State v. Serio

641 So. 2d 604, 1994 WL 314781
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 30, 1994
Docket94-KA-131
StatusPublished
Cited by57 cases

This text of 641 So. 2d 604 (State v. Serio) 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. Serio, 641 So. 2d 604, 1994 WL 314781 (La. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

641 So.2d 604 (1994)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Ernest SERIO.

No. 94-KA-131.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

June 30, 1994.
Rehearing Denied September 16, 1994.

*605 Bruce G. Whittaker, Staff Appellate Counsel, Indigent Defender Bd., Gretna, for appellant/defendant Ernest Serio.

John M. Mamoulides, Dist. Atty., Robert Grant, Dorothy A. Pendergast, Asst. Dist. Attys., Research & Appeals, Gretna, for appellee State of La.

Before KLIEBERT, GRISBAUM and CANNELLA, JJ.

CANNELLA, Judge.

Defendant, Ernest Serio, appeals his conviction of promoting prostitution, a violation of La. R.S. 14:83.2. He was subsequently charged and found guilty of being a four-time felony offender and was sentenced to twenty years at hard labor, without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. We affirm his conviction, vacate his sentence and remand for resentencing.

On July 3, 1992, during questioning about an unrelated matter, defendant informed Detective Rodney Roy that he ran the American Dream Escort Service and that he knew that some of the female employees of the service engaged in sex with the customers. As a result, a "sting" operation was organized with Sgt. Lee Couret supervising and Detective Anthony Foto acting as the party requesting a "date" with one of the female escorts. In preparation for the operation, the officers involved obtained a search warrant for the location of the telephone number for the escort service at 518 Houma Boulevard in Metairie, Louisiana.

Detective Foto telephoned the number for the American Dream Escort Service and arranged *606 to meet a woman named Shelley. Shelley stated that she charged a $50 fee for the escort service and $150 for herself. The detective told her that he would call back to give her the number of his hotel room. After obtaining two rooms at a local hotel in Metairie, Louisiana, one for him and one for other officers, Detective Foto called back with the room number. When Shelley arrived, he gave her the money. She then disrobed and got into bed "naked". At that time, the officer identified himself and she was placed under arrest.[1]

The officers later searched the house on Houma Boulevard where they discovered that the telephone line had been cut and that the phone had been removed. They also found telephone bills from June and July of 1992 in defendant's name, doing business as American Dream Escort Service. They recovered an occupational license for the service in defendant's name, affidavits of escorts for several escort services in Texas, an address book containing telephone numbers, stick-on address labels with defendant's name and address of the house and a handwritten copy of the Louisiana Revised Statutes on "pandering and prostitution". Defendant was subsequently arrested. In transit to jail, defendant spontaneously spoke to the officers about the escort service. He was stopped and advised of his rights a second time, but continued to speak to the officers. In response to a question by Sgt. Jerry Monnerjahn as to whether he was suggesting that the girls had sex with the customers, he responded, "That's part of it, but that's just the small stuff.".

At trial, the prosecution presented the testimony of the officers involved and Sgt. Couret testified as an expert on the mechanics of prostitution rings operating under the guise of escort services. An assistant to defendant in the escort service, Raymond Agee, testified how the service worked and that it was a front for prostitution. Shelley Christy also testified, making it clear that sexual intercourse was the intended object of the usual date. She described the circumstances of her arrest in the sting operation and related other instances in which defendant's behavior and statements showed that he knew that the escort service was a front for prostitution. In addition, two neighbors of defendant described the unusual activity in the house at odd hours, including the appearances of women who looked like prostitutes.

Following closing argument at trial, the trial judge charged the jury and gave them a verdict sheet with two choices, Guilty of Promoting Prostitution and Not Guilty. The jury later requested further instructions on the time frame alleged in the bill of information and what penalty related to the charge. The trial judge ordered the bill of information to be read to the jury again, but denied their request for information on the penalty as not being in their province. The jury returned a verdict of Guilty, without specifying on what charge. The trial judge instructed the jury that they were required to specify the charge against defendant and they returned to the jury room. The jury then returned with the verdict of Guilty of Promoting Prostitution.

Following trial, defendant filed a Motion for New Trial and the state filed an habitual offender bill of information under La. R.S. 15:529.1A(3). In his motion, defendant asserted for the first time that the verdict sheet was defective due to the omission of the responsive verdicts. The motion was denied. A hearing was then held on the multiple offender charge. Following the production of documents related to the alleged previous convictions and the testimony of defendant, the trial judge found defendant guilty of being a four-time felony offender. Subsequently, the trial judge sentenced defendant to twenty years at hard labor, the minimum sentence allowed by R.S. 15:529.1A(3).

On appeal, defendant asserts first that the trial judge committed reversible error by failing to give the jury the responsive verdicts applicable to this crime. He asserts that this error is patent on the face of the record. Second, defendant contends that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to make a contemporaneous objection to the defective verdict sheet. Third, defendant alleges *607 that the trial court erred in concluding that he is a fourth felony offender. Fourth, he requests a review of the record for patent error.

THE OMISSION OF LEGALLY RESPONSIVE VERDICTS FROM THE VERDICT SHEET

Defendant contends that the trial judge failed to give the correct list of responsive verdicts to the jury. He asserts that the verdict sheet should have included the lesser and included offenses of attempted promoting prostitution, prostitution and attempted prostitution. Defendant admits that there was no contemporaneous objection made at trial and that without a contemporaneous objection, an error is not reviewable under La.C.Cr.P. art. 841. However, he contends that this is patent error under La.C.Cr.P. art. 920(2) and thus does not require a contemporaneous objection. Although defendant recognizes that the jurisprudence holds that an error relating to the failure to object contemporaneously to a defect in the responsive verdicts is not patent error, he argues that the holding of these cases is wrong and that we should follow the dissenting, rather than the majority opinions in the two leading cases on the issue, State v. Turner, 337 So.2d 1090 (La.1976) and State v. Craddock, 307 So.2d 342 (La.1975).

The Louisiana Supreme court has held that the issue of improper responsive verdicts must be raised by contemporaneous objection, and is not a patent error reviewable on the face of the pleadings. See: Turner at 1091; Craddock at 343. Failure to object contemporaneously waives the objection. Whether or not we would be inclined to disagree with that holding is irrelevant, because the appellate court is bound to follow Louisiana Supreme court opinions. Pelican State Association v. Winder, 253 La.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
641 So. 2d 604, 1994 WL 314781, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-serio-lactapp-1994.