State v. LeBoeuf

758 So. 2d 866, 99 La.App. 5 Cir. 1023, 2000 La. App. LEXIS 212, 2000 WL 182918
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided February 16, 2000·No. No. 99-KA-1023·Published

Opinion

|.CANNELLA, Judge.

Defendant, Nicholas LeBoeuf, appeals from his conviction and sentence for First Degree Negligent Injury. We vacate the conviction and sentence and remand.

Defendant was charged with violation of La. R.S. 14:39.2 on August 26, 1997. He was tried by a jury of six persons on February 2, 3, 4, 1998 and found guilty as charged. On February 18, 1998, defendant’s post-trial motions for new trial and acquittal were denied. On the same day, prior to sentencing, the trial judge received a victim impact statement from the victim, Tara Hogan, her grandmother and defendant’s spoken response. The trial judge then sentenced defendant to 5 years imprisonment at hard labor, with one year suspended and a fine of $1,500. Defendant filed a Motion to Reconsider Sentence, which was subsequently denied.1 |8On the night of June 14,1997, defendant was part of a group of people who left a party in Chauvin, Louisiana to drive to Grand Isle, Louisiana. The group left in three separate cars, following each other in a line. Defendant was driving the last vehicle, a small pick-up truck.

On the way to Grand Isle, the group stopped at a bank and a convenience store. Upon arriving in Grand Isle, they stopped at a motel looking for a room and were directed to another motel further down Louisiana Highway 1. On the way there, a car that was not part of the group cut in front of them and stopped. In response, the driver of the lead car slammed on his brakes causing a chain reaction crash of the three cars from Chauvin. As a result of the crash, the middle car was inoperable. The drivers of the other two vehicles pulled into the parking lot of an adjacent Sureway store. After they stopped, several local people arrived and a fight broke out between the two groups.

During the fight, defendant and two companions got into defendant’s truck and drove out of the parking lot. One of the occupants urged defendant to return to pick up one of the Chauvin women who had been left behind. Defendant drove back through the parking lot. As he did so, he hit some parked cars and Tara Hogan. Defendant did not stop after hitting her, but dragged her under his truck for some distance. He then drove away from the scene.

Tara Hogan testified that she and her boyfriend had been at a daiquiri shop prior to the accident. While at the shop, someone informed them that an accident had occurred in front of the Sureway store. After being told about the accident, a group of people got in their cars and headed to the scene. Once there, the fight broke out, during which, defendant got into his truck and left the parking lot. Then, defendant returned to the parking [868] lot. As he drove through the parking lot, [4he collided with a parked car and then hit Tara Hogan, who stated that the truck appeared to swerve towards her and that she was dragged under it after being struck.

The State called several other witnesses who were in the parking lot at the time of the accident. Kelly Besson (Besson) testified that she saw the victim’s boyfriend punch defendant’s truck as he was driving away from the parking lot the first time. She stated that defendant safely made it onto the highway and then pulled back into the parking lot. Besson said that, as defendant’s truck traveled through the parking lot for the second time, it hit Tara Hogan and dragged her without slowing down. She also testified that the victim was standing still when she was hit. Ta-shisha Seiber and William Bonds both testified that the accident happened as the truck returned to the parking lot and that Tara Hogan was trying to get out of the way of defendant’s truck, but didn’t move fast enough. Tiffany Folse testified that the victim was standing still at the time of the impact and that the truck swerved a little toward the victim prior to impact.

Officer Kevin Resweber of the Grand Isle Police Department testified that, on the night of June 14, 1997, he received a call regarding an accident. On route to responding to the call, he noticed a truck matching the description of the truck involved in the accident driving on Louisiana Highway 1 without its lights on. When the truck turned around, Officer Resweber got behind it and ordered the driver to pull over to the side of the road. He stated that the defendant immediately admitted that he had been involved in an accident. Officer Resweber said that, at that point, he read defendant his rights under Miranda v. Arizona,2 He also detected the odor of alcoholic beverages on defendant’s breath | sand a slight slur to his speech, so he conducted a field sobriety test. Defendant failed the field sobriety test, was advised of his rights, which he waived and was arrested. Officer Resweber took defendant to the station and administered an Intoxilyzer 500 test to determine defendant’s blood alcohol content.

Sergeant Michael Arant of the Grand Isle Police Department also testified. During his testimony, the State presented a video tape of the accident scene taken on the night of the accident and a time-lapse video tape from a bank night teller station located in the same area. The time-lapse video tape shows defendant’s truck passing through the Sureway parking lot twice. Officer Arant testified that defendant’s truck hit the red car that had caused the Louisiana Highway 1 chain reaction crash. He also testified that the victim was dragged under defendant’s truck for a distance of approximately 38 feet, 4 inches after impact.

Dr. Barry Munn, an orthopedic resident, took over Tara Hogan’s treatment four weeks after the incident. She had been hospitalized at another facility prior to his involvement in the case. The doctor testified that the victim suffered two femur (thigh bone) fractures, a complex pelvic injury, in that her pelvis had been broken in several places, a ruptured bladder and fractures to both feet. She was hospitalized for four to six weeks at Charity Hospital under his care, where she underwent surgery. The doctor stated that the injuries were very painful and that Tara Hogan may have residual chronic pain from her injuries.

The defense called several witnesses from the Chauvin group who were at the scene of the accident. Darren White, Jr. (White) testified that he was a passenger in defendant’s truck at the time which the victim was hit and that he, defendant and another male got into defendant’s truck to get away from the fight. However, White convinced defendant to return to the parking lot to pick up his | (¡girlfriend. Upon returning to the parking lot, people in the [869] parking lot tried to block them from leaving. White stated that, as they were driving through the lot, the victim came from the blind side and when he saw her it was too late to warn the defendant. White testified that the victim was hit by the front passenger corner of defendant’s truck.

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State v. LeBoeuf, 758 So. 2d 866, 99 La.App. 5 Cir. 1023, 2000 La. App. LEXIS 212, 2000 WL 182918 (La. Ct. App. 2000).

758 So. 2d 866 (State v. LeBoeuf) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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