State v. Scott

582 So. 2d 864, 1991 WL 101437
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided June 5, 1991·No. 91-KA-44·Published·Cited by 11 cases

Opinion

582 So.2d 864 (1991)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Alfred SCOTT.

No. 91-KA-44.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

June 5, 1991.
Writ Denied September 20, 1991.

Bruce G. Whittaker, Indigent Defender Bd., Gretna, for defendant/appellant.

James S. Weidner, Dorothy A. Pendergast, Asst. Dist. Attys., (Louise Korns, of counsel), Office of the Dist. Atty., Gretna, for the State.

Before BOWES, GAUDIN and GRISBAUM, JJ.

BOWES, Judge.

The defendant, Alfred Scott, was charged by bill of information filed on October 6, 1986 with six counts of cruelty to the infirm in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:93.3.[1] After pleading not guilty at arraignment, the defendant proceeded to trial, following which the jury returned a verdict of guilty as charged on counts 1, 2, 3 and 5 and not guilty on counts 4 and 6. The trial court sentenced the defendant to one year in parish prison on each count with the sentences running consecutively and fined the defendant $10,000 plus costs. Defendant appeals his conviction.

FACTS

Vanco Human Services, Inc., a private corporation, operated a home for mentally retarded individuals under a state license in Kenner, Louisiana. The defendant worked at the home as an Assistant Home Manager assisting the six "clients" of the home, Tyree Tullos, Dale Hebert, Lionel Buxton, Kent Taylor, Edward Bush and Robert Vaughn. None of the clients could verbally communicate. Mr. Hebert, in addition to suffering from Down's Syndrome, is also blind and has a (unspecified) heart problem; Mr. Tullos had a seizure disorder (by the time of trial, he was deceased due to causes apparently unrelated to the charges); Mr. Taylor was blind; and Mr. Bush had a heart condition requiring a pace maker. All of the individuals were severely or profoundly retarded.

On the night of June 6, 1986, Janice Benn-King, an Assistant Home Manager who worked on the same shift as the defendant, *865 testified that she discovered burns on Dale Hebert and Tyree Tullos while bathing the two men. The burns were caused by an electric iron. A subsequent investigation by James Minto of the Department of Social Services also revealed other marks on the clients.

Ms. Benn-King testified that she immediately called for the defendant after discovering the burns. Upon observing the burns, the defendant said "Umm" and did not look upset. She further testified that she had bathed the two clients the previous night and at that time there were no burns on them.

In a statement given June 13, 1986, the defendant indicated that he first observed the burns on the clients on Friday night, June 6, 1986. Janice showed him the "mark" on Dale Hebert's shoulder and subsequently while bathing Tyree Tullos he noticed the burn on his leg.

At trial, the defendant testified that Janice called for him while she was bathing Dale Hebert. He proceeded into the bathroom where she pointed out the burn on Dale's shoulder. After examining the wound, the defendant commented: "It looked like a bruise to me, but I'm not a doctor, I can't say that it's a burn." He further testified that Janice did not call for him to inspect Tyree Tullos' burn and that he did not see his burn until the following Monday evening.

The state also presented direct evidence of what they contended was additional mistreatment by the defendant.

Ms. Benn-King testified that she witnessed the defendant hit Dale Hebert; that he "knocked" all of the clients around, punched Edward Bush and tied him up with a sheet; and pushed around Lionel Buxton, Dale Hebert and Tyree Tullos; however, she did not attempt to stop him because she was scared. She further testified that she supposed that the marks encircling the clients' wrists were caused by being tied up. She, as did all the employees of Vanco who testified, stated that no one was allowed to push the clients around, or hit them; they could not restrain the patients with anything other than their hands without a doctor's orders. She further stated she did not see anyone burn the victims, and did not know who did it.

James Minto, an investigator with the Department of Social Services, testified that the injuries were not confined to just Dale Hebert and Tyree Tullos. The other clients had "marks" on them which "appeared to be injuries" and, in particular, Edward Bush had very recent "marks" around his wrists.

Detective Wayne Danetta of the Kenner Police Department testified concerning two statements made by the defendant and admitted into evidence. In the second statement, Scott admitted that all the clients were being hit by the staff in the home, and that he himself participated. He slapped them a few times, and "used the baseball bat for reinforcement for lionel" [sic]; he tied up Mr. Bush with the sheet, although he knew the policy about using restraints on the clients. Later, he stated that he hit the clients with the bat on the legs or shoulders, with "light taps."

Several witnesses testified as to the defendant's reputation as a good and caring worker, and that they never witnessed any abuse by Scott. However, the Home Manager Donna Mitchell did testify that during a visit to K-Mart, Mr. Bush became agitated so Scott took him to the automobile and tied his hands with a sheet. She admitted that she and Scott falsified the report which indicated that Mr. Bush had been restrained with the hands, as required. She and Scott both signed the report.

At trial, the defendant testified that he tied the hands of Mr. Bush with a sheet to keep him from hurting himself, since Bush had become violent; this was the incident to which Scott had referred in his statement to police, and he had never tied any other clients. He further testified that he hit Lionel Buxton with the bat when that client became agitated and ran after defendant with the aluminum bat; in the struggle: "... he probably was hit a couple of times in us wrestling for me to take the bat away from him." However, the incident report introduced at trial showed only that "Lionel pushed the chair against the wall in *866 the living room and put another hole in the wall." Under "Action Taken", it was reported: "Asked Lionel to sit in another chair in another part of the living room." The statement was again signed by Scott and Mitchell. Scott further testified that he signed the statement given to police stating that he slapped the clients and hit them with a bat because he was upset and nervous. Other than the above detailed incidents, he stated that he never tied up nor hit the clients.

ANALYSIS

Without resort to what amounts to circumstantial evidence in regard to the burn injuries, it is clear that there was sufficient direct evidence given in court to support the jury's verdict.

LSA-R.S. 14:93.3 describes the crime of cruelty to the infirm with which crime defendant was charged and found guilty:

"A. Cruelty to the infirm is the intentional or criminally negligent mistreatment or neglect whereby unjustifiable pain or suffering is caused a person who is a resident of a nursing home, mental retardation facility, mental health facility, hospital or other residential facility required to be licensed or operated under the laws of this state or established by the laws of this state."

Appellant admits that the evidence of his tieing up the clients, using the aluminum baseball bat, and pushing and slapping them, is largely uncontroverted since it came from his own statements. However, he takes the position that the question still remains as to whether or not these actions constitute mistreatment which produced unjustifiable

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State v. Scott, 582 So. 2d 864, 1991 WL 101437 (La. Ct. App. 1991).

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