State v. Williams

445 So. 2d 1264
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 1, 1984
DocketCR83-730, CR83-731
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 445 So. 2d 1264 (State v. Williams) 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. Williams, 445 So. 2d 1264 (La. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

445 So.2d 1264 (1984)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
William WILLIAMS, Jr., Appellant.

No. CR83-730, CR83-731.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

February 1, 1984.
Rehearing Denied February 29, 1984.
Writ Denied April 23, 1984.

*1265 Patricia A. Thomas, Abbeville, for appellant.

Louis G. Garrot, III, Asst. Dist. Atty., Abbeville, for appellee.

Before FORET, YELVERTON and KNOLL, JJ.

FORET, Judge.

NUMBER CR 83-730

On June 19, 1981, William Williams, Jr. (defendant) was charged by indictment of the Vermilion Parish Grand Jury with committing the offense of aggravated rape upon one Nanette Marie Callier Broussard (the victim), in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:42. In addition, the same grand jury charged defendant with committing the offense of armed robbery of the victim, in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:64. Subsequently, on June 26, 1981, defendant was charged by indictment of the Lafayette Parish Grand Jury with committing the offense of aggravated kidnapping of the victim, in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:44.

Prior to trial, defendant filed a motion to consolidate the two indictments and the motion was granted. Defendant was tried by a jury in Vermilion Parish, which returned three unanimous verdicts, finding defendant guilty of each of the offenses with which he was charged. On May 31, 1983, defendant was sentenced as follows:

For aggravated kidnapping, life imprisonment; for aggravated rape, life imprisonment; and for armed robbery, thirty years imprisonment, all at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, and all to run consecutively.

Defendant appeals from his convictions and sentences, and makes the following assignments of error:

(1) The trial court's denial of defendant's motion to suppress evidence which was allegedly obtained as the result of improperly suggestive police procedures;
(2) The trial court's denial of two motions for continuance filed by defendants;
(3) The trial court's denial of defendant's "MOTION FOR ADDITIONAL TIME TO FILE PRE-TRIAL MOTIONS"; and
(4) The trial court's failing to follow the guidelines set forth in LSA-C.Cr.P. Article 894.1 in sentencing defendant, and in imposing an excessive sentence on him.

FACTS

On the evening of June 4, 1981, the victim traveled from Abbeville to Lafayette to visit a friend, Michelle Mouton. At the time, she was twenty-two years old. The two women went to LaFonda's Restaurant for dinner at approximately 9:30 P.M., where they remained for about an hour. After that, they went to J.R.'s Saloon, and eventually met Michelle's boyfriend, Phillip Broussard, there. Around midnight, the victim decided to drive Michelle's automobile back to her apartment, where she was to spend the night, and she obtained Michelle's automobile and apartment keys for this purpose.

When the victim reached a dimly-lit area in J.R.'s parking lot and began to unlock the automobile, an unknown male armed with a knife accosted her and told her that he would kill her if she did not do as he said. He then ordered the victim to unlock the door on the driver's side and to get into the automobile, and to unlock the door on *1266 the passenger's side and push it open. After that, he ran to the other side of the automobile and got in, telling the victim to drive where he told her to go. He then forced the victim to drive to Maurice, where they turned left on La. Highway 92, and proceeded toward Milton. After driving a short distance down La. 92, the victim was directed to pull over to the shoulder of the highway.

The attacker then dragged the victim from the automobile, through a ditch, under a barbed wire fence, and across a bean field into a briar patch. He then forced her to partially remove her clothing, choked her and struck her in the face when she tried to escape, and raped her. Thereafter, he ordered the victim to dress, but she was unable to find all of her clothing in the dark bean field. He then took thirty cents from the victim's purse.

Thereafter, they returned to the automobile, but this time the attacker drove. When they neared Broussard, he stopped the automobile and fled on foot. The victim drove back to Ms. Mouton's apartment, and the Lafayette City Police were alerted as to what had happened. They in turn alerted the Vermilion Parish Sheriff's Office, as it appeared that the rape and armed robbery had occurred in that parish. The victim was transported to Abbeville General Hospital where she was examined by Dr. Ardley Hebert, the Vermilion Parish Coroner. He utilized a standard rape kit in conducting his examination and found evidence of sexual activity. Vaginal swabbings obtained at this time were sent to the Acadiana Regional Criminalistics Laboratory where they tested positive for the presence of semen.

Later, the victim returned to Lafayette to view mug shot books in an attempt to identify her assailant, but was unable to do so. Accompanied by a sheriff's deputy, she retraced the route taken during the abduction in an attempt to locate her missing clothing, but was unsuccessful. However, two days after the crimes occurred, the victim and some friends once again retraced the abduction route and were able to locate the bean field where the rape had taken place, along with the victim's missing clothing and other personal items. They then went to the spot where defendant had exited the automobile and noticed that it was located near a trailer park/campground facility.

While driving through this trailer park, the victim spotted her attacker (the defendant) standing among a group of men. She became upset and nauseous at the sight of defendant. Apparently, she noticed him as he pointed at their automobile, telling them that they had a flat tire. Defendant then entered a van, and the victim's friends recorded the license number. Shortly thereafter, they called the police and returned to Lafayette. They gave the police the items they had found in the field and the license number of the van. On June 9, 1981, the victim returned to the trailer park with Detective Dale Broussard. She was once again able to identify defendant as her assailant. Detective Broussard noticed that defendant had a strong body odor and a tattoo (both characteristics had been mentioned by the victim in the description she had given to the police), and he was arrested. Defendant's fingerprints were taken and matched by an FBI expert with prints found in the automobile used in the abduction. Defendant was subsequently indicted on the charges noted above.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER 1

Defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his "MOTION TO SUPPRESS IN COURT IDENTIFICATION". In his motion, defendant argued that the trial court should have suppressed any evidence of an in court identification by the victim of himself as the alleged perpetrator of the crimes with which he was charged on the ground that the original identification by the victim was made under circumstances suggesting that he was the perpetrator of said crimes. The "original" identification of which defendant complains was made on June 9, 1981, when the victim met Detective Broussard at the trailer park.

However, defendant overlooks the fact that on June 7, 1981 (two days after *1267 the crimes were committed), the victim positively identified him as being the man who raped her, while riding through the trailer park with some friends.

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Bluebook (online)
445 So. 2d 1264, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-williams-lactapp-1984.