State v. Mayeux

128 So. 3d 998, 12 La.App. 3 Cir. 994, 2013 WL 811654, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 405
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 6, 2013
DocketNo. 12-994
StatusPublished

This text of 128 So. 3d 998 (State v. Mayeux) 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. Mayeux, 128 So. 3d 998, 12 La.App. 3 Cir. 994, 2013 WL 811654, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 405 (La. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

PAINTER, Judge.

| defendant, Christopher K. Mayeaux, appeals his conviction for battery on a police officer and the lack of clarity of his sentence as to credit for time served. For the following reasons, we affirm the conviction and remand for clarification of the amount of credit given for time served.

FACTS

Defendant was an inmate at the LaSalle Correctional Center (LCC) on July 18, 2011. He was involved in a fight with the victim in lockdown cell 103 where Defendant was placed after fighting with deputies in the hallway upon returning from court on that date.

Defendant was charged by bill of information with battery of a police officer while in the custody of the Department of Corrections, a violation of La.R.S. 14:34.2(B)(2). Defendant was arraigned and entered a plea of not. Following trial by jury, Defendant was found guilty and sentenced to serve eighteen months at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence, to run consecutively with any sentence he was serving at the time of the incident. A motion for appeal was filed and granted.

Defendant is now before this court asserting three assignments of error. Defendant contends that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction, that the trial court erred in its charges to the jury, and that the record is unclear as to what credit he is to receive for time served prior to the imposition of sentence.

| ^DISCUSSION

Error Patent

In accord with La.Code Crim.P. art. 920, all appeals are reviewed for errors patent on the face of the record. After reviewing the record, we find none.

Sufficiency of the Evidence

In his first assignment of error, Defendant contends that the evidence introduced at the trial of this case, when viewed under the Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979) standard, was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt all of the elements of the offense of battery of a police officer while in the custody of the Department of Corrections.

When reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence on appeal, an appellate court considers whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have determined that the State proved the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); State ex rel. Grajfagnino v. King, 436 So.2d 559 (La.1983). An appellate court will not second guess credibility determinations beyond this sufficiency evaluation insofar as the trial court or jury fulfills the role of the fact finder in weighing the credibility of witnesses. See id. Not[1001]*1001withstanding this standard, the record must indicate that the State satisfied its burden of proving the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Kennerson, 96-1518 (La.App. 3 Cir. 5/7/97), 695 So.2d 1367.

State v. Borne, 11-869, p. 8 (La.App. 3 Cir. 12/7/11), 101 So.3d 46, 51.

In order for the State to obtain a conviction for battery of a police officer, it must prove the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Battery of a police officer has three elements: the intentional use of force upon a police officer, without the consent of the officer, when the offender knows or should reasonably know that the victim is a police officer acting within the performance of his duty. LSA-R.S. 14:34.2.

State v. Ceaser, 02-3021, p. 3 (La.10/21/03), 859 So.2d 639, 643. The State was also required to prove that Defendant was “under the jurisdiction and legal custody of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, or [was] being detained in any jail, prison, [or] correctional facility.” La. R.S. 14:34.2(B)(2).

| ^Sergeant Calvin Deason testified that he was employed at LCC. On July 18, 2011, Defendant returned from court and created a disturbance. As a result of Defendant’s actions, he was restrained by several deputies and sprayed with mace. Defendant then showered, was given clean clothes, seen by the nurse, and taken to lockdown cell 103. Defendant was still upset, cursing, and belligerent.

Sergeant Deason testified that thirty or forty-five minutes after Defendant was placed in lockdown, he reported to a disturbance in lockdown cell 103. Sergeant Deason used the flap in the door to ask Defendant what was wrong. Defendant had settled down and stated that he wanted to speak to someone with rank, and Sergeant Deason told Defendant to back up against the wall. Sergeant Deason then opened the door, with mace in hand, and took a step inside. Sergeant Deason testified that at that time, Defendant came running at him swinging both hands and hit him. Sergeant Deason testified that he then sprayed Defendant with mace, Defendant was again taken to the shower, given clean clothes, and was seen by the nurse. Sergeant Deason stated that the incident was witnessed by Deputies Miller, Posey, and Malloy.

Sergeant Deason suffered a scratch to his shoulder, and his shirt was torn. He testified that he no longer had the shirt, and no photographs were taken of him. Sergeant Deason further testified that the nurse treated his scratch. He testified that it was policy to check an inmate’s fingernails but that he did not recall how long Defendant’s fingernails were.

Sergeant Deason testified that he did not think there were any surveillance cameras in the area where his altercation with Defendant occurred. If there were cameras, he did not request that the video be preserved.

Lieutenant Curtis Buekelew testified that Defendant was a DOC inmate, and that he transported Defendant to court in Grant Parish on July 18, 2011. When | ¿Defendant returned from court, he was upset. Lieutenant Buekelew also described an altercation that occurred when Defendant was brought back to LCC.

Billie Norman, a nurse at LCC, testified that she treated Sergeant Deason on July 18, 2011. She stated that Sergeant Dea-son was treated for bleeding from the left forearm due to a tear or cut that was approximately an inch and a half in length. Norman testified that she treated Sergeant Deason immediately after the altercation that occurred in the hallway. Norman testified that she did not recall [1002]*1002treating an injury to Sergeant Deason’s chest, and, if she had, it would have been in her report.

Norman was further questioned as follows:

Q Ms. Norman, are you, are you aware that there was a second altercation.
A There were, there was a second altercation and there was [sic] several altercations with Mr. Mayeux over a period of time. But refreshing my memory on this, I only, I’m going by the records that I wrote on one of the altercations before the two officers were brought to the infirmary.

Norman testified that she did not witness what occurred at the lockdown cell.

Norman testified that she treated a guard involved in the first altercation with Defendant for lacerations that looked like claw marks probably caused by fingernails.

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Related

Jackson v. Virginia
443 U.S. 307 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Cage v. Louisiana
498 U.S. 39 (Supreme Court, 1990)
Sullivan v. Louisiana
508 U.S. 275 (Supreme Court, 1993)
Reed v. United States
510 U.S. 1188 (Supreme Court, 1994)
Victor v. Nebraska
511 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 1994)
State v. Humphries
463 So. 2d 804 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1985)
State v. Belgard
410 So. 2d 720 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1982)
State v. Kennerson
695 So. 2d 1367 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1997)
State v. Guidry
647 So. 2d 502 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1994)
State v. Arnaud
412 So. 2d 1013 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1982)
State v. Jackson
527 So. 2d 1039 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1988)
State v. Thomas
427 So. 2d 428 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1983)
State in Interest of JG
641 So. 2d 633 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1994)
State v. Bourque
33 So. 3d 1092 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2010)
State v. Howard
638 So. 2d 216 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1994)
State v. Farhood
844 So. 2d 217 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2003)
State v. Brown
966 So. 2d 1138 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2007)
State v. Hongo
706 So. 2d 419 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1997)
State v. Williamson
389 So. 2d 1328 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1980)
State v. Ceaser
859 So. 2d 639 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2003)

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Bluebook (online)
128 So. 3d 998, 12 La.App. 3 Cir. 994, 2013 WL 811654, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 405, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mayeux-lactapp-2013.