State v. Thacker

130 So. 3d 1037, 13 La.App. 3 Cir. 516, 2014 WL 223621, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 153
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 22, 2014
DocketNo. 13-516
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 130 So. 3d 1037 (State v. Thacker) 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. Thacker, 130 So. 3d 1037, 13 La.App. 3 Cir. 516, 2014 WL 223621, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 153 (La. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinions

SAUNDERS, Judge.

|TThe Defendant, Therand Guy Thacker, was charged in an indictment filed on February 23, 2012, with the following eleven counts: 1) aggravated rape, a violation of La.R.S. 14:42; 2) aggravated rape, a violation of La.R.S. 14:42; 8) attempted aggravated rape, a violation of La.R.S. 14:42 and La.R.S. 14:27; 4) aggravated incest, a violation of La.R.S. 14:78.1; 5) aggravated incest, a violation of La.R.S. 14:78.1; 6) aggravated incest, a violation of La.R.S. 14:78.1; 7) aggravated incest, a violation of La.R.S. 14:78.1; 8) aggravated incest, a violation of La.R.S. 14:78.1; 9) aggravated incest, a violation of La.R.S. 14:78.1; 10) intimidating a witness, a violation of La. R.S. 14:129.1; and 11) obstruction of justice, a violation of La.R.S. 14:130.1. The Defendant was arraigned on March 2, 2012, and entered a plea of not guilty. On March 27, 2012, the State filed an amended bill of indictment.

Jury selection commenced on October 16, 2012, and, on October 18, 2012, the jury returned the following verdicts: 1) guilty of the responsive verdict of sexual battery, a violation of La.R.S. 14:43.1; 2) guilty of the responsive verdict of sexual battery; 3) guilty; 4) guilty; 5) guilty; 6) guilty; 7) guilty; 8) guilty; 9) guilty; 10) not guilty; and 11) guilty. On November 2, 2012, the Defendant was sentenced to serve twenty years at hard labor for obstruction of justice and fifty years at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence for each count of sexual battery and one count of aggravated incest. The sentences were to be served concurrently. The trial court failed to impose sentences for the remaining five counts of aggravated incest.

A motion for appeal was filed on November 15, 2012, and was subsequently granted. In a brief filed by appellate counsel, the Defendant asserts two assignments of error. Therein, the Defendant contends the evidence presented was ^insufficient to support verdicts of guilty of the sexual offenses of which he was convicted, and the trial court imposed excessive sentences. In a pro se brief, the Defendant also asserts two assignments of error. Therein, he contends the trial court refused to allow exculpatory evidence, and the indictment charged multiple counts of the same offense which constituted double jeopardy.

FACTS:

The Defendant was convicted of sexual offenses involving his nieces, N.D. and C.D.

ERRORS PATENT:

In accordance with La.Code Crim.P. art. 920, all appeals are reviewed by this court for errors patent on the face of the record. After reviewing the record, we find that there is an error patent regarding the aggravated incest convictions and a potential error patent regarding the sexual battery convictions, which will be discussed within the assignment of error relating to excessiveness of the sentence for the reasons explained in the discussion of the assignment of error.

The Defendant was convicted of six counts of aggravated incest. The minutes of sentencing indicate that the trial court imposed a sentence of fifty years at hard labor without the benefit of probation, pa[1040]*1040role, or suspension of sentence on each count of aggravated incest. However, the sentencing transcript indicates the trial court imposed a single sentence of fifty years at hard labor without the benefit or probation, parole, or suspension of sentence, and it failed to specify for which conviction it was imposing the sentence. Additionally, the trial court failed to impose sentences for the other aggravated incest convictions. In State v. Grace, 10-1222, p. 19 (La.App. 3 Cir. 4/6/11), 61 So.3d 812, 825-26, writ denied, 11-961 (La.10/21/11), 73 So.3d 382, the court explained in pertinent part:

|3In instances where the minutes and the transcript differ, the transcript must prevail. State v. Kimbrough, 09-1564 (La.App. 3 Cir. 6/2/10), 38 So.3d 1258. Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 879 states, “[i]f a defendant who has been convicted of an offense is sentenced to imprisonment, the court shall impose a determinate sentence.” Where the trial court has imposed one sentence for multiple counts, this court has previously set aside the defendant’s sentence on those counts as indeterminate and remanded the case to the trial court for resentencing on each count. State v. Monceaux, 04-449 (La.App. 3 Cir. 10/20/04), 885 So.2d 670.

Consequently, the single sentence imposed on the aggravated incest conviction is vacated and the matter remanded to the trial court for a legal sentence to be imposed on each count of the aggravated incest convictions in accordance with the applicable penalty in effect at the time of the commission of the offense. Further, we note that the trial court did not make any finding as to the Defendant’s ability to pay the victims’ reasonable costs of counseling pursuant to La.R.S. 14:78.1(E). See State v. P.T., 07-665 (La.App. 3 Cir. 12/5/07), 970 So.2d 1255, writ denied, 08-26 (La.5/30/08), 983 So.2d 895. As such, we instruct that it do so upon remand for resentencing.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1:

In his first assignment of error, the Defendant contends the evidence presented was insufficient to support verdicts of guilty of the sexual offenses in counts one through nine.

The Defendant was convicted of two counts of sexual battery of C.D., one count of attempted aggravated rape of C.D., and six counts of aggravated incest. The victims of the aggravated incest charges were not set forth in the indictment.

WThen the issue of sufficiency of evidence is raised on appeal, the critical inquiry of the reviewing court is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); State ex rel. Graffagnino v. King, 436 So.2d 559 4(La.1983); State v. Duncan, 420 So.2d 1105 (La.1982); State v. Moody, 393 So.2d 1212 (La.1981). It is the role of the fact finder to weigh the respective credibilities of the witnesses, and therefore, the appellate court should not second guess the credibility determinations of the trier of fact beyond the sufficiency evaluations under the Jackson standard of review. See Graffagnino, 436 So.2d at 563, citing State v. Richardson, 425 So.2d 1228 (La.1983). To obtain a conviction, the elements of the crime must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

State v. Freeman, 01-997, pp. 2-3 (La.App. 3 Cir. 12/12/01), 801 So.2d 578, 580.

Furthermore, the testimony of a single witness is sufficient to support a conviction “[i]n the absence of internal [1041]*1041contradiction or irreconcilable conflicts with physical evidence.” State v. Dixon, 04-1019, p. 12 (La.App. 5 Cir. 3/15/05), 900 So.2d 929, 936. The trier of fact may accept or reject the testimony of any witness, and the determination of the credibility of that witness, in whole or in part, is left to its sound discretion and “will not be re-weighed on appeal.” Id. at 936.

State v. F.B.A., 07-1526, pp. 1-2 (La.App. 3 Cir. 5/28/08), 983 So.2d 1006, 1009, writ denied, 08-1464 (La.3/27/09), 5 So.3d 138.

N.D.

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Related

State v. Thacker
157 So. 3d 798 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2015)
State of Louisiana v. Therand Guy Thacker
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2015
State v. Thacker
150 So. 3d 296 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
130 So. 3d 1037, 13 La.App. 3 Cir. 516, 2014 WL 223621, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 153, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-thacker-lactapp-2014.