State v. Thacker

187 So. 3d 552, 15 La.App. 3 Cir. 745, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 470, 2016 WL 889359
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 9, 2016
DocketNo. 15-745
StatusPublished

This text of 187 So. 3d 552 (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, 187 So. 3d 552, 15 La.App. 3 Cir. 745, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 470, 2016 WL 889359 (La. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

EZELL, Judge.

hThe Defendant, Therand Guy Thacker, is appealing his resentencing for the convictions of two counts -of sexual battery, attempted aggravated rape, and six counts of aggravated incest. The remand to the [554]*554trial court for resentencing resulted from this court’s opinion in State v. Thacker, 13-516 (La.App. 3 Cir. 1/28/15), 157 So.3d 798 (hereinafter referred to as Thacker Two). In Thacker Two, this court set forth the procedural history of the case writing in pertinent part: .

The Defendant, Therand Guy Thack-. er, was charged in an indictment filed on February 23, 2012, [and then amended] with the following eleven counts: 1) aggravated rape, a violation of La.R.S. 14:42 [date of alleged offense was January 2003 to December 2005]; 2) aggravated rape, a violation of La.R.S. 14:42 [date of alleged offense was January 1999 to December '2002]; 3) attempted aggravated rape, a violation of La.R.S. 14:42 and La.R.S. 14:27 [date of alleged offense was January 1997 to December 1999]; 4) aggravated incest, a violation of La.R.S. 14:78.1 [date of alleged offense September 21, 1998 to January 4, 2012]; 5) aggravated incest, a violation of La.R.S. 14:78.1 [date of alleged offense September 21, 1998 to January 4, 2012]; 6) aggravated incest, a violation of La.R.S. 14:78.1 [date of alleged offense September 21, -1998 to January 4, 2012]; 7), aggravated incest,, a violation of La.R.S. 14:78.1 [date of alleged offense September 21, 1998 to January 4, 2012]; 8) aggravated incest, a violation of'La.R.S. 14:78.1 [date of alleged offense September 21, 1998 to January 4, 2012]; 9) aggravated incest, a violation of La.R.S. 14:78.1 [date of alleged offense September 21, 1998 to January 4, 2012]; 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 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) |2guilty.[1] 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 faded to impose sentences for the remaining five counts of aggravated incest.
[[Image here]]
On appeal, this court affirmed the Defendant’s convictions, finding the evidence presented by the State was sufficient under Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). State v. Thacker, 13-516 (La.App. 3 Cir. 1/22/14), 130 So.3d 1037, vacated, 04-418 (La.10/24/14), 150 So.3d 296 [Thacker One]. However, this court vacated the Defendant’s sentences for sexual- battery, attempted aggravated rape, and obstruction of justice, and the single sentence imposed for six counts of aggravated incest and remanded the matter- for resentencing. Id. On March 17, 2014, the trial court resentenced the Defendant.
The Defendant sought review of this court’s ruling in the supreme court. See Thacker, 150 So.3d 296. In its" opinion, [555]*555■which was issued on October 24, 2014, the supreme court stated:
In reviewing defendant’s claim that the sentence for attempted aggravated rape was unconstitutionally excessive, however, the court of appeal found that it was unable to determine the victim’s age at the time of this offense from the récord. See State v. Thacker, 13-0516, pp. 15-16 (La.App. 3 Cir. 1/22/14), 130 So.3d 1037, 1047-48. The court of appeal correctly noted that if the victim was not under the age of 13 at the time of [sic] the offense was perpetrated then the evidence would not support a conviction for attempted aggravated rapé in accordance with La. R.S. 14:42(A)(4). Nonetheless, the court of appeal did not address this issue further because “[t]his concern was not raised by the Defendant in his briefs to this court.” Id., 13-0516 at 16, 130 So.3d at 1048. Similarly, in considering whether defendant’s sentence for obstruction of justice was unconstitutionally ^excessive, the court of appeal indicated that it was unable to determine the factual basis of this conviction but did not consider whether sufficient evidence was presented to support this conviction because defendant did not raise the issue. Id., 13-0516 at 21, 130 So.3d at 1050.
When the state’s case is devoid of evidence of an essential element of the charged offense, the conviction and sentence' must be set aside “regardless of how the error is brought to the attention of the reviewing court.” State v, Raymo, 419 So.2d 858, 861 (La.1982). The court of appeal thus erred in failing to consider the issue of sufficiency further once it came to the court’s attention. In addition, the court of appeal’s decree requires clarification. The court of appeal rejected defendant’s claim that the sentence for attempted aggravated rape is unconstitutionally excessive. However, in its decree, the court of appeal vacated this sentence. Accordingly, the application is granted to vacate the court of appeal opinion and remand the matter to the court of appeal for reconsideration consistent with -State v. Raymo, supra. The court of appeal is further directed to clarify the decree.
State v. Thacker, 14-418 (La.10/24/14), 150 So.3d 296, 296-97.
In light of the language in the supreme court’s ruling vacating this court’s prior opinion, we will once again review all errors assigned by the Defendant on appeal. Additionally, we find that the trial court sentencing that occurred on March 17, 2014, as a result of the remand ordered by this court is null.

Id. at 801-03 (footnote omitted) (fourteenth altération in original).

In Thacker Two, this court vacated all the sentences imposed for aggravated incest and sexual battery and remanded the matter to the trial court for resentencing. This court held as follows:

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, parole, 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 of 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 [556]*556for the other aggravated incest convictions
[[Image here]]

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State of Louisiana v. Brandy Mize
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2016

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
187 So. 3d 552, 15 La.App. 3 Cir. 745, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 470, 2016 WL 889359, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-thacker-lactapp-2016.