State v. Ware

80 So. 3d 593, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 337, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 1406, 2011 WL 5864834
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 23, 2011
DocketNo. 11-337
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 80 So. 3d 593 (State v. Ware) 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. Ware, 80 So. 3d 593, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 337, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 1406, 2011 WL 5864834 (La. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

COOKS, Judge.

11 FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

In December 2007, Defendant, Russell Gene Ware, Jr., allegedly engaged in sexual intercourse with his live-in girlfriend’s daughter, M.H., who was eleven years old at the time. On that morning, after her mother had gone to work, Defendant took the victim from her bedroom and put her into the bed he shared with her mother. He undressed her and inserted his penis into her vagina. In February 2008, while her mother was at work, after the minor child had taken a bath, Defendant entered the bathroom and, despite her protests, insisted on applying medication to sores she had on her buttocks. He then rubbed M.H.’s anus and vagina. The following weekend, M.H. told her father about the touching in the bathroom. He reported the incident to the police. The victim’s father arranged for her to immediately see a counselor about the incident. At this time, the victim told the counselor about the incident in December. Again, the victim’s father contacted the police department.

Defendant was charged by indictment with one count of aggravated rape, a violation of La.R.S. 14:42, and one count of sexual battery, a violation of La.R.S. 14:43.1. The State filed a “Prieur Motion,” and a hearing was held. The trial court granted the State’s motion with written reasons. Defendant elected to be tried by the trial judge. After a trial, Defendant was found guilty as charged.

Defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment on the conviction of aggravated rape and twenty-five years at hard labor on the conviction of sexual battery, without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, to be served consecutively with the life term. Defendant filed a pro-se “Reconsideration of Sentence to Modify Sentence,” which was denied.

Defendant was granted an out-of-time appeal. Defendant’s appellate counsel assigned two errors: “The trial court erred by allowing the introduction of | ¡/other crimes evidence’ in the form of a conviction for Indecent Behavior with a Juvenile from 1994, in violation of State v. Prieur, 277 So.2d 126 (La.App. 3 Cir.1973) and Louisiana Code of Evidence Article 404(B);” and “The evidence presented at trial was insufficient to sustain the verdict of Aggravated Rape beyond reasonable doubt.”

Defendant also filed a prose brief alleging: 1) prosecutorial misconduct, 2) his waiver of a jury trial was not voluntarily and intelligently made, 3) ineffective assistance of defense counsel, 4) the trial court erred when it denied newly enrolled defense counsel’s motion to continue trial, 5) the physical evidence did not support the [596]*596convictions for aggravated rape and sexual battery, and 6) the trial judge exhibited a personal bias and preconceived disposition as to Defendant’s guilt regardless of the evidence.

I. Sufficiency of the Evidence.

Defendant’s assignment of error number two and the prose assignment of error number five attack the sufficiency of the evidence at trial to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Assignment of error number two asserts that the evidence was insufficient to support the conviction for aggravated rape. The prose assignment of error number five asserts that the evidence was insufficient to prove the aggravated rape as well as the sexual battery. Aggravated rape is defined, in pertinent part, as:

A. Aggravated rape is a rape committed upon a person sixty-five years of age or older or where the anal, oral, or vaginal sexual intercourse is deemed to be without lawful consent of the victim because it is committed under any one or more of the following circumstances:
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(4) When the victim is under the age of thirteen years. Lack of knowledge of the victim’s age shall not be a defense.

La.R.S. 14:42.

|3With regard to sufficiency claims, this court stated in State v. Freeman, 01-997, pp. 2-3 (La.App. 3 Cir. 12/12/01), 801 So.2d 578, 580:

When 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 (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.

Appellant counsel’s brief and the prose brief address only the aggravated rape conviction. In both briefs, Defendant argues that the physical evidence was not sufficient to support the element of “penetration.” Defendant points out while the victim testified that Defendant put his penis inside her vagina and that he moved it in and out, the physical evidence did not support this contention.

Doctor Maria Fontanez, a pediatrician, testified she examined the victim in June of 2008, six months after the alleged rape, and found the victim’s hymen was intact and undamaged. Defendant asserts had the rape occurred as the victim described, the hymen would have been torn. The victim testified at trial that she fought to keep her clothes on, “[a]nd I tried to fight as hard as I can[.]” When asked if he had put “the whole thing [penis] inside of you?” she responded, “|j]ust part.” However, she agreed that “he was moving it back and forth” for more than a minute. Defendant argues:

This offense is therefore described as a fight and struggle in which the [S]tate relied on the violence to an extent that proof in this case had to be more than [597]*597“slightest penetration”, and should have been corroborated by physical and medical facts. When this testimony is tested and balanced against the testimony of the eminently qualified Dr. Fontanez, they are irreconcilable. Penetration of the vagina simply ] 4 did not occur because the “facts” espoused by M.H. does not reasonably comport with the medical evidence.

Defendant argues the victim’s testimony and the physical evidence — of which there was none — is irreconcilable. He asserts the lack of physical evidence indicates there was no penetration; accordingly, at most, he was guilty of attempted aggravated rape.

However, Louisiana jurisprudence has consistently held that the testimony of the victim alone can be sufficient to establish the elements of a sexual offense, even if there is no physical evidence. State v. Schexnaider, 03-144 (La.App. 3 Cir. 6/4/03), 852 So.2d 450; State v. Hotoph, 99-243 (La.App. 5 Cir. 11/10/99), 750 So.2d 1036, writ denied, 99-3477 (La.6/30/00), 765 So.2d 1062 and writ denied, 00-150 (La.6/30/00), 765 So.2d 1066. While testifying that the victim’s hymen was intact, Dr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
80 So. 3d 593, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 337, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 1406, 2011 WL 5864834, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-ware-lactapp-2011.