State v. Smith

557 So. 2d 393, 1990 La. App. LEXIS 157, 1990 WL 6319
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 30, 1990
DocketNo. 88-KA-0905
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 557 So. 2d 393 (State v. Smith) 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. Smith, 557 So. 2d 393, 1990 La. App. LEXIS 157, 1990 WL 6319 (La. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

ARMSTRONG, Judge.

Defendant, Arthur Smith, aka Arthur Ford, appeals his convictions and sentences for four counts of aggravated rape, three counts of aggravated crime against nature, four counts of aggravated burglary and attempted burglary of an inhabited dwelling, violations of La.R.S. 14:42, 14:60, 14:64, 14:89.1, 14:27 and 14:62.2 respectively. We affirm his convictions and remand this case to the trial court for re-sentencing.

On January 2, 1987, at approximately 4:20 a.m., L.M. (all of the victims will be referred to by their initials due to the nature of the crimes committed) was taking a bath when a man in a ski mask and armed with a gun entered her bathroom. He ordered L.M. into her bedroom where he forced her to perform oral sex and he raped her. He also masturbated and ejaculated onto L.M.’s body. He then wiped off the semen with a sheet and left. L.M. discovered he had gotten into her apartment through the kitchen window. She described her assailant as approximately 5'8" in height and weighing 160 to 200 pounds with a husky build.

[395]*395On February 8, 1987, L.M. and a friend went to Magistrate Court. She was looking at a group of prisoners being brought into court and recognized one as her attacker. This was the defendant, and she testified she recognized him by his eyes and his walk. She told the ADA who was in the courtroom that defendant was her attacker. At trial, she identified a ski mask and jacket seized from defendant’s apartment as having been worn by the rapist.

On January 10, 1987, at approximately 5:00 a.m., S.C. was awakened by an armed man with a flashlight and wearing a ski mask. He forced her to her living room, and on the way there, he grabbed a towel. He ordered her to remove her clothes, and he took from her a gold chain and a monogrammed ring. He raped her but ejaculated into the towel which he took with him. He ordered her back to her bedroom, and when she tried to call the police, she discovered her telephone wire had been cut. She described her assailant as approximately 5'5" in height and weighing 160 to 170 pounds. At trial, she identified a chain and ring seized from defendant as having been the ones stolen from her by the rapist; and she also recognized a gun seized from defendant as the one used by her attacker.

On January 14, 1987, at approximately 5:15 a.m., S.E. was awakened by a bright light. She saw a man wearing a ski mask holding a gun and with a “bright light on his forehead.” He ordered her to take off her clothes, and he told S.E. to touch his penis. S.E.’s five year old son came into the bedroom, and the assailant pointed his gun at the child and told S.E. to tell the child to leave, which- she did. The child left, and the attacker ordered her to go downstairs to her living room. He raped her but withdrew and began masturbating. He performed oral sex on S.E. and he then ejaculated into a tissue. They went back to the bedroom, and he took her telephone and a gold chain with an initial and Christ head pendants on it. She described the rapist as about 5'9" tall and weighing 170 pounds. She recognized clothing and a ski mask seized from defendant as those worn by the attacker. She also identified the jewelry and a telephone seized from defendant’s apartment as those stolen from her.

On January 16, 1987, at some time between 3:30 and 3:45 a.m., M.W. was awakened by an armed man wearing a ski mask and holding a flashlight in his mouth. He ordered her to disrobe. M.W. asked him to let her go to the bathroom which he did, and while in the bathroom he grabbed a towel. They went back to the bedroom where he raped her and forced her to perform oral sex. He ejaculated into the towel which he took with him. She described the rapist as between 6' and 6'6" in height and weighing about 195 pounds with a medium build. She was shown a photographic lineup from which she picked out two pictures as looking like her attacker. One of the two pictures was of defendant. She positively identified clothes, a ski mask and a flashlight seized from defendant.

On February 7, 1987, at approximately 5:30 a.m., Marian McGinnis was sitting at her kitchen window watching for the man who had been breaking into the apartments in the housing project in which she lived. She had been watching for some five weeks. That morning, she saw a man she had seen previously during her vigil but whom she had not caught doing anything illegal. She saw him duck behind a car when another man walked past on the way to his car. After the second man drove off, Ms. McGinnis saw the first man come into the yard between her building and an adjacent one. She watched him climb up a series of pipes on the side of the building and then attempt to get into three different windows. When she saw him remove the screen from the third window, she called the police.

Also at this time, Dannetter Carter saw a man behind a car as she was walking to the building in which her mother lived. She went into the building and up the stairs. While waiting for her mother to answer the door, she looked out the window in the stairwell and saw the same man crawling up the pipes on the adjacent building. She saw him try to get into a window and then jump down when he apparently saw a car’s headlights.

[396]*396Officer Michael Petty responded to Ms. McGinnis’ call, and he spoke with both Ms. McGinnis and Ms. Carter and got their descriptions. Officer Petty spotted the suspect, the defendant herein, who was dressed all in black. He chased the defendant who went through an opening in a fence and into a yard. The defendant then came out of the yard, but he was no longer wearing the black jacket. Defendant was detained, and Officer Petty searched the yard where he found the jacket, a pair of brown gloves, a small flashlight and a small steak knife. A blue ski mask was found a block away. Defendant was wearing black corduroy pants with a pair of gray jogging pants underneath. He was identified at the scene by Ms. McGinnis and Ms. Carter.

Defendant was indicted on 28 counts. All of the crimes occurred between November 6, 1986 and February 7, 1987. Defendant pled not guilty, but he later changed his plea to not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. A sanity commission found defendant sane at the time he allegedly committed the various offenses charged and that he was competent to stand trial. Pursuant to defendant’s motion, twelve counts were severed for trial from the other sixteen counts. On May 18th and 19th, 1987, defendant was tried by a twelve person jury and he was found guilty as charged on all twelve counts. The State filed a multiple bill and on May 22, 1987 defendant was sentenced as follows: 1) four consecutive life sentences without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence for the four counts of aggravated rape with defendant sentenced as a multiple offender on one count only; 2) three consecutive thirty (80) year sentences at hard labor for the three counts of aggravated burglary; 3) three consecutive fifteen (15) year sentences at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence for the three counts of aggravated crime against nature; and 4) six (6) years at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence on the attempted burglary of an inhabited dwelling. All of the sentences were to run consecutively to each other. On May 27, 1987, defendant was sentenced on the aggravated burglary count which had been ommitted when he was sentenced on May 22nd. He was sentenced to thirty (30) years at hard labor to run consecutively to all other sentences.

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Bluebook (online)
557 So. 2d 393, 1990 La. App. LEXIS 157, 1990 WL 6319, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-smith-lactapp-1990.