State v. Davis

• Decision Date: 23 August 1989
• Docket Number: No. 20790-KA,20790-KA
• Citation: 550 So.2d 774
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana, Appellee, v. Ronnie Glenn DAVIS, Appellant. 550 So.2d 774
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

Page 774

550 So.2d 774

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee, v. Ronnie Glenn DAVIS, Appellant.

No. 20790-KA.

550 So.2d 774

Court of Appeal of Louisiana Second Circuit.

Aug. 23, 1989.

Otha Nelson, Baton Rouge, for appellant.

William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., William B. Faust, III, Asst. Atty. Gen., Baton Rouge, James A. Norris, Jr., Dist. Atty. and John P. Spires, Asst. Dist. Atty., Monroe, for appellee.

Before FRED W. JONES, Jr., NORRIS and LINDSAY, JJ.

LINDSAY, Judge.

The defendant, Ronnie Glenn Davis, was indicted on charges of armed robbery, in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:64; aggravated crime against nature, in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:89.1; and aggravated rape, in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:42. After a jury trial on the three-count indictment, the defendant was convicted of first degree robbery, aggravated crime against nature, and aggravated rape. The defendant was sentenced to serve 20 years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence on the charge of first degree robbery, 15 years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence for the crime of aggravated crime against nature, and life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence on the aggravated rape charge. The trial court ordered that the sentences be served consecutively.

The defendant now appeals from his convictions and sentences. For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTS

On September 18, 1987, the 19-year-old female victim was working a 5 p.m. to midnight shift at a Monroe convenience store. At approximately 11:40 p.m., the victim noticed a small four-door car parked beside the building in front of the restrooms. The car appeared to be a dull yellow color.

A few minutes later, a customer, later identified as the defendant, entered the store and purchased a two-tablet package of Alka Seltzer and a styrofoam cup. The victim described the man as being a tall, black male who wore blue jeans and a Coca-Cola sweatshirt. The man told her he had an upset stomach, and he asked her for some water. The victim informed him that he could obtain water from the public restroom, which was located on the side of the building.

The man then obtained gasoline for his vehicle. This was the same car the victim had just seen near the restrooms and which had been moved to the area of the gasoline pumps. The man came back into the store a second time to pay for the gasoline. He then returned to his vehicle and left at about 11:50 p.m. The victim testified that no one else was in the car with him.

The victim closed the store at midnight. As part of the procedure for closing the store, she made two trips to the public restroom outside to obtain three pitchers of water for the next day's coffee. ¹ Her first trip to the restroom was about 10 to 15 minutes after the customer left. After the victim completed her paperwork and put the store's money bag in her purse, she set the burglar alarm and locked the store. She testified that she left at about 12:35 a.m. ² After getting into her car, the victim drove over to the restrooms and parked. Instead of leaving the money bag (which contained at least $275.00 in cash and $30.00 in checks) and her purse in the car while she went to the restroom, she took these items with her.

When she approached the public restroom, she observed that the door was open several inches. As she reached for the doorknob, someone grabbed her and forced her into the dark restroom. She screamed once. Her assailant then threatened her several times, telling her to be quiet or he would cut her throat.

The assailant then turned on the bathroom light. The victim testified that she initially tried to avoid looking at him for fear he would kill her if he knew she could identify him. She took the money bag from her purse and gave it to the man. She testified that she assumed that the money bag was what he wanted, and she was not willing to fight him for it.

When the victim finally looked at the assailant, she recognized him as the customer who had been in the store twice that night. She observed a knife in his right hand. He demanded that she open the locked money bag, but the victim informed him that she did not have the key. He then put the bag down on the restroom counter and ordered the victim to disrobe and lie down on the restroom floor. The victim removed several articles of clothing and laid down on the floor. The assailant then turned the lights off and performed an act of oral sex upon the victim. He then turned the lights on and put on a condom. He turned the lights off again and engaged in sexual intercourse with the victim.

The assailant then turned the lights on and instructed the victim to dress. He also told the victim to stay in the restroom for 10 minutes. As he left with the money bag, he turned the lights off yet again but switched them back on in response to the victim's plea.

The victim waited in the restroom for about five minutes. She then got in her car and drove to another convenience store, from which she contacted the police. The first officer to arrive described the victim as crying hysterically.

When the police arrived at the crime scene, they discovered Rolaid antacid tablets and part of a Maalox tablet on the restroom counter. They also found a clear white plastic package on the floor.

The victim described her assailant to the police as wearing the same clothing that he had worn earlier in the evening in the store. In addition to blue jeans and the Coca-Cola shirt, she also described him as wearing a baseball cap and a fabric type belt. Subsequently, a composite drawing of the assailant was made by a police artist from the victim's description.

The authorities compiled two different photographic line-ups. The first was presented to the victim on September 22, 1987 and the second on October 2, 1987. The victim was unable to identify her assailant from the first line-up (which did not contain a photograph of the defendant). However, she picked out the defendant's photograph from the second line-up and identified him as the customer in the store and her assailant.

On October 2, 1987, the defendant was arrested and charged with armed robbery, forcible rape, and aggravated crime against nature. On that same day, the police obtained a search warrant to search the defendant's gold colored, four-door Toyota automobile. Among the items found in the car pursuant to the search warrant were a tan pullover shirt with a Coca-Cola logo, a pair of blue pants, a blue baseball cap, a tan fabric belt, a black leather knife case, a styrofoam cup with a powdery white residue, an empty Alka Seltzer wrapper, and various medicines, including Evac-o-kwik and a partial roll of Maalox Plus tablets.

On December 3, 1987, the defendant was indicted for armed robbery, aggravated rape, and aggravated crime against nature.

On January 26, 1988, the defendant filed a motion to suppress the victim's identification of him on the grounds that the photographic line-up was suggestive. A hearing on this motion was held on February 8, 1988. Testifying at the hearing were the victim and two of the investigating officers, Sgt. Pat Willis and Deputy Roland Jones. Another deputy who was present when the victim identified the defendant in the photographic line-up also testified. The trial court denied the motion, finding that the line-up was not suggestive.

The defendant's trial was scheduled to begin on May 23, 1988. On the morning of trial, the defendant sought a continuance. A hearing was held pursuant to defense counsel's handwritten motion. The defendant contended that Barry Talton, who was an essential defense witness, had been subpoenaed by both the state and the defendant; however, he could not be located for service. It was alleged that Mr. Talton would testify that he had been with the defendant on the night of the offense and had observed the defendant at the convenience store. The motion was denied by the trial court, and the defendant's trial began as scheduled.

The state presented the testimony of the victim and various law enforcement officers. Among the officers who testified were Deputy Jones and Sgt. Willis, who investigated the crime; Deputy Artis Wilson, who secured the crime scene; Deputy Gary Carver, who was present when the defendant made a voluntary recorded statement to the police after his arrest; Sterlington Police Chief Paul Davis, who participated in the defendant's arrest; and Deputy Thomas Hargrove, who was the first officer to speak to the victim.

The tape recording of the defendant's statement to the police was played for the jury. In this statement, which was given to the police on the date of his arrest, the defendant stated that on September 18, 1987, he drove his friend Barry Talton to Monroe. On their way back to Sterlington, they stopped at the convenience store in question. The defendant stated that he bought gasoline, then some Alka Seltzer. He then went to the restroom before leaving. The defendant claimed that after he took Mr. Talton home, he arrived at his parents' home at about 9:30 p.m. and went to sleep.

The state also called a representative of the security firm that maintained the alarm system at the convenience store to establish the times the alarm system was turned on and off on the night of the offenses. The state also questioned two relatives of the defendant to establish that the defendant had left his car at another relative's house shortly after these offenses were committed. ³

The defendant presented the testimony of alibi witness Kathy Cole, his former girlfriend. She testified that the defendant arrived at her house in Sterlington, Louisiana, between midnight and 12:20 a.m. on September 19, 1987. She testified that after she admitted the defendant into the house, they talked for a while and then retired. Ms. Cole testified that the defendant slept in her bed, and that she would have...