State v. Martin

509 So. 2d 160
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided September 25, 1987·No. KA 86 1336-38·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinion

509 So.2d 160 (1987)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Ronald Louis MARTIN, Sr.

No. KA 86 1336-38.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

May 27, 1987.
Writ Granted September 25, 1987.

*162 Keith M. Whipple, Asst. Dist. Atty., Houma, for plaintiff and appellee—State of La.

Paul E. Brown, Indigent Defender Bd., Houma, for defendant and appellee—Ronald Louis Martin, Sr.

Before SAVOIE, CRAIN and JOHN S. COVINGTON, JJ.

CRAIN, Judge.

Ronald Louis Martin, Sr., was charged by grand jury indictment with aggravated rape (La.R.S. 14:42), aggravated crime *163 against nature (La.R.S. 14:89.1), and aggravated burglary (La.R.S. 14:60). Defendant pled not guilty. Following trial by jury, he was convicted as charged on each count.[1] The trial court sentenced defendant to life imprisonment at hard labor, without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence for the aggravated rape conviction. He was also sentenced to consecutive terms of fifteen years at hard labor (without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence) and thirty years at hard labor for the aggravated crime against nature and aggravated burglary convictions, respectively. From these convictions, defendant appeals urging eleven assignments of error.

FACTS

During the evening of December 16, 1983, an eighteen year old woman was brutally raped and subjected to other intimate indignities. The victim testified that she was home alone at her parents' house in Schriever when an intruder entered her bedroom. The man held a knife to the victim's throat and threatened to kill her if she failed to cooperate. After looking around the house for money and other valuables, the man made the victim submit to vaginal and oral intercourse. Immediately after the man left, the victim called her mother at work. Her parents then summoned the police. The victim gave a detailed description of her assailant to the police and noted that the man was present in her home for about one hour. A few days after the incident, Terrebonne Parish Detective Godfrey Buquet produced a composite drawing of the suspect during the course of an interview with the victim. Although the victim examined several mugshot books, she did not identify her assailant until August of 1984. At that time, Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Deputy Robert Breaux was investigating several unsolved burglaries. During the course of that investigation, he interviewed defendant, who was then incarcerated in the Lafourche Parish Detention Center for an armed robbery violation. Detective Breaux, who was familiar with the instant case, testified that he noticed the similarity between defendant and the composite drawing. Thereafter, he prepared a photo array, which was exhibited to the victim. She immediately identified defendant as the perpetrator of these offenses.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR NUMBERS ONE, TWO AND THREE

Defendant contends that the trial court erred by failing to grant his motion to suppress oral inculpatory statements and by refusing to reconsider that ruling in light of Louisiana Constitutional provisions (assignments of error numbers one and three). In addition, defendant finds error in the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress the photographic identification (assignment of error number two).

1) MOTION TO SUPPRESS ORAL INCULPATORY STATEMENTS

In July of 1984, defendant was arrested for armed robbery in Lafourche Parish. Det. Breaux interviewed defendant at the Lafourche Parish Detention Center in August of 1984. The day before the interview, Breaux met with two individuals who implicated defendant in several unsolved burglaries. At the beginning of the interview, Breaux advised defendant of his Miranda rights. Defendant waived those rights, and Breaux began questioning him about the Schriever burglaries.

During this initial encounter, Breaux noticed a strong resemblance between defendant and the composite drawing of the suspect in this case. He asked defendant if he liked girls. Breaux reasoned that if the defendant were a homosexual then he probably didn't commit the instant rape. Defendant responded by stating that he knew Breaux must be referring to the rape which occurred near Cherry's Fried Chicken. Defendant denied any involvement in that incident, but provided information that *164 he was living within one-fourth mile of the victim's home when the rape occurred. These statements were introduced during the state's case-in-chief. Defendant argues that the statements were obtained through trickery because he was led to believe that Det. Breaux would question him only about several burglaries.

At the time the question about women was asked and answered, defendant was aware of his rights. The state must prove that defendant intelligently and voluntarily waived his rights in order for a custodial statement made in response to interrogation to be admissible; we find the state has borne that burden in this case.

In proving an intelligent waiver of the rights to silence, self-incrimination, and counsel, the state need not show that defendant was aware of the full evidentiary significance of his statements. See State v. Mitchell, 421 So.2d 851 (La.1982). There is nothing to indicate that this questioning was designed to trick defendant into divulging information which he could not have known might be used against him. As the United States Supreme Court recently noted, a suspect's awareness of all the crimes about which he could be questioned is not relevant to determining the validity of a decision to waive the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. Therefore, failure to inform a defendant of the subject matter of an interrogation could not have affected his decision to waive the privilege. See Colorado v. Spring, ___ U.S. ___, 107 S.Ct. 851, 93 L.Ed.2d 954 (1987).

After denial of the motion to suppress, defendant sought a rehearing during which he planned to urge that the custodial statements were taken in violation of article I, section 13 of the Louisiana Constitution. This provision requires, in pertinent part, that in a criminal prosecution a defendant shall be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against him. The defendant alleges that this provision expands the protection afforded a citizen beyond that provided by the United States Constitution.

Initially, we note that the trial court's failure to grant a rehearing was appropriate. State v. Landry, 339 So.2d 8 (La.1976), suggests that a defendant may not seek a rehearing to introduce new evidence once a trial court denies his motion to suppress. In addition, reargument and reconsideration of the motion before trial based on evidence previously introduced should be sparingly made and limited to instances wherein the trial court firmly believes that its prior decision was legally infirm. See State v. Thompson, 448 So.2d 666 (La.), reversed on other grounds sub. nom, Thompson v. Louisiana, 469 U.S. 17, 105 S.Ct. 409, 83 L.Ed.2d 246 (1984); 466 So.2d 39 (La.1985).

The record reveals that when questioned by Det. Breaux, defendant was detained by Lafourche Parish authorities, having been arrested for armed robbery. In addition, at the beginning of the interview, defendant was apparently advised that he would be questioned about certain burglaries which occurred in Schriever, Louisiana. Thus, this case fell within the scope of that warning as burglary formed at least

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