State v. Trahan

101 So. 3d 55, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 487, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 1451, 2011 WL 6058031
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided December 7, 2011·No. No. 11-487·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

AMY, Judge.

|, The State alleged that the defendant and her boyfriend engaged in inappropriate behavior with an eleven-year old child visiting their home. A jury convicted the defendant, as well as her boyfriend, of one count of indecent behavior with a juvenile. The trial court sentenced the defendant to serve two years at hard labor, without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence. The defendant appeals. Finding insufficient evidence to support the conviction, we reverse the defendant’s conviction, vacate and set aside the sentence imposed, and enter a judgment of acquittal.

Factual and Procedural Background

The underlying criminal investigation commenced on August 4, 2008, when C.Y.1 contacted authorities and alleged that A.W., her eleven-year-old daughter, was improperly touched during the child’s overnight visit2 at the home of Avis Renea Trahan and Ms. Trahan’s boyfriend, Tracy Bowie.3 A forensic interviewer with the Rapides Children’s Advocacy Center subsequently interviewed A.W. regarding the alleged touching. According to the interviewer, A.W. marked on an anatomical drawing of a female body, marking those areas where she was allegedly touched by Ms. Trahan and Mr. Bowie. Both Ms. Trahan and Mr. Bowie denied the allegations when interviewed by Rapides Parish Sheriffs Department detectives.

|2A grand jury ultimately charged Ms. Trahan and Mr. Bowie with one count of indecent behavior with a juvenile, a violation of La.R.S. 14:81. At the joint trial of the defendants, the State elicited testimony from A.W. indicating that she visited the couple’s home alone for an overnight visit, was not allowed to leave upon her request, and was given medication that made her drowsy. She explained that, upon awakening in the couple’s bed, she was touched on the chest by Mr. Bowie.

A.W. claimed that, the next morning, she was bathing when Mr. Bowie entered the bathroom and “started washing” her. She testified that, during this occurrence, he touched her “chest area,” “stomach,” and “thighs.” A.W. testified that Mr. Bowie told her to “stop” when she kicked and screamed. Later, she dressed and went to summer school. The State argued that the nature of the touching(s) demonstrated the lewd or lascivious nature of the events and, during its closing argument, alleged that a shopping trip to Wal-Mart was undertaken “to keep [A.W.] quiet.”

Following the proceedings, the jury convicted both defendants as charged. At [57]*57Ms. Trahan’s sentencing hearing, the trial court imposed the mandatory minimum sentence of two years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.

Ms. Trahan appeals.

Discussion

Sufficiency of the Evidence

In her sole assignment of error, Ms. Trahan argues that the State provided inadequate evidence to support a determination that she committed indecent behavior with a juvenile. As it relates to this case, La.R.S. 14:81 defines the offense as follows:

|aA. Indecent behavior with juveniles is the commission of any of the following acts with the intention of arousing or gratifying the sexual desires of either person:
(1) 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. Lack of knowledge of the child’s age shall not be a defense!.]

Although the text of La.R.S. 14:81 does not provide a specific definition of “lewd” or “lascivious,” the supreme court has determined that the statute “provides fair notice that the defendant ‘is charged with having done an act upon the person of a juvenile which is lustful, obscene, indecent, tending to deprave the morals in respect to sexual relations, and relating to sexual impurity or incontinence carried on in a wanton manner.’ ” State v. Interiano, 03-1760, p. 7 (La.2/13/04), 868 So.2d 9, 15 (quoting State v. Holstead, 354 So.2d 493, 498 (La.1977)). Further, according to the terms of La.R.S. 14:81(A), the State must prove that the defendant perpetrated the act with “the intention of arousing or gratifying the sexual desires of either person[.]”

In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence, an appellate court views the evidence in the light most favorable to the State in its consideration of whether any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). See also State v. Strother, 09-2357 (La.10/22/10), 49 So.3d 372. In doing so, an appellate court will only impinge on the factfinder’s discretion and its role of assessing witness credibility to the extent necessary to guarantee due process of law. Strother, 49 So.3d 372 (quoting State v. Mussall, 523 So.2d 1305 (La.1988)). Employing the above standard, it is clear that the State failed to offer sufficient evidence to support Ms. Trahan’s conviction.

14We first note that the State established that A.W. was eleven years old at the time of the alleged offense and that Ms. Trahan was thirty-one years of age. Thus, there is no question regarding that portion of La.R.S. 14:81 concerned with the ages of either the victim or the perpetrator. However, the record does not contain sufficient evidence regarding the remaining elements of the State’s burden of proof in its case against Ms. Trahan.

As set forth briefly above, the State relied on A.W.’s testimony regarding an overnight visit to the home of Ms. Trahan and Mr. Bowie. For purposes of review of Ms. Trahan’s appeal, however, it is clear that A.W.’s description of the events at trial primarily related to Mr. Bowie insofar as she alleged a touching by Mr. Bowie when she awoke in the couple’s bed and a subsequent touching by Mr. Bowie while she was taking a bath.

A.W. began her accounting of events by explaining that she thought that Ms. Tra-han’s children would be at the home when she arrived but that they were not. She [58]*58testified that, when she asked to leave thereafter, the couple would not let her do so. A.W. further explained that the group ate dinner4 and, when she reported feeling unwell, Ms. Trahan gave her medication5 and she fell asleep on the sofa. She explained that she was wearing her own clothing when she fell asleep.

A.W. testified that, later and at some point,6 she awoke in the couple’s bedroom and that she was wearing an undershirt of Mr. Bowie and underwear. She explained that Mr. Bowie was in the bed with her and that he touched her Rchest, underneath her clothing. When asked whether Ms. Trahan was present during the occurrence, A.W. explained only that she was “not sure where she was.”

Similarly, with regard to the bathing incident the following morning, discussed more fully in Mr. Bowie’s separate appeal, A.W. testified that Ms. Trahan was not present.

The transcript’s only reference to conduct by Ms.

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State v. Trahan, 101 So. 3d 55, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 487, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 1451, 2011 WL 6058031 (La. Ct. App. 2011).

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