 So. 2d 813, 2007 WL 465420, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-lauff-lactapp-2007.