State v. Taylor

663 So. 2d 336, 1995 WL 579722
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided October 4, 1995·No. 95-179·Published·Cited by 9 cases

Opinion

663 So.2d 336 (1995)

STATE of Louisiana, Plaintiff-Appellee
v.
Christopher J. TAYLOR, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 95-179.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

October 4, 1995.

*338 J. William Pucheu and Richard W. Vidrine, Ville Platte, for the State of Louisiana.

John Larry Vidrine, Ville Platte, for Christopher J. Taylor.

Before COOKS, WOODARD and AMY, JJ.

WOODARD, Judge.

The defendant was found guilty of sexual battery and attempted indecent behavior with a juvenile and was sentenced to eight years at hard labor on the former charge and three years at hard labor on the latter charge, the sentences to run consecutively. The defendant appeals. Finding no error on the part of the trial court, we affirm.

FACTS

On February 17, 1993, the twenty-five-year-old defendant, Christopher Taylor, and his wife, Donnette Taylor, were baby-sitting the ten-year-old victim, I.A. Defendant and the victim took a bath together, and defendant allegedly rubbed the victim's penis and buttocks and performed oral sex on the victim. The victim resisted but was forced through threats to comply. Defendant threatened to stab the victim if he told anyone about the incident. The victim later told his father, who reported the incident to the police.

On April 2, 1993, defendant was charged with sexual battery, a violation of La.R.S. 14:43.1, indecent behavior with a juvenile, a violation of La.R.S. 14:81, and molestation of a juvenile, a violation of La.R.S. 14:81.2. The molestation charge was dropped before trial. He was tried on the first two counts on April 25-26, 1994, and found guilty of sexual battery and attempted indecent behavior with a juvenile. Defendant was sentenced on the first count to eight years at hard labor and on the second count to three years at hard labor, the sentences to run consecutively. He now appeals his sentence and conviction, assigning four errors.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1

By his first assignment of error, defendant contends his convictions for sexual battery and for attempted indecent behavior with a juvenile constitute double jeopardy. The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution made applicable to the states prohibits double jeopardy. Also, Article 1, § 15 of the Louisiana Constitution provides that no person shall be placed in jeopardy for the same offenses.

Louisiana uses both the "Blockburger test" developed in Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932), as well as the "same evidence test" to determine whether double jeopardy exists. State v. Carouthers, 607 So.2d 1018 (La.App. 3 Cir.1992), sentence vacated, 618 So.2d 880 (La.1993). In State v. Carouthers, 607 So.2d at 1028, the court quotes the rule from Blockburger, 284 U.S. at 304, 52 S.Ct. at 182, as follows:

"The applicable rule is that, where the same act or transaction constitutes a violation of two distinct statutory provisions, the test to be applied to determine whether there are two offenses or only one is whether each provision requires proof of an additional fact which the other does not."

The "same evidence test" has been adopted by the Louisiana Supreme Court and was explained in State v. Steele, 387 So.2d 1175, 1177 (La.1980), as follows:

If the evidence required to support a finding of guilt of one crime would also have supported conviction of the other, the two are the same offense under a plea of double jeopardy, and a defendant can be placed in jeopardy for only one. The test depends on the evidence necessary for conviction, not all the evidence introduced at trial. See State v. Doughty [379 So.2d 1088 (La.1980)], supra.
The "same evidence test" is somewhat broader in concept than Blockburger, the central idea being that one should not be punished (or put in jeopardy) twice for the same course of conduct.

We will analyze the offenses under both tests to determine whether defendant was subjected to double jeopardy.

*339 BLOCKBURGER TEST

As previously stated, the Blockburger test requires that each of the two statutory violations require proof of an additional fact which the other does not. Defendant was convicted of sexual battery which La.R.S. 14:43.1 defines:

A. Sexual battery is the intentional engaging in any of the following acts with another person, who is not the spouse of the offender, where the offender acts without the consent of the victim, or where the other person has not yet attained fifteen years of age and is at least three years younger than the offender:
(1) The touching of the anus or genitals of the victim by the offender using any instrumentality or any part of the body of the offender; or
(2) The touching of the anus or genitals of the offender by the victim using any instrumentality or any part of the body of the victim.
B. Lack of knowledge of the victim's age shall not be a defense. However, where the victim is under seventeen, normal medical treatment or normal sanitary care of an infant shall not be construed as an offense under the provisions of this Section.

Defendant was also convicted of attempted indecent behavior with a juvenile. Indecent behavior with a juvenile is defined by La.R.S. 14:81 as:

A. Indecent behavior with juveniles is the commission by anyone over the age of seventeen of any lewd or lascivious act upon the person or in the presence of any child under the age of seventeen, where there is an age difference of greater than two years between the two persons, with the intention of arousing or gratifying the sexual desires of either person. Lack of knowledge of the child's age shall not be a defense.

Attempt is defined in La.R.S. 14:27 as:

A. Any person who, having a specific intent to commit a crime, does or omits an act for the purpose of and tending directly toward the accomplishing of his object is guilty of an attempt to commit the offense intended; and it shall be immaterial whether, under the circumstances, he would have actually accomplished his purpose.

* * * * * *

C. An attempt is a separate but lesser grade of the intended crime.

The crime of sexual battery requires proof of additional facts which attempted indecent behavior with a juvenile does not. The illegal acts defined in sexual battery are more specific than those in indecent behavior with a juvenile. The former statute requires the touching of the anus or genitals of either the offender by the victim or the victim by the offender. The latter statute makes illegal any lewd or lascivious conduct, which is much broader. Further, sexual battery requires that the offender act without the consent of the victim. However, indecent behavior with a juvenile does not have consent of the victim as an element. Finally, indecent behavior with a juvenile requires proof of two essential elements that sexual battery does not, namely: (1) that the offender have the intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desires of either himself or the victim; and (2) that the offender be at least two years older than a victim under seventeen. State v. Schenck, 513 So.2d 1159 (La.1987).

We find that each of the above statutory provisions requires proof of an additional fact which the other does not. Thus, based on the Blockburger test, double

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