State v. Taylor

430 So. 2d 686
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 28, 1983
Docket15228-KA, 15229-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 430 So. 2d 686 (State v. Taylor) 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. Taylor, 430 So. 2d 686 (La. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

430 So.2d 686 (1983)

STATE of Louisiana, State-Appellee,
v.
Johnny Ray TAYLOR, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 15228-KA, 15229-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

March 28, 1983.
Rehearing Denied May 5, 1983.

*688 Richard Goorley, Asst. Indigent Defender, Shreveport, for defendant-appellant.

Robert W. Gillespie, Asst. Dist. Atty., Shreveport, for state-appellee.

Before PRICE, SEXTON and NORRIS, JJ.

SEXTON, Judge.

Defendant, Johnny Ray Taylor, was charged by a bill of information with the May 1, 1981, armed robbery of Sheryl Fontana, a Shreveport Baskin-Robbins employee (hereinafter referred to as the "Baskin-Robbins event"). Defendant was also separately charged by a two count grand jury indictment with the May 6, 1981, armed robbery and aggravated rape of Mrs. Patricia Hink, an employee of the Liquor Shop (hereinafter referred to as the "Liquor Shop event"). On August 10, 1982, the jury unanimously found Taylor guilty of the May 1 armed robbery of Sheryl Fontana. In a separate trial concluded on August 25, 1982, the jury of twelve rendered a unanimous verdict finding Taylor guilty of the May 6 armed robbery of Mrs. Hink. The jury, by a 10 of 12 vote, also returned a responsive verdict of guilty of forcible rape. Both trials were presided over by the same judge and the defendant was sentenced by him on August 31, 1982. Defendant received sentences of 30 years at hard labor for the armed robbery of Ms. Fontana, 30 years at hard labor for the armed robbery of Mrs. Hink, and 40 years at hard labor for the forcible rape of Mrs. Hink. The sentencing judge decreed that the three sentences were to run consecutively.

Previously on May 8, 1981, the state caused to be filed a "Motion for Transfer of Custody" alleging that this defendant, age 16, had been arrested for the offenses of armed robbery and aggravated rape and transferred to the custody of juvenile officials. The state asserted that pursuant to LSA-R.S. 13:1570 A(5)[1] jurisdiction was *689 vested in the First Judicial District Court and requested the transfer of the defendant from the juvenile detention center to the Sheriff of Caddo Parish, Louisiana. This motion was granted by the district court.

The defendant now appeals from the convictions rendered in both trials, and his two appeals—consolidated for oral argument— will be treated in this single opinion. We affirm defendant's convictions and sentences.

LIQUOR SHOP EVENT

FACTS

The rape and armed robbery of Mrs. Hink occurred on May 6, 1981, while she was working as a cashier at the Liquor Shop on Mansfield Road in Shreveport. Just before noon the victim was alone in the store with a person later described by her as a short teenage black male. While discussing his prospects for employment, the victim was faced with a gun in the hand of this individual and a demand for the store's money. The perpetrator jumped the counter and threatened to blow Mrs. Hink's head off if she did not do as instructed. She then placed an undisclosed amount of money in a plain paper sack. The robber was disgusted at the size of the take and demanded her personal funds. She was then led to the rear of the store with the gun at the back of her head where she gave the robber $15 of her own money. He then directed her to the front of the store and forced her to lock the door and display the "closed" sign. He then made her return to the back room with the gun still at her head. There, under the threat of having her "head blown off" and with the gun still at her head, she was forced to remove her pants and undergarments and submit to sexual intercourse.

Upon finishing, he wiped himself off with a cloth, threatened to kill the victim if she called the police, and left through the back door. However, Mr. Bennet Glover, a driver for the local Budweiser distributor, had arrived to make a delivery shortly before the defendant left the premises. Upon finding the door locked, he peered through the window. At that time he saw a young black male fumbling with his pants. Mr. Glover, with the assistance of another unidentified person in the area, attempted to find this individual, but he escaped.

Minos Kennedy, who worked at the nearby Wonder Bread Thrift Shop, testified that a light complected black male carrying a brown paper sack entered his store around 12:00 or 12:30. He stated the individual was nervous, sweaty and his pants were half unzipped. This individual requested that someone in the store call a cab. Addie Genter, who also works there, corroborated Mr. Kennedy's testimony and stated that she called a cab for the young man as requested.

Melvin Clinton, a cab driver, testified that he arrived at the Wonder Bread Thrift Shop around noon on the day in question. He stated that he drove a young black male, who flagged him down, from the store's front door to the F & M Courts which is located one block from the defendant's residence.

Mr. Clinton was unable to identify the defendant from a photographic lineup the following day and was not asked at the trial if he could identify the defendant. However, the victim, Minos Kennedy and Addie Genter all identified the defendant from a photographic lineup the following day. Mr. Kennedy, though stating that the defendant resembled the individual he saw in his store, was not able to make a positive identification in court. The victim positively identified the defendant at the trial as the *690 perpetrator and Mr. Glover positively identified the defendant at the trial as being the individual he saw inside the store.

Fingerprints were sought but no usable prints were located. The standard rape examination was performed and revealed no useful information other than the live seminal fluid which was found in the victim's vagina, on the cloth at the rape scene, and on the victim's panties. A valid search of the defendant's home subsequent to arrest revealed no cash, no items of clothing described as being worn by the perpetrator, and no weapon.

The defendant originally made four assignments of error but did not brief number one and it is therefore deemed abandoned. State v. Domingue, 298 So.2d 723 (La.1974). The assignments asserted before us complain (1) that a photographic lineup was improperly admitted, (2) that the evidence was insufficient for conviction, and (3) that the sentence imposed was excessive.

We will now deal with the assignments with respect to the photographic lineup and insufficient evidence. We will subsequently deal with the question of excessive sentence in conjunction with the sentence received for the Baskin-Robbins event in No. 15,228-KA.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 2—PHOTOGRAPHIC LINEUP

By virtue of assignment of error number two the defendant complains of the introduction of the defendant's photograph in conjunction with the photographic lineup. This evidence was introduced at the conclusion of the victim's testimony during which the victim testified that she had, subsequent to the event, picked the defendant from the photographic lineup offered. The defense objection was based on State v. Prieur, 277 So.2d 126 (La.1973), contending that this photograph was a mug-shot, and thus constituted an improper reference to prior criminal conduct not admissible in this cause.

The photographic lineup in question, State Exhibit # 11, is a series of six color photographs consisting of frontal and side views of young black males. Each individual is dressed in civilian clothes and the Shreveport Police Department identification markers are concealed.

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Bluebook (online)
430 So. 2d 686, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-taylor-lactapp-1983.