State v. Tyler

182 So. 3d 1029, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 2286, 2015 WL 7280626
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 18, 2015
DocketNo. 50,224-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 182 So. 3d 1029 (State v. Tyler) 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. Tyler, 182 So. 3d 1029, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 2286, 2015 WL 7280626 (La. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

PITMAN, J.

| i Defendant Alfred Lee Tyler pled guilty to aggravated incest of a'victim under the age of 13. ■ The district court séntenced Defendant to 50 years at hard labor, with the first 25 years to be served without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. Defendant appeals, claiming that his sentence is excessive. For the following reasons, we affirm Defendant’s conviction and sentence.

FACTS

On March 6,2014, the state filed a bill of information charging Defendant with one count of aggravated incest in violation of La. R.S. 14:78.1(A), (B)(2) and (D)(2).1 It alleged that, on or about January 24, 2014, Defendant committed a lewd fondling of W.F.,2 who' is Defendant’s stepgrand-daughter and is under the age of 13, with the intent to arouse or to satisfy the sexual desires of W.F. and Defendant.

On August 21, 2014, Defendant. pled guilty as charged. According to the facts noted by the state at the guilty plea hearing, Defendant, whose son is W.F.’s stepfather, “touched [W.F.] on her vagina as well as put his private parts on her private parts.” The state also stated that, in a post-Miranda interview, Defendant admitted to touching W.F.’s vagina with his hands and rubbing his penis on her vagina and stated that he had done this once in Caddo Parish and once in Bossier Parish. The state noted that, at 12the time of the offenses, W.F. was nine years old and Defendant was 60 years old. ■

A sentencing hearing was held on August 28, 2014. Crystal Tyler, W.F.’s biological mother and Defendant’s daughter-in-law, testified about how Defendant’s actions negatively affected the family. She stated that W.F. now experiences anxiety and sleepless nights, has problems in school and is receiving counseling at the Gingerbread House. Mrs. Tyler noted that Defendant blames W.F. and has not apologized or accepted fault. She stated that, while incarcerated, Defendant has written several letters to her husband, i.e., Defendant’s son, in which he “declared he did nothing wrong, that , he just played with [her].” Mrs. Tyler .further, testified that she wants Defendant to .receive the maximum sentence of 99 years.

Barbara Fegett, W.F.’s stepmother, also testified about the negative impact on the family. She noted that W.F. suffers from anxiety and is not doing well in school. She also stated that she believes 99 years is an appropriate sentence. The defense requested that the district court take judicial notice of Defendant’s age, i.e., 61 years old. The state requested that the district court take judicial notice of the facts presented at the preliminary hearing arid in Defendant’s post-Miranda statement. The state also noted that Defendant failed to take responsibility for his actions and blamed nine-year-old W.F. for the entire incident, stating “she came on to him.”

Prior to sentencing Defendant, the district court stated that it reviewed the file, the police reports and its notes from the [1032]*1032preliminary [shearing and considered this information when determining Defendant’s sentence. The Court noted: -

[Defendant] did admit to detectives that he did touch .his young step grandchild’s private parts; first outside her panties, and then inside her pants with his bare hands. He also admitted to grabbing the child’s hands so she could be forced to touch his penis, and he also touched her vagina and rubbed his bare penis in between the 'child’s labia, but did not penetrate her. ' ‘

The district court stated that W.P. presented a consistent account of the events when she was interviewed at the Gingerbread House. It also considered the sentencing guidelines set forth in La. C. Or; P. art. 894.1. It further stated that there was an undue risk that Defendant would commit another offense if not incarcerated, that he is in need of correctional treatment and that a .lesser sentence would deprecate the seriousness of his crime. As aggravating factors, the district court stated that Defendant’s conduct during the commission of the offense manifested deliberate cruelty to the victim and that Defendant knew or should have known that the victim was vulnerable or incapable of resistance due to her young age. It also found that Defendant used his position.or status to facilitate the commission of the offense, stating that his status as the victim’s grandfather and someone who was supposed to love and protect her was disturbing to the court. Further, the district court stated that the offense resulted in significant permanent injury to the victim, noting that;' although there was no evidence of a particular physical injury to the child, there are emotional injuries and psychological scars that she will have to bear for the rest of her life and described Defendant’s actions as “reprehensible, horrific and despicable.” It also stated that the only applicable mitigating factor was | ^Defendant’s lack of a significant criminal history. The district court then sentenced Defendant to 50 years at hard labor, with the first 25 years to be served without the benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence.

On September 26, 2014, Defendant filed a motion to reconsider and vacate an unconstitutionally excessive sentence. He argued that the reasons given by the district court as aggravating factors were inadequate to support the sentence. He also alleged that the district court failed to fully consider certain mitigating circumstances, including Defendant’s .somewhat impaired capacity due to his “advanced” age, i.e., 60 years old; his full cooperation with law enforcement; his confession and guilty plea; and his lack of prior convictions. Defendant contended that a lesser sentence would not deprecate the seriousness of the offense and would better serve the ends of justice, arguing that a sentence of 50 years is essentially a life sentence and is, therefore, unconstitutional.

On November 14,2014, the district court filed two rulings regarding Defendant’s motion to reconsider sentence. It denied the motion, stating that the sentence is neither excessive nor unconstitutional. It noted that it detailed the La. C. Cr. P. art. 894.1 factors and explained what it considered when déciding the sentence. It further noted that Defendant could have been sentenced to a maximum of 99 years, but received a lesser sentence of 50 years.

Defendant, appeals.

| ¿DISCUSSION

In his sole assignment of error, Defendant argues that the 50-year sentence imposed in this case was not warranted by the facts, or the offender, before the district court. He contends that the sentence is twice the minimum penalty and is unconstitutionally harsh and excessive. He claims that he is 61 years old; that he has [1033]*1033no significant criminal history;3 that he fully cooperated with’ law enforcement; and that he admitted, his actions, took responsibility and pled guilty instead of putting the family through a trial. He further contends that the district court improperly considered the age of the victim and the familial relationship between himself and W.F. as aggravating factors because these factors are elements of the crime of aggravated incest of a victim under the age of 13. He argues that the 50-year sentence is a life sentence for him and that the sentence does not further the ends of justice.

■ The state argues that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in sentencing Defendant because it considered and applied the La. C. Cr. P. art. 894.1 factors.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
182 So. 3d 1029, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 2286, 2015 WL 7280626, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-tyler-lactapp-2015.