State v. Echols

• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: Stewart
• Citation: State v. Echols, 907 So.2d 263 (La. 2005)
• Decision Date: 29 June 2005
• Docket Number: No. 39,754-KA.,39,754-KA.
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana, Appellee v. Justin T. ECHOLS, Appellant.

907 So.2d 263

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee v. Justin T. ECHOLS, Appellant.

No. 39,754-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

June 29, 2005.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Culpepper & Carroll, by Teresa Carroll, Jonesboro, Gina M. Jones, for Appellant.

Robert W. Levy, District Attorney, A. Shawn Alford, Assistant District Attorney, for Appellee.

Before WILLIAMS, STEWART and DREW, JJ.

STEWART, J.

Justin T. Echols ("Echols") was charged with forcible rape, and was convicted by a jury of the responsive verdict of sexual battery. He was sentenced to serve four years imprisonment at hard labor without benefits plus a fine of $2,000.00. The defendant now appeals. For the reasons that follow, we affirm his conviction, and affirm his sentence as amended.

FACTS

On December 21, 2001, the defendant, then age 19, attended a Christmas party for the employees of the Union Parish Detention Center where he worked as a corrections officer. The defendant drank enough alcohol at the party to become intoxicated. The party ended early because of a fight, so Echols drove his truck into Farmerville. He arrived at the McDonald's parking lot, where he met two teenage female acquaintances, ages 15 and 16 respectively, whom he convinced to "make loops" (ride around) with him between the McDonald's, Sonic, and Wal-Mart parking lots. The 16-year-old girl drove the defendant's truck because he was intoxicated. As she drove, Echols tried to put his hands down her shirt, and appeared to be interested in having sex with the 15-year-old girl. The girls grew concerned about being raped because Echols was intoxicated and making sexual advances at them, so they left his truck at about midnight.

The victim, 18-year-old J.K.,¹ was also driving around Farmerville that night, making loops, visiting with friends, and waiting for her younger brother to get off work at McDonald's. She was supposed to pick him up from work at 1:00 a.m. and then drive to their parents' house. J.K. was visiting two friends in the Sonic parking lot when Echols drove up. J.K. had known the defendant for a while and had no particular relationship with him, but she considered him "just as a friend." Echols came over and sat down in J.K.'s vehicle. According to J.K., Echols asked her to have sex with him, but she assumed he was "picking" and "blew it off." When Echols noticed that J.K. did not have much gasoline in her car, he asked her if she wanted to make loops with him in his truck. She agreed.

J.K.'s account of the events that followed differed from Echols' regarding her consent to subsequent multiple sexual acts. J.K. related that instead of making the usual loop, Echols drove her straight to Bad Eye Road in Union Parish and parked his truck. J.K. asked Echols why they had stopped, and he said that they were just going to talk.

The next thing J.K. knew, the defendant was on the passenger side of the truck pinning down the top part of her arms and shoulders to the seat. He then reclined the passenger seat, took her clothes off and undressed himself. J.K. kept telling the defendant "no" and trying to resist him, but he overpowered her and told her to be still and quiet and to "take it or else he would get it the way he wanted it." J.K. felt powerless. Echols first had vaginal sexual intercourse with J.K., and then returned to the driver's seat and made J.K. perform oral sex on him by pulling her hair and pushing her head up and down on his penis. He went back over to the passenger seat and raped J.K. again vaginally and then turned her over and had anal sexual intercourse. When J.K. protested that the anal sex hurt, Echols then inserted his penis back into her mouth and demanded that she swallow his ejaculate. On cross-examination, the defense questioned J.K. regarding the sequence of the sex acts, and whether her trial testimony on the sequence was consistent with her statement to police and her testimony at the preliminary hearing. J.K. testified that she resisted the defendant to the best of her ability during the entire rape. She admitted that the defendant never threatened her, never told her he was going to hurt her, and never slapped her other than once on her behind. However, the defendant keep telling her he "wanted it and he was going to get it."

During the rape, J.K.'s brother called her on her cell phone three times. J.K.'s brother told her during their first phone call that he would be getting off of work soon. J.K. told her brother that she was at Wal-Mart talking to the defendant, because she was afraid that the defendant might hurt her even more. During the second phone call, J.K.'s brother asked her where she was, because she had plenty of time to be there by now. J.K. told him that she was on her way. She did not answer the third phone call from her brother because Echols would not let her. J.K. did not tell anyone about these phone calls until defense counsel requested her phone records.

J.K. related that after they each dressed themselves, the defendant returned her to her car at the Sonic parking lot where her brother was waiting for her. J.K. admitted on cross-examination that she lied to her parents by telling them the reason that they were late getting home was because her brother got off work late. She also admitted asking her brother to lie to their parents. She further admitted giving conflicting prior testimony at the preliminary hearing regarding her brother figuring out that she was out having sex, and the order of the sex acts.

J.K. reported the rape to her mother the next day. Sergeant Marcie Cooper of the Union Parish Sheriff's Office responded to the rape complaint. Sergeant Cooper took J.K.'s statement. An examination of her body revealed that the nipples and the areola of both breasts were bruised. J.K. also had bruises and "hickeys" on her neck. Sergeant Cooper observed two bite marks on J.K.'s chest and one on her back. These injuries were consistent with J.K.'s statement. J.K. was not emotional and did not cry during the interview. J.K. was angry about being "used" because the defendant treated her like "a slut he was paying for."

J.K. was examined at the hospital by a physician later that night. A rape kit examination was also performed. The physical examination was inconclusive regarding consent. The examining physician diagnosed rape based on the history taken from J.K.

Late that evening, Sergeant Cooper and Detective Chris Wingfield contacted the defendant at his home. They took him to the sheriff's office where, after being advised of his constitutional rights, he was interviewed regarding J.K.'s rape complaint. At first, the defendant admitted that he and J.K. had ridden around together, but he denied that he had gone to the location of the rape. The defendant further denied that he had sex with J.K. The defendant eventually admitted that he and J.K. had sexual intercourse but stated that it was consensual. When Detective Wingfield asked the defendant if he bit, pinched, or hit J.K., he became agitated and said he may have slapped her "ass" or pulled her hair in the heat of the moment because he likes it "rough." The defendant became more angry as the interview continued. The defendant denied having anal intercourse with J.K., and asserted that if they did, it was accidental. Detective Wingfield did not observe any marks, scratches or bruises on the defendant.

The defendant was charged by bill of information with forcible rape. At trial, the victim, detectives, expert witnesses, and the two teenage girls testified to the above-related events. The state also presented the testimony of a local car dealer, who brought a 1995 Chevrolet pickup truck to the courthouse, which had the same size cab as the defendant's truck. The jury was allowed to view the truck, including the size of the interior of the cab.

The defense presented the testimony of the defendant's friends, Linda and Robert Boyd. Robert was working at Sonic on the night of the incident. While Linda waited in her car for her husband to get off work, the defendant got into her car and talked with her for a while. After J.K. arrived at Sonic, the defendant went over to talk to J.K. He came back and told Linda that J.K. was "gonna give him some." Thereafter, J.K. parked her car, got into the defendant's truck, and they drove off.

Echols testified at trial that he first talked to J.K. at the Sonic. He started asking her if she wanted to have sex, she kept saying "no, no, no" because she knew he was "picking." But, finally, J.K. said, "Well, yeah, let's go." He claimed that he and J.K. flirted with each other as he drove to Bad Eye Road. J.K. also kissed him and rubbed his crotch. He described how they each undressed themselves. He stated that she was a willing participant in a series of sexual acts, including vaginal, anal, and oral sexual intercourse. Echols testified that because of the limited room in the cab of the truck, it would have been impossible for both of them to be on the same side of the truck changing positions between vaginal and anal intercourse. Afterward, each dressed themselves, and he took her back to the Sonic where her brother was waiting for her. Echols then told J.K. good night, and she got out of the truck.

The defense also presented the testimony of J.K.'s brother, who stated that he had been off work about 30 minutes when J.K. arrived back at the Sonic parking lot. He admitted that he was angry when he saw J.K. drive up with the defendant because he thought she had been off having sex with him. Although he and his sister did not have a curfew that night, the brother acknowledged that they would have gotten into trouble if his parents had known that they hadn't come home immediately after he finished work.

After jury trial, the defendant was convicted of the responsive verdict of sexual battery. The defendant's motions for new trial and post-verdict judgment of acquittal were denied by the trial court. On August 17,...