State v. Winding

787 So. 2d 385, 2000 La.App. 4 Cir. 0364, 2001 La. App. LEXIS 1219, 2001 WL 540535
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 11, 2001
DocketNo. 2000-KA-0364
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 787 So. 2d 385 (State v. Winding) 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. Winding, 787 So. 2d 385, 2000 La.App. 4 Cir. 0364, 2001 La. App. LEXIS 1219, 2001 WL 540535 (La. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

hGORBATY, Judge.

On June 17, 1982, the defendant, Frank Winding, Jr., was charged by grand jury indictment with aggravated rape, to which he pleaded not guilty. After a trial, a twelve-member jury found him guilty as charged. On June 2, 1983, he was sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. Defendant filed an errors patent appeal, and his conviction and sentence were affirmed by this court. State v. Winding, unpub. (KA-1833, La. App. 4 Cir.1984). Defendant was granted [387]*387an out-of-time appeal on November 20, 1991, pursuant to Lofton v. Whitley, 905 F.2d 885 (5th Cir.1990). This court again affirmed defendant’s conviction and sentence. State v. Winding, unpub. 92-KA-0855 (La.App. 4 Cir.1993), 618 So.2d 1249, and the Supreme Court denied writs, State v. Winding, 626 So.2d 1166, (La.1993). Defendant filed an application for post-conviction relief. On November 3, 1998, this court granted defendant a second out-of-time appeal pursuant to State v. Jyles, 96-2669 (La.12/12/97), 704 So.2d 241. Defendant subsequently filed this appeal.

\ .FACTS

L.T.1 testified that on March 28, 1982, between 5:00 and 5:30 a.m., she awakened when defendant began choking her. L.T., who was fourteen years old at the time, screamed, and the defendant pressed a knife against her throat. He threatened to stab her with the knife if she did not stop screaming. She stated that defendant then ripped off her underwear and raped her.

When L.T.’s roommate, Keri Turner, knocked on the door, defendant jumped and asked L.T. to hide him. Defendant left, and she ran to open the door for Ms. Turner. She told Ms. Turner that the defendant had raped her. L.T. testified that she knew defendant because she saw him at the apartment when he came to visit one of her roommates. Ms. Turner ran to the kitchen window and saw defendant running toward his house, which was a block away.

L.T. and Ms. Turner left the apartment to search for another roommate. After checking at a nearby bar, which they discovered was closed, they returned home and found them other roommate, Artez Johnson, already there. They told her what had happened, and she called the police. All three women then went to the defendant’s house, spoke with his mother and sister, and returned to their apartment. Defendant came to the apartment shortly thereafter to explain what happened, but he was refused entry.

Officers Albert Jones and Neal Charles received the call at 6:05 a.m., and they went to the apartment. They interviewed L.T., and she gave them the name of her attacker. She told the officers that she knew defendant because he sometimes came to the apartment to visit one of her roommates. The officers arrested | ^defendant and confiscated the victim’s clothing and bedding. Testing of a vaginal swab of the victim was positive for the presence of seminal fluid and spermatozoa.

Defense witnesses testified that the defendant attended a party given by Louise Thomas, which was held in the apartment complex where defendant lived. They stated that defendant stayed at the party until 5:00 a.m., when he left to walk Cynthia Winding and Gina Gaines home. They also said that he returned at 5:20 a.m., at which time he left with his sister, Loritea, and Wilmer Johnson, a friend. Johnson testified that he and defendant talked for a few minutes after Loritea went into her apartment. Johnson further testified that he went to his apartment and that he could hear the door to defendant’s apartment open and close. He admitted that he could not state with certainty that defendant went inside his apartment.

ERRORS PATENT

A review of the record for errors patent reveals none.

[388]*388 ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER ONE

In his first assignment of error, defendant complains that he did not receive effective assistance of counsel because his attorney did not object to the defendant’s being tried in identifiable prison clothing. The same issue was dealt with in defendant’s 1993 appeal. This court stated:

The defendant also alleges prejudice because he wore prison clothes and his counsel did not object. Compelling a criminal defendant to stand trial in identifiable prison attire over his express objection infringes upon his presumption of innocence and is a denial of due process. La. Const. Art. I, Section 16; Estelle v. Williams, 425 U.S. 501, 96 S.Ct. 1691, 48 L.Ed.2d 126 (1976); State v. Spellman, 562 So.2d 455 (La.1990). Failure to make a timely objection negates a constitutional violation. State v. Brown, 585 So.2d 1211, 1213 (La.1991), quoting Estelle, 425 U.S. at 513, 96 S.Ct. at 1697.
|/The defendant did not request an opportunity to change clothes. He claims the prison uniform was a focal point because witnesses identified him in court by his clothing. However, only one witness noted the uniform for identification.
The defendant was gagged a very short time and attention was not focused on his prison clothing. Counsel’s performance was not defective under Strickland, 466 U.S. at 668[, 104 SCt. 2052],
Regardless, under Strickland, 104 S.Ct. at 2052, counsel’s errors were not so serious that the defendant was deprived of a fair trial. There was no reasonable probability that, but for defense counsel’s errors, the result of the trial would have been different. The evidence of guilt is overwhelming.
The fourteen year old victim who was raped in her bed named the defendant when police officers arrived. The victim knew the defendant because he visited the apartment she shared with another teenager and an older lady. The victim identified the defendant shortly after his arrest and in court. Her teenage roommate, who accidentally interrupted the rape, saw the defendant as he ran from the apartment. She gave his name to the police and identified him in court.
This assignment has no merit.

State v. Winding, unpub. 92-KA-0855 (La. App. 4 Cir.1993), pp. 4-5, 618 So.2d 1249. As noted above, the Supreme Court denied writs from this appeal.

It must be noted that under the cases cited above, it is not the presence at trial in prison garb that violates the defendant’s rights to a presumption of innocence. Rather, it is being compelled to stand trial in prison clothes in the face of an objection by defendant that violates his rights. There is no doubt that had the defendant objected, the failure of the court to allow him to change clothes prior to trial would have resulted in reversible error. However, there is no indication the defendant ever objected to being tried in prison garb. Indeed, from a reading of this court’s opinion in his last appeal, his only objection was to being' gagged in front of the jury when he indicated he did not want to go to trial with his counsel at that time. Thus, there is no indication the defendant was compelled to stand trial in |sprison clothes, which would have been a violation of his rights and would have mandated that this court reverse his conviction.

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787 So. 2d 385, 2000 La.App. 4 Cir. 0364, 2001 La. App. LEXIS 1219, 2001 WL 540535, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-winding-lactapp-2001.