State v. Strickland

900 So. 2d 885, 2005 WL 474716
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 1, 2005
Docket04-KA-843
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 900 So. 2d 885 (State v. Strickland) 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. Strickland, 900 So. 2d 885, 2005 WL 474716 (La. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

900 So.2d 885 (2005)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Willie STRICKLAND.

No. 04-KA-843.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

March 1, 2005.

*888 John M. Crum, Jr., District Attorney, Fortieth Judicial District, Parish of St. John the Baptist.

Rodney A. Brignac, Assistant District Attorney, Edgard, Louisiana.

Prentice L. White, Louisiana Appellate Project, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for Defendant/Appellant.

Panel composed of Judges EDWARD A. DUFRESNE, JR., SOL GOTHARD, and WALTER J. ROTHSCHILD.

WALTER J. ROTHSCHILD, JUDGE.

On April 12, 2002, defendant, Willie Strickland, was initially charged in a bill of information with carnal knowledge of a juvenile, in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:80. The State later amended the bill to charge defendant with sexual battery, in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:43.3. On September 30, 2002, the State again amended the bill and ultimately charged defendant with forcible rape, in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:42.1. Defendant was arraigned on the original charge and rearraigned on the amended charges. He pled not guilty and filed several pretrial motions.

Defendant proceeded to trial on September 16, 2003, and a twelve-person jury found him guilty of the lesser charge of attempted forcible rape by a count of ten to two. He was sentenced to five years at hard labor, with one year to be served without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.

FACTS

On March 12, 2002, R.R.,[1] age twelve, was living with her mother, her grandmother, her step-grandfather (defendant), and her uncle in a trailer in Laplace. That night, she and defendant, age 54, were alone in the trailer. R.R. testified that she was sitting in the living room watching television when defendant came into the room, wearing only his underwear, grabbed her by the arm, and pulled her into the back bedroom. She stated that defendant took her clothes off, put her on the bed, and proceeded to insert his penis into her vagina. R.R. tried to fight defendant and repeatedly told him to stop, but it was to no avail. She testified that she was crying during the incident and that it hurt. R.R. explained that defendant was on top of her holding her arms down and that there was no way for her to stop him from what he was doing.

R.R. testified that defendant only partly inserted his penis into her and that he was unable to complete the sex act because her uncle, Eddie Strickland, walked into the bedroom. Eddie, who is defendant's nineteen-year-old son, testified that he came home from work early and heard noises in the back bedroom. He announced that he was home as he walked toward the bedroom. When he looked into the bedroom, he saw defendant quickly throw the covers over himself and saw R.R. getting out of *889 the bed. Eddie stated that R.R. was wearing only her school uniform shirt and was naked from the waist down except for her socks. He asked what was going on but R.R., who was crying hard, just left the room to get dressed, and defendant had nothing to say. Eddie stated that he panicked and ran out of the house. A few days later, Eddie tried to talk to R.R. about the incident, but she cried and refused to talk about it. He talked to his fiancée about what he should do, and then discussed it with his best friend who reported it to the police.

Detective Paul Oubre testified that he received a complaint on March 18, 2002 about the incident. R.R.'s mother was advised to take R.R. to Children's Hospital to be examined, which she did. Thereafter, Detective Oubre interviewed R.R., her mother, and Eddie. Defendant was subsequently arrested on March 19, 2002.

Defendant testified at trial and denied that anything happened between him and R.R. He maintained that R.R. was lying about the incident and claimed that he was sleeping when the incident was alleged to have occurred.

DISCUSSION

On appeal, defendant asserts three assignments of error. When the issues on appeal relate to both the sufficiency of the evidence and one or more trial errors, the reviewing court should first determine the sufficiency of the evidence by considering all of the evidence. State v. Hearold, 603 So.2d 731, 734 (La.1992). Accordingly, we address the defendant's third assignment of error first, because it involves sufficiency of the evidence.

In defendant's third assignment of error, he argues that there was insufficient evidence to convict him of attempted forcible rape because there were huge discrepancies in the alleged victim's testimony and the alleged eyewitness's testimony regarding what occurred on March 12, 2002. He claims that R.R. fabricated the story of rape because defendant and R.R.'s mother were always fighting. Further, he argues that there was no physical evidence of rape.

The standard of review for the sufficiency of the evidence to uphold a conviction is whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could conclude that the State proved the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). Under Jackson, a review of a criminal conviction record for sufficiency of evidence does not require a court to ask whether it believes that the evidence at the trial established guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. A reviewing court is required to consider the whole record and determine whether a rational trier of fact could have found guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Lapell, 00-1056 (La.App. 5 Cir. 12/13/00), 777 So.2d 541, 545, writ denied, 01-0439 (La.1/4/02), 805 So.2d 1192.

Evidence may be either direct or circumstantial. Circumstantial evidence consists of proof of collateral facts and circumstances from which the existence of the main fact may be inferred according to reason and common experience. State v. Shapiro, 431 So.2d 372, 378 (La.1982). Ultimately, all evidence, both direct and circumstantial, must be sufficient to support the conclusion that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Ortiz, 96-1609 (La.10/21/97), 701 So.2d 922, cert. denied, 524 U.S. 943, 118 S.Ct. 2352, 141 L.Ed.2d 722 (1998).

Defendant was convicted of attempted forcible rape in violation of LSA-R.S. *890 14:27 and 14:42.1. Forcible rape is defined in part as:

A. Forcible rape is rape committed when the anal, oral, or vaginal sexual intercourse is deemed to be without the lawful consent of the victim because it is committed under any one or more of the following circumstances:
(1) When the victim is prevented from resisting the act by force or threats of physical violence under circumstances where the victim reasonably believes that such resistance would not prevent the rape.

To support a conviction for attempted forcible rape, the State must prove that defendant had the specific intent to commit forcible rape and that he did an act for the purpose of, and tending directly toward, the accomplishment of his objective. LSA-R.S. 14:27 and 14:42.1. Specific intent need not be proven as a fact, but may be inferred from the circumstances and the actions of defendant. State v. Bishop, 01-2548 (La.1/14/03), 835 So.2d 434, 437.

Defendant makes several arguments in challenging the sufficiency of the evidence. He first argues that the victim's testimony should not have been believed because of the inconsistency between her testimony and the only eyewitness, Eddie.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
900 So. 2d 885, 2005 WL 474716, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-strickland-lactapp-2005.