State v. Roblow

623 So. 2d 51, 1993 WL 254356
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 2, 1993
Docket92 KA 1352
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 623 So. 2d 51 (State v. Roblow) 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. Roblow, 623 So. 2d 51, 1993 WL 254356 (La. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

623 So.2d 51 (1993)

STATE of Louisiana,
v.
Robert ROBLOW.

No. 92 KA 1352.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

July 2, 1993.

*53 Doug Moreau, Dist. Atty., Office of the Dist. Atty., Baton Rouge, by Don Wall, Asst. Dist. Atty., for plaintiff/appellant.

Kathryn Flynn, Public Defender's Office, Baton Rouge, for defendant/appellant.

Before LOTTINGER, C.J., FOIL and FOGG, JJ.

LOTTINGER, Chief Judge.

Robert Roblow was indicted on two counts of aggravated kidnapping (counts 1 and 2), La.R.S. 14:44; two counts of aggravated rape (counts 3 and 4), La.R.S. 14:42; and one count of armed robbery (count 5), La.R.S. 14:64. Defendant filed a motion to quash counts 3, 4 and 5, arguing venue was improper in East Baton Rouge Parish. The court granted defendant's motion as to counts 3 and 4, thereby quashing defendant's prosecution for two counts of aggravated rape. The court denied the motion as to count 5. After trial by jury, defendant was convicted as charged on counts 1, 2 and 5. The court sentenced him on counts 1 and 2 to serve consecutive terms of life imprisonment at hard labor, without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. The court sentenced him on count 5 to serve a term of fifty years imprisonment at hard labor, without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, consecutive to the sentences for counts 1 and 2. Defendant has appealed, urging five assignments of error. The state also has appealed, urging one assignment of error.

FACTS

On the night of October 19, 1991, two sisters (M.S. and S.S.) met their brother and some friends at the Superior Grill Restaurant in Baton Rouge. At about 10:15, the group decided to go to another establishment. While their brother went to get his wallet out of a friend's truck, the two sisters walked to their car. As M.S. unlocked the car door, defendant walked up behind the women. He pointed a gun at S.S. and told the women to get into the car. Threatening to kill the women if they did not comply, he ordered them to drive him to Shreveport. M.S. told defendant she did not know the directions. However, when defendant got angry, she started driving anyway, eventually getting on the Interstate, heading in the wrong direction.

Throughout the trip, defendant repeatedly threatened to kill the women. He showed them the bullets in the gun to convince them the gun was loaded; and he never put down the gun. Throughout the encounter with *54 defendant, the women were afraid to do anything which might result in injury to the other.

When they arrived in Hammond, defendant told M.S. to stop and buy gas. He asked the women if they had any cash or credit cards. In response, S.S. gave M.S. a gas credit card; and M.S. used the card to purchase gas, signing her sister's name. When M.S. got out of the car to buy the gas, defendant warned her that he would kill her sister if she tried to alert the authorities. After getting the gas, M.S. continued driving the car in the same direction. When they crossed the Mississippi state line, defendant became furious and held the gun to M.S.'s throat. Eventually, the women convinced defendant they did not know the directions and calmed him down. M.S. then stopped at a store, got directions, and started driving toward Shreveport.

During the entire trip, defendant drank beer and liquor. Because the victims found defendant to be calmer when he was talking, they asked him questions about himself and his family. Defendant explained he wanted to go to Shreveport to see his children who were in a foster home. He also said that women had always rejected him and that the victims would have rejected him also had he not been armed. The victims repeatedly tried to get defendant to take the car and leave them on the side of the road, but defendant refused.

About an hour outside Bossier City, Louisiana, defendant started telling the victims they were pretty and began fondling M.S. under her skirt. When she resisted, defendant reminded the women he was in charge. When the women asked defendant what he was going to do with them in Shreveport, he indicated he possibly would let them go. Although the women were never certain defendant would release them, they were convinced he would kill them if they did not comply with his demands. At some points, they also believed that if they cooperated with defendant he eventually would release them. Upon arrival in Bossier City (at about 5:30 or 6:00 a.m.), defendant directed the women to the "No Name Motel." He made M.S. go into the office to rent a room and again warned her he would kill S.S. Suspecting they were going to be raped, the women tried to talk defendant out of it. However, he insisted. Continuing to hold the gun and threatening the women, defendant made the women remove their clothing and lie on the bed. While the women cried, he then fondled them, had sexual intercourse with each of them, and performed oral sex upon them.

After raping the women, he told them to dress. He then directed M.S. to drive him to Shreveport. When he decided where he would be dropped off, defendant had M.S. stop the car. He warned the victims not to tell the police, and he threatened to find them if he was arrested. Before leaving, he stole sixty dollars from S.S. M.S. then drove away quickly. She looked for a police station and eventually found a fire station where she was able to summon the police.

Using a letter S.S. had removed from defendant's bag, the police were able to discover defendant's identity. Both women identified defendant in a photographic display and in a physical lineup. They also had no problem identifying him in court.

RULING ON MOTION TO QUASH

In the first assignment of error, defendant claims the court erred when it denied defendant's motion to quash the armed robbery count. In the state's assignment of error, the state contends the court erred when it granted defendant's motion to quash the aggravated rape counts.

The Louisiana Constitution guarantees that a person charged with a crime "is entitled to a ... trial in the parish where the offense or an element of the offense occurred, unless venue is changed in accordance with law." La. Const. art. I, § 16. Article 611 of the Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure further provides:

All trials shall take place in the parish where the offense has been committed, unless the venue is changed. If acts constituting an offense or if the elements of an offense occurred in more than one place, in or out of the parish or state, the offense is deemed to have been committed in any *55 parish in this state in which any such act or element occurred.

In adopting the "act or element" test contained in the last sentence of article 611, the legislature rejected the "substantial element" test used in previous legislation. See La. Code Crim.P. art. 611, comment (b).

Venue is not an essential element of the offense, rather it is a jurisdictional matter. Objections to venue must be raised by a motion to quash to be ruled on by the court in advance of the trial. At the hearing, the burden is on the state to prove venue by a preponderance of the evidence. La.Code Crim.P. art. 615.

Prior to trial, a hearing was held on defendant's motion to quash the aggravated rape counts and the armed robbery charge. The state and defendant stipulated to certain facts as presented by the prosecutor. In reviewing this assignment of error, we are not limited to considering only those brief facts stated by the prosecutor.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
623 So. 2d 51, 1993 WL 254356, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-roblow-lactapp-1993.