State v. Pickney

714 So. 2d 854, 1998 WL 264864
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 27, 1998
DocketCR97-1591
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 714 So. 2d 854 (State v. Pickney) 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. Pickney, 714 So. 2d 854, 1998 WL 264864 (La. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

714 So.2d 854 (1998)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
Michael Wayne PICKNEY, Defendant-Appellant.

No. CR97-1591.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

May 27, 1998.

*855 Earl Taylor, Dist. Atty., for State.

Paula C. Marx, Lafayette, for Michael Wayne Pickney.

Before THIBODEAUX, SAUNDERS and DECUIR, JJ.

SAUNDERS, Judge.

On January 27, 1995, the Defendant, Michael W. Pickney, was charged by grand jury indictment with aggravated rape, a violation of La.R.S. 14:42(A). The Defendant appeared for arraignment and entered a plea of not guilty. Jury selection was held on February 3, 1997. The Defendant was tried by a jury on February 24 and 25, 1997, and was found guilty as charged by an unanimous verdict. On September 19, 1997, the trial court sentenced the Defendant to serve life in prison without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. The Defendant now appeals asserting two assignments of error.

FACTS

Between the hours of 3:00 and 4:00 a.m. on June 12, 1994, Christine Scott, the victim, returned home to her apartment after attending a zydeco dance. Before entering her apartment, she picked up her eighteen-month-old daughter from her neighbor who was babysitting. Shortly thereafter, Ms. Scott and her child went to sleep in her bed. Before falling asleep, Ms. Scott heard a series of knocks on her front door. Ms. Scott went to the window but did not see anyone and, therefore, returned to bed. Later, she awoke and saw a male intruder standing in the doorway of her bedroom. She could not see his face as he was wearing a stocking over his head. The intruder then jumped back into the hall according to the victim. When he reappeared, he was wearing a ski mask over his face. At some point, the intruder took the mask off; however, the victim never saw his face.

The victim's child awoke and began to cry, and the intruder allegedly told Ms. Scott to quiet the child or he would kill the child. After she quieted the child, Ms. Scott asked to go to the bathroom. The man allowed her to go but followed her. After they returned to the bedroom, the intruder raped Ms. Scott. During the incident, the intruder was armed with a knife which he stroked across the victim's back. After raping the victim, the intruder left the apartment, and Ms. Scott went for help. The entire incident lasted approximately twenty minutes, and the rape itself lasted five minutes. Thereafter, Ms. Scott went to the hospital where a rape kit was performed.

Two witnesses, Lloyd W. Henry and Keith Henry (cousins), testified that they saw the Defendant, Michael Wayne Pickney, who they both knew, at the victim's apartment complex between the hours of 1:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. on the morning that the victim was raped. The Henrys testified that the Defendant was wearing a white T-shirt and dark jeans and exhibited a lot of facial hair that evening; Lloyd Henry also stated that the Defendant was wearing boots. The victim also testified that the rapist was wearing a white T-shirt, dark jeans, and boots; however, such information was not contained in the written statement she gave to the police.

Based on the information received from the Henrys, the police picked up the Defendant and took him to the police station for questioning. The Defendant's home was searched, and Detective Tommy Hidalgo testified that he confiscated a pair of dark brown jeans and high top shoes from the Defendant's home and then turned the evidence over to Detective Roland Rivette. However, such a seizure of clothing was not mentioned in Detective Hidalgo's investigation report. Moreover, Detective Rivette testified that he did not recall receiving such evidence from Detective Hidalgo, and further if such evidence had actually been seized, it had been lost since that time. At trial, the State did not introduce the clothing allegedly seized from the Defendant's home.

After leaving the hospital, the victim was also taken to the police station. The victim told the investigating police officers that she was unable to describe the face of her attacker and could not estimate his height or weight but she could identify his voice. Thereafter, a voice line-up was conducted. The line-up was conducted at approximately *856 11:00 a.m., only a few hours after the time of the rape. On cross-examination at trial, the victim testified that approximately one year prior to the rape she had suffered permanent and apparently total hearing loss in her left ear as the result of a bullet wound to the head. Detective Rivette testified that he was not aware of the victim's 50% hearing loss at the time he conducted the voice line-up.

A total of three men, including the Defendant, participated in the voice line-up. The victim was placed in an interrogation room, and the three men were placed in an outer hallway where the victim could not see them. The men were asked to repeat certain phrases through the doorway that the assailant had spoken during the rape. The Defendant was the second man in the voice line-up. When the Defendant repeated the phrases, the victim identified the Defendant's voice as the voice of her assailant. Trial testimony was unclear as to whether the third person chosen for the line-up actually participated after the victim identified the Defendant.

At trial, the victim admitted that she had sex with a third person while using a condom approximately twenty-four hours before the rape. The State introduced evidence concerning the results of DNA testing which had been conducted using the victim's blood, the Defendant's blood, and samples of the sperm and other materials which had been collected after the rape. Expert testimony concerning the results of the testing indicated that the Defendant could not be excluded as the sperm donor.

ERRORS PATENT

In accordance 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 no errors patent.[1]

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1

By this assignment, the Defendant asserts the voice identification line-up conducted during the investigation of this case was suggestive and led to a substantial likelihood of misidentification, and based on these grounds, his conviction should be reversed.

During the attack, the victim did not see the face of her attacker, as he wore a stocking and later a ski mask over his face, nor could she estimate his height or weight. However, she indicated to the investigating police officers that she could identify her assailant by his voice. Within hours of the rape, the victim was taken to the police station for a voice line-up. On cross-examination, the victim testified that approximately one year prior to the rape she had suffered permanent and apparently total hearing loss in her left ear as the result of a bullet wound to the head. Detective Roland Rivette testified that he was not aware of the victim's 50% hearing loss at the time he conducted the voice line-up.

A total of three men, including the Defendant, participated in the voice line-up. At approximately 11:00 a.m. on the same morning of the rape, the victim was placed in an interrogation room, and the three men were placed in an outer hallway. Defense counsel was not present during the line-up; according *857 to testimony, the Defendant signed a waiver of rights form prior to the line-up. The first man was asked to repeat certain phrases through the doorway that the assailant had spoken during the rape; a negative response was received from the victim after the first participant spoke.

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Bluebook (online)
714 So. 2d 854, 1998 WL 264864, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-pickney-lactapp-1998.