State v. Quang T. Do

130 So. 3d 377, 2013 WL 6073373
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 19, 2013
DocketNo. 13-KA-290
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 130 So. 3d 377 (State v. Quang T. Do) 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. Quang T. Do, 130 So. 3d 377, 2013 WL 6073373 (La. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

FREDERICKA HOMBERG WICKER, Judge.

12Pefendant, Quang T. Do, appeals his eight convictions after a trial by jury on February 13, 2012. In his first assignment of error, defendant argues the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to order a new trial after three of the four alleged victims recanted their accusations against him. In his second assignment of error, defendant argues the law did not authorize his conviction under La. R.S. 14:43.4, for aggravated oral sexual battery, because La. R.S. 14:43.4 had been repealed for part of the time period during which the state alleges he committed this crime. For the following reasons, we affirm defendant’s convictions. Due to errors patent however, corrective action in necessary.

On counts one, two, three, four, and five, we vacate defendant’s sentences as imposed on February 19, 2013 and reinstate defendant’s original sentences on those counts as imposed on January 7, 2013. We also remand this matter to the trial court with instructions to. resentence defendant on count six. We further order |sthat, after this resentencing, defendant’s commitment and uniform sentencing commitment order be corrected to reflect defendant’s sentences and transmitted to the Department of Corrections and to defendant. We also instruct the trial court to notify defendant of his sex offender registration requirements. Separately, we order that a copy of this opinion be transmitted to the Clerk of Court for the Twenty-Fourth Judicial District Court and to the general counsel for the Department of Corrections.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On July 7, 2011, a Jefferson Parish Grand Jury returned an eight-count indictment charging defendant, Quang T. Do, with one count of aggravated rape in violation of La. R.S. 14:421 (count one), four counts of aggravated incest in violation of La. R.S. 14:78.1 (counts two, six, seven, [381]*381eight), one count of indecent behavior with juveniles in violation of La. R.S. 14:81 (count three), one count of aggravated oral sexual battery in violation of La. R.S. 14:43.42 (count four), and one count of sexual battery in violation of La. R.S. 14:43.1 (count five).

On July 11, 2011, defendant was arraigned and pled not guilty to all charges. The matter proceeded to trial on February 7, 2012; and on February 13, 2012, a 12-person jury found defendant guilty as charged on all counts. On March 2, 2012, defendant filed motions for new trial and post-verdict judgment of acquittal. On March 16, 2012, defendant filed an amended motion for new trial, which he subsequently supplemented on April 23, 2012. On November 26, 2012, the trial court denied defendant’s motion for post-verdict judgment of acquittal. On December 4, 2012, the trial court denied defendant’s motion for new trial.

[4On January 7, 2013, the trial court imposed sentence. On count one, defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. On count two, defendant was sentenced to fifteen years at hard labor. On count three, defendant was sentenced to seven years at hard labor. On count four, defendant was sentenced to fifteen years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. On count five, defendant was sentenced to ten years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. On counts six, seven, and eight, defendant was sentenced to fifteen years at hard labor, on each count. All sentences were ordered to be served concurrently; and, as to counts two, six, seven, and eight, the court required defendant to bear the cost of counseling. Defendant’s motion for appeal was granted on January 9, 2013.

On February 19, 2013, on the court’s own motion, defendant was resentenced. On count one, defendant was resentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. On count two, defendant was resentenced to fifteen years at hard labor, five years without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. On count three, defendant was resentenced to seven years at hard labor. On count four, defendant was resentenced to fifteen years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. On count five, defendant was resentenced to twenty-five years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. On count six, defendant was resentenced to fifteen years at hard labor, five years without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. On counts seven and eight, defendant was resen-tenced to twenty-five years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. These | .^sentences were ordered to be served concurrently and defendant was given credit for time served.

FACTS

At trial, the jury learned the following: L.B.3 and defendant, though never legally [382]*382married, had been together since 1991 and have five children together, three girls, O.D., H.B., D.B., and two boys, H.D. and E.D. L.B., defendant, and their children lived in a townhouse on Lac Couture Drive in Harvey with two bedrooms upstairs and a living room and kitchen downstairs. The children shared one bedroom while L.B. and defendant shared the other.4

The family subsequently moved into a larger, four-bedroom residence on Brighton Place in Harvey. There, O.D. and D.B. shared one room; H.B. had her own room; and the boys, H.D. and E.D., shared one room. L.B. and defendant shared the master bedroom.

Defendant worked offshore and, as a result of Hurricane Gustav in 2008, was laid off. Since L.B. did not work, this put a financial strain on the family, which resulted in a foreclosure of the Brighton Place residence. Consequently, L.B. and the five children moved in with L.B.’s family. Because L.B.’s family never liked defendant, defendant moved in -with his sister. While L.B. and her children resided with her parents, there was a discussion about L.B.’s parents claiming the children for tax purposes.

At the time when L.B. and her children were living with her family, one of L.B.’s sisters, S.B., became “fed up” with L.B.’s failure to get a job, so she kicked her out. K.B., another of L.B.’s sisters, told the children that they were welcome to Rstay at their grandparents’ house or to go with their mother. During this discussion, K.B. asked D.B. and H.B.5: “How come you don’t like your dad?” D.B. responded: “I don’t know if I should tell you this, I have to ask [O.D.] first, but he did something.” K.B. approached O.D.6 and asked her about what D.B.7 had said.

After speaking with the girls, on February 24, 2011, K.B., along with O.D. and H.B., met with Louisiana State Trooper Joseph Patout. At this meeting, the girls disclosed allegations of sexual abuse, after which Trooper Patout scheduled forensic interviews at the Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) for the girls.

On March 3, 2011, Erika Dupepe, a forensic interviewer with the Children’s Advocacy Center, interviewed O.D. and D.B.8

In O.D.’s CAC interview, her interview during a medical examination, her interview with the Department of Children and Family Services, and at trial, O.D. described substantially the same sequence of events. When O.D.

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Bluebook (online)
130 So. 3d 377, 2013 WL 6073373, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-quang-t-do-lactapp-2013.