State v. Pitts

87 So. 3d 306, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 1020, 2012 WL 1108648, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 447
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 4, 2012
DocketNo. 11-1020
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 87 So. 3d 306 (State v. Pitts) 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. Pitts, 87 So. 3d 306, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 1020, 2012 WL 1108648, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 447 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

DECUIR, Judge.

liThe Defendant, Willie R. Pitts, was indicted by a grand jury with aggravated rape, a violation of La.R.S. 14:42. Following a bench trial, he was found guilty of the lesser offense of forcible rape, La.R.S. 14:42.1. The Defendant, fifty-two years old at the time of the offense, was sentenced to serve forty years at hard labor, the first two years without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. The Defendant is now before this court on appeal, challenging his conviction in four assignments of error. For the following reasons, we affirm the Defendant’s conviction and sentence and remand with further instructions.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1:

By this assignment of error, the Defendant argues that the evidence introduced at trial was insufficient to prove all of the elements of the offense of either forcible rape or the charged offense of aggravated rape. The Defendant complains that details of the sexual encounter were necessary to determine if penetration occurred; thus, “Merely answering the question of whether he forced himself inside her that day was insufficient to show penetration occurred.” The Defendant also maintains that the degree of force used during the offense is at issue — the testimony was insufficient to show the victim was prevented from resisting. Lastly, the Defendant con[310]*310tends the victim’s testimony is vague, inconsistent with other testimony, and shows she had a motive to make false accusations.

The analysis for a claim of insufficient evidence is well-settled:

The standard of appellate review for a sufficiency of the evidence claim is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); State v. Mussall, 523 So.2d 1305 (La.1988). A determination of the weight of evidence is a question of fact, resting 12solely with the trier of fact who may accept or reject, in whole or in part, the testimony of any witnesses. State v. Silman, 95-0154 (La.11/27/95), 663 So.2d 27, 35. A reviewing court may impinge on the factfinding function of the jury only to the extent necessary to assure the Jackson standard of review. State v. Bordenave, 95-2328 (La.4/26/96), 678 So.2d 19, 20. It is not the function of an appellate court to assess credibility or re-weigh the evidence. Id.

State v. Macon, 06-481, pp. 7-8 (La.6/1/07), 957 So.2d 1280, 1285-86.

A victim’s or witness’s testimony alone is usually sufficient to support the verdict, as appellate courts will not second-guess the credibility determinations of the fact finder beyond the constitutional standard of sufficiency. State v. Davis, 02-1043, p. 3 (La.6/27/03); 848 So.2d 557, 559. In the absence of internal contradiction or irreconcilable conflict with physical evidence, one witness’s testimony, if believed by the fact finder, is sufficient support for a requisite factual conclusion. State v. Robinson, 02-1869, p. 16 (La.4/14/04); 874 So.2d 66, 79.

State v. Dorsey, 10-216, p. 43-44 (La.9/7/11), 74 So.3d 603, 6341; see also State v. Simon, 10-1111 (La.App. 3 Cir. 4/13/11), 62 So.3d 318, writ denied, 11-1008 (La.11/4/11), 75 So.3d 922.

Forcible rape is defined in La.R.S. 1442.1(A), which reads in pertinent part:

A. Forcible rape is rape committed when the anal, oral, or vaginal sexual intercourse is deemed to be without the lawful consent of the victim because it is committed under any one or more of the following circumstances:
(1) When the victim is prevented from resisting the act by force or threats of physical violence under circumstances where the victim reasonably believes that such resistance would not prevent the rape.

The following facts were adduced at trial. The victim testified she was vaginally raped by the Defendant in July 2008, just days after her thirteenth birthday. At the time of the offense, she was living with her aunt, G.C.2 and the Defendant, who was G.C.’s boyfriend. She could not recall the exact date of the offense but believed she reported the offense two days after it occurred. The victim explained that the Defendant burst through her bedroom door, violently |3cursing at her and slapping her face with big rings on his fingers. She reacted by kicking him and trying to push him away, but eventually he grabbed a knife and stabbed at the bed as she struggled to get away from him. She testified that he forced himself inside of her and had sex with her. The victim said she kept a knife in her room because she was afraid of the Defendant.

[311]*311With regard to previous incidents, the victim stated that the Defendant had assaulted her at least four times. On each occasion, the Defendant hit her in the face, cursed at her, and had sex with her. Sometimes he threw her against the wall and pushed her away from anything she could grab or away from the door to prevent her from escaping. He would stop her from resisting by restraining her arms or wrists and holding her down. The Defendant told the victim that he would kill her loved ones if she told anyone, and he would deny that it had happened.

A few days after the July incident, the victim reported the offense to her sister and then went to the hospital. While at the hospital, she gave her only statement regarding the offense to Bonnie Grimsley, the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE). The statement corroborates the victim’s trial testimony, with minor discrepancies pertaining to factors such as the location of the knife and whether the Defendant kissed her mouth. More important, however, is the physical evidence of sexual trauma detailed in Grimsley’s examination report, in Grimsley’s trial testimony, and in the photographs taken in the course of the examination. The trauma included bruising, tears, abrasions, and swelling. In fact, the swelling was so severe, Grimsley called in Dr. Virginia Alfred, an OB/GYN, to help with the speculum exam. According to Dr. Alfred, the edema was caused by sexual trauma which did not occur with regular sexual activity but with very violent and 14aggressive sexual activity. The victim’s injuries were consistent with sexual assault.

Detective Stan Suire with the Abbeville Police Department was the investigator in this case. He searched the residence about two days after the offense was reported. Three knives were recovered from the kitchen. No gun was recovered, although the victim had stated at the hospital that the Defendant had a gun and had held it to her head. Detective Suire inspected the bed where the offense occurred and observed a puncture mark in the comforter which could have been caused by a knife. The puncture mark was consistent with the knives recovered. Also, the hinges on the door to the victim’s bedroom were damaged, as was the bolt on the opposite side of the door where it latched. On cross-examination, Detective Suire confirmed that the puncture mark in the comforter was not documented in his report. He also acknowledged that he did not photograph the damaged hinges and did not find any evidence of blood during his search of the victim’s bed.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
87 So. 3d 306, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 1020, 2012 WL 1108648, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 447, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-pitts-lactapp-2012.