State v. Blackwell
| Decision Date | 27 October 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. 32,477-KA.,32,477-KA. |
| Citation | 746 So.2d 205 |
| Parties | STATE of Louisiana, Appellee, v. James BLACKWELL, Appellant. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
Lavalle Salomon, Monroe, Counsel for Appellant.
Richard Ieyoub, Attorney General, Jerry L. Jones, District Attorney, George D. Ross, Asst. Dist. Atty., Counsel for Appellee.
Before NORRIS, C.J., and GASKINS and PEATROSS, JJ.
Defendant, James Blackwell, was convicted as charged of eight counts of carnal knowledge of a juvenile in violation of La. R.S. 14:80. Defendant was sentenced to consecutive terms of 10 years at hard labor on counts one and two. He was further sentenced to 5 years at hard labor on counts three through eight; these sentences were to run concurrently with each other and with counts one and two, resulting in an effective sentence of 20 years at hard labor. For the reasons stated herein, we vacate the conviction for count four and its sentence of 5 years at hard labor. Defendant's remaining convictions are affirmed. We find, however, that the sentences imposed in this case are excessive; and, therefore, we reverse as to sentencing and remand the case to the trial court for resentencing in accordance with this opinion.
During the spring of 1996, the 35-yearold Defendant was a coach and teacher at West Monroe High School ("WMHS"). The victim, C.R., was a 16-year-old student and athlete who had recently moved to West Monroe from Alexandria.
C.R. played basketball, softball and eventually became involved in track. C.R. sustained a knee injury while playing bas ketball; Defendant came to her aid. C.R. underwent surgery on her knee and was required to undergo physical therapy afterwards. Defendant assisted C.R. with her physical therapy. These therapy sessions took place at the Glenwood Wellness Center and, on occasion, at Defendant's house. During these sessions, Defendant began talking to C.R. about his marriage. He told C.R. that he and his wife were not close, did not sleep in the same room together and were going to divorce as soon as their children were old enough to understand divorce.
In March, Defendant was driving C.R. home from the wellness center and missed the turn to her house. He continued driving to another neighborhood and stopped at a stop sign. While they were stopped, Defendant told C.R. how much he was beginning to care about her and kissed her.
Thereafter, Defendant continued C.R.'s physical therapy sessions. She also saw him every day after school at track practice. They were alone together on almost a daily basis. C.R. would even leave class to visit Defendant, and he would write excuses to her teachers for her.
One night around March 26, after Defendant and C.R. finished her therapy at the wellness center, he told her that he had forgotten something back at the high school track office. C.R. accompanied him to the school's stadium where the track office was located. C.R. testified in detail regarding this encounter:
[w]e went in, he told me to sit down while he worked on something and so I sat down and we got ready to leave and he turned off the light to leave and I just waited right outside the door while he turned the light on and he had forgotten something so he went back in but the light never came back on and he just told me to come in and he began to kiss me and ... put his hands on my waist and just ... and kissed me . . . Then he kissed me and then he began to take my shorts off and I was really worried and I was kind of scared and nervous and I didn't—I pulled my shorts back up and he would tell me that everything was going to be okay and he pulled my shorts down again and then he laid me on the floor and he kept telling me everything was going to be okay and I was really scared and nervous. And we had—we had sex that night.
After the encounter on March 26, Defendant and C.R. continued seeing each other. On April 5, Good Friday, Defendant took C.R. and two other female students to Shreveport to attend a track meet. The meet was canceled due to rain. The group ate at a casino, and Defendant attempted to persuade the girls to try to get on the boat. When one of the girls refused, the group instead went to the mall for a couple of hours. When the group returned to West Monroe, Defendant dropped off the other two girls. Defendant then took C.R. to a hotel where according to her testimony, they "had sex." Defendant told C.R. that he loved her and that he was going to divorce his wife.
C.R. testified that, around April 8, she and Defendant "had sex" at Defendant's house. She further testified that Defendant picked her up to take her to a track meet in Lake Charles, and they stopped by his house to "have sex." On or about April 24, the two stayed overnight in a motel in Natchitoches. C.R. also testified that on or about May 15, they "had sex" in or near some storage buildings.
On approximately May 17, Defendant and C.R. met at some apartments off Good Hope Road and left together in C.R.'s car. According to C.R.'s testimony, she and Defendant went to a nearby field and "had sex." Defendant had parked his truck in such a way that it blocked the tenants' vehicles. The apartment manager saw an invoice slip in the truck labeled James Blackwell Contractors and looked up his telephone number. The manager called the number and reached a woman. The woman—Defendant's wife—arrived at the apartment complex, spoke to the manager and then parked on the street where she waited for an hour and a half to two hours. When Defendant and C.R. returned, the apartment manager saw them "hugging and kissing." Defendant's wife confronted the couple, banging on the car window.
On May 21, 1996, Defendant's wife filed for divorce, citing his "improper relationship" with C.R. as the sole reason for their separation. Attached to the divorce petition were letters purportedly written by C.R. to Defendant which discussed their romantic involvement and her love for him.
C.R. testified that on May 24, she and Defendant "had sex" at the Red Roof Inn. She further testified that about May 31, the two "had sex" at the Best Western Motel.
After the spring semester, Defendant was asked to resign from his position as teacher and coach at WMHS; he complied. In July 1996, C.R.'s parents, who had learned of the sexual relationship between Defendant and their daughter, notified law enforcement authorities. Defendant was initially charged with one count of carnal knowledge of a juvenile and one count of sexual battery. He was subsequently indicted on eight counts of carnal knowledge of a juvenile. He was convicted on all counts by a unanimous jury.1 Defendant appeals, urging 13 assignments of error, 9 of which concern his sentences. The remaining 4 assignments of error attack the sufficiency of evidence.
In four of Defendant's assignments of error, he contends that the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he and C.R. engaged in sexual intercourse. He attacks the credibility of C.R. and her vocabulary in describing what acts transpired between them. He also contends that the testimony of Katy Davis that she saw Defendant kissing C.R. was inadmissible. Additionally, he asserts that several matters to which Christy Cook testified, including her testimony that Defendant tried to persuade her to take the possibly pregnant C.R. to see an out-of-town doctor he knew, should have been excluded on the basis of relevance.
In State v. Hearold, 603 So.2d 731 (La. 1992), the Louisiana Supreme Court stated that, when issues of both sufficiency of the evidence and trial errors are raised on appeal, the reviewing court should first determine the sufficiency of the evidence.
When the sufficiency of evidence is raised on appeal, the critical inquiry 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).
The proper procedural vehicle to raise a sufficiency of the evidence error is a motion for post verdict judgment of acquittal. La.C.Cr.P. art 821. Defendant failed to present the sufficiency argument to the trial court. He did, however, assign and brief the issue on appeal; and, therefore, we will consider it. State v. Martin, 26,501 (La.App.2d Cir.12/7/94), 647 So.2d 437.
Defendant attacks the credibility of the State's witnesses, especially C.R. In particular, he attempts to characterize her as an obsessed stalker who followed him and telephoned him constantly. Defendant testified at trial that he never had sex with C.R. or even kissed her.
This court's authority to review questions of fact in a criminal case is limited to the sufficiency-of-evidence evaluation under Jackson v. Virginia, supra, and does not extend to credibility determinations made by the trier of fact. La. Const. art. 5, § 10; State v. Williams, 448 So.2d 753 (La.App. 2d Cir.1984). A reviewing court accords great deference to a jury's decision to accept or reject the testimony of a witness in whole or in part. State v. Bosley, 29,253 (La.App.2d Cir.4/2/97), 691 So.2d 347, writ denied, 97-1203 (La.10/17/97), 701 So.2d 1333; State v. Rogers, 494 So.2d 1251 (La.App. 2d Cir. 1986), writ denied, 499 So.2d 83 (1987).
In the present case, the evidence against Defendant consisted primarily of C.R.'s testimony. However, there were a number of other witnesses who provided corroborating testimony to the sexual and/or intimate nature of the relationship that existed between Defendant and C.R. Additionally, there were several motel receipts in Defendant's name and signed by him that were admitted into evidence; they corresponded with the dates on which C.R. testified that she and Defendant "had sex." Defendant stipulated that his date of birth is May 6,...
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