State v. Spratt

129 So. 3d 741, 2013 La.App. 4 Cir. 0158, 2013 WL 6115137, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 2398
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 20, 2013
DocketNo. 2013-KA-0158
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 129 So. 3d 741 (State v. Spratt) 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. Spratt, 129 So. 3d 741, 2013 La.App. 4 Cir. 0158, 2013 WL 6115137, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 2398 (La. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

MAX N. TOBIAS, JR., Judge.

11 Jimmie Spratt, the defendant, appeals his convictions and sentences for three counts of aggravated rape and three [742]*742counts of aggravated kidnapping. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

I.

On 19 November 2010, Jimmie Spratt (“Spratt”) was indicted for three counts of aggravated rape, violations of La. R.S. 14:42, and three counts of aggravated kidnapping in violation of La. R.S. 14:44. He was charged as follows: count one, aggravated rape of D.K.1; count two, aggravated kidnapping of D.K.; count three, aggravated rape of S.M.; count four, aggravated kidnapping of S.M.; count five, aggravated rape of M.L.; and count six, aggravated kidnapping of M.L.

Spratt entered pleas of not guilty to all counts at his 10 December 2010 arraignment. After a hearing on 81 March 2011, the trial court denied his motion to suppress evidence. On 21 April 2011, the State filed a Prieur notice2 and the trial court conducted a Prieur hearing on 19 May 2011; the court determined that the evidence was admissible. Following a four-day jury trial, Spratt was found guilty as charged on all counts.

12At his sentencing, Spratt filed a motion for new trial. The trial court denied the motion, and the defendant waived sentencing delays. The trial court sentenced him on each count to life imprisonment without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence, ordering that the sentences on counts one and two were concurrent to each other but consecutive to counts three, four, five, and six. Sentences on counts three and four were ordered concurrent to each other but consecutive to counts one, two, five, and six. Sentences on counts five and six were ordered concurrent to each other but consecutive to counts one, two, three, and four.

An out-of-time appeal was granted on 18 May 2012.

II.

THE EVIDENCE

Testimony of Retired Officer Harris

Christopher Harris, a retired New Orleans police officer, testified that he was an investigator with the Rape Division of the New Orleans Police Department (“NOPD”) for 22 years. On 4 July 1994, he was assigned to the Sex Crimes Unit. On that date, he was dispatched to 5700 Crowder Boulevard in New Orleans to investigate an incident of aggravated rape. When he arrived on the scene, he spoke with the first responding police officer and the -victim, D.K., who informed that she had been raped. The victim was extremely upset and afraid. She described the perpetrator as African-American, approximately five feet, nine inches tall and weighing 150 pounds. The suspect had short black hair and wore a blue shirt with an orange emblem on it, white shorts with blue pinstripes, and black tennis shoes. The victim took the officer to the location where the incident took place. The victim indicated that she had been abducted from the Hibernia National Bank | ¡¡(“Hibernia”) on the 1-10 Service Road, near Crowder Boulevard. The perpetrator had her drive to Old Gentilly Boulevard and park in the rear of the Acme Brick Company. The perpetrator robbed her of the $50 she had gotten from the ATM machine, forced her from the car, and pushed her against the wall of the building. He removed her clothes off and forced her to lie on the ground, whereupon he raped her. He then told her to get dressed, and they got back into her car. The perpetrator or[743]*743dered her to drive back the way they came. When they reached Dwyer Road, he told her to stop, and he got of the car. He told her to keep driving straight. She did not see which way he ran off. The victim then returned to the bank because her debit card had been left in the ATM machine. The victim then went to the Real Superstore, located at 5700 Crowder Boulevard, and an employee there helped her and called the police and the victim’s parents. The victim and her parents went to the hospital. The officer stated that he went to the Acme Brick Company and had the crime lab process the scene. A sexual assault kit was performed at the hospital. Mr. Harris testified that he contacted Hibernia and obtained a surveillance video. The video shows the perpetrator approaching the victim with a knife while the victim was getting money from the ATM machine. The perpetrator got into the back of the victim’s car.

Testimony of the Victim, D.K.

D.K. testified that on 4 July 1994, she was living at home with her parents. She had spent the day at home, and later that evening, some friends called and invited her to a party in Biloxi, Mississippi. She stated that it was not unusual for her to drive to Biloxi. She drove there once or twice a week because she taught a dance class there. D.K. asked her mother for her debit card because she realized she did not have any money on her. As she was driving on 1-610 she saw the|4Hibernia on the service road and decided use its ATM machine to obtain some cash. She did not know her way around that bank and entered through the exit lane. She was parked such that she had to lean over the front passenger seat to reach the ATM machine. The doors of her car were locked. She took out $50 and had the money in her hand when she saw a knife being shoved in the window at her throat. The perpetrator reached in and unlocked the back door. He got into the back seat and then climbed over to the front passenger seat. The perpetrator told her not to look at him, but just drive. She started crying, and he told her to shut up. He kept hitting the radio because she had country music on and he was trying to change it. He cursed about it and kept moving the seat back and forth. He was very angry. The perpetrator gave her directions on where to go, and they ended up at the Acme Brick Company. He told her to park in a gravel area behind the building. The perpetrator yelled at her to get out of the car. She complied, and she asked him not to hurt her. The victim testified that she had a debilitating neck injury as a teenager and numerous surgeries. The perpetrator pushed her against a wall and told her to shut up. He pulled her ponytail, and she screamed. He unzipped her dress and forced her to the ground. He removed her pantyhose and underwear, and raped her. When he was finished, he' yelled at her to get up and get dressed. Once she was dressed, they got back in to the car. He was yelling directions at her. At some point, he had her stop the car. He got out of the car and ran away.

D.K. then drove back to the bank because her debit card had been left in the machine. When she arrived, there was a security guard on duty. She told him that she had been raped. The security guard looked at her, got into his truck and drove off. She then drove the Superstore, which was next to the bank. One of the | semployees helped her and called the police and her parents. Her parents arrived first, and the police arrived shortly thereafter. She took Detective Harris to the scene of the incident, and then went to the hospital, where the physician examined her and conducted a rape kit. The next day she went to the police station to work with a sketch artist. D.K. described the perpe[744]*744trator as having very short hair and wearing blue jean shorts and a tee shirt with a sports emblem on it. At trial, she identified the defendant as the person who raped and kidnapped her.

Testimony of Michael Cure

In July 1994, Michael Cure was working as an overnight stock clerk at the Real Superstore on Crowder Boulevard. At the time of trial, he was a NOPD officer.

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Bluebook (online)
129 So. 3d 741, 2013 La.App. 4 Cir. 0158, 2013 WL 6115137, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 2398, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-spratt-lactapp-2013.