State v. Franklin
| Decision Date | 19 December 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. 35,268-KA.,35,268-KA. |
| Citation | 803 So.2d 1057 |
| Parties | STATE of Louisiana, Appellee, v. Milton FRANKLIN, Appellant. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
Peggy J. Sullivan, Monroe, Counsel for Appellant.
Richard Ieyoub, Attorney General, Paul J. Carmouche, District Attorney, Traci A. Moore, Tommy J. Johnson, Assistant District Attorneys, Counsel for Appellee.
Before BROWN, PEATROSS and DREW, JJ.
Milton Franklin was convicted of aggravated rape, and sentenced to life imprisonment, without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence, from which conviction he now appeals. We affirm.
At the time of this unfortunate incident, the victim was a female certified nursing assistant providing in-home care to invalid and handicapped patients. One of her patients was Mrs. Emma Franklin. For approximately two years, the victim had been coming to Mrs. Franklin's home to provide assistance in bathing, grooming and eating. Living with Mrs. Franklin was her son, the defendant herein.
On June 9, 1999, the victim arrived at the Franklin home in the morning. The defendant, who slept on a couch in the living room, let the victim into the home through the kitchen door. Although the victim had seen the defendant hundreds of times, they were not friends, and her visits to the home were strictly professional. The only communication between the two was regarding the care of Mrs. Franklin.
After the victim took care of Mrs. Franklin's needs, she placed her into her electric wheelchair and then prepared Mrs. Franklin some breakfast. As Mrs. Franklin was eating in the kitchen, the victim was making up her bed. At that point, the defendant came from behind her, and grabbed her in a headlock. The victim felt a knife at her throat. The knife turned out to be a "Case" butter knife. The victim noticed the smell of alcohol, as if the defendant had been drinking a long time.
Realizing that she was going to be raped, the victim tried to fight off the defendant, but he told her to quit fighting or he would kill her. He then forced the victim into another bedroom and bent her over a bed. According to the victim, the defendant forced her pants and panties down. According to the defendant's statement to the police, the victim pulled her pants down at his direction. The zipper on the victim's pants was torn. Still holding the knife to the victim's side, the defendant vaginally raped her. He did not ejaculate inside her. As a result of the rape, the victim received multiple bruises on her neck, shoulders, back, and buttocks.
As the attack was occurring, Mrs. Franklin came down the hall in her wheelchair and saw the rape. She began screaming for the defendant to stop. She was unable to use the phone because the defendant had taken it off the hook.
After the rape, and as the defendant was distracted by his screaming mother, the victim put her clothes back on and ran out the kitchen door, got into her car and drove to a nearby gas station to call and report the rape. Once in the gas station, the victim told the clerk to call the police. The clerk testified that the victim was hysterical.
When the police arrived, the victim identified the defendant as the rapist. The police took the victim to L.S.U. Medical Center where Dr. Antonio Pizarra conducted a rape exam, made a vaginal swab and noted her injuries. Later tests found a small amount of sperm on the vaginal swab. DNA testing established a one in 391 trillion chance that the sperm could have been from someone other than the defendant.
Moments after the rape, the defendant left the scene. He gave a note to a neighbor, addressed to his mother, admitting that he had done something wrong and indicating that he was going to hang himself. As the officers were at the residence preparing to begin a search for the defendant, he walked up and surrendered. He had been held by a neighbor who was concerned that the defendant might flee and commit suicide. The defendant was arrested, and one of the officers read him his Miranda rights from a card. The defendant did not request an attorney. The officers advised the defendant that he was being arrested for the sexual assault of the victim. The officers did not attempt to take a statement from the defendant at that time. After the defendant was arrested, he signed a written consent form to search his home. The defendant took the officers to the kitchen where he showed them the "Case" butter knife that the defendant identified as the one he used. None of the arresting officers noticed any impairment of the defendant by drugs or alcohol.
About eight hours after the defendant was taken into custody, he was questioned by detectives Langford and Eatman. The defendant told the detectives he could not read. A detective first read the defendant his Miranda rights off a form and the defendant signed that portion of the form. Next, the officers read the part of the form as to whether the defendant waived those rights and agreed to give a statement. At this time the detectives did not think that the defendant appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The earlier investigation of the defendant's home provided evidence that the defendant had been drinking and possibly using crack cocaine sometime prior to the rape. The detectives testified that the defendant was not promised anything or threatened in any way for his statement.
At the defendant's request, the waiver portion was read again. When he was asked if he understood what was said, the following colloquy occurred:
(There was then a pause, where the testimony indicates that the defendant signed the rights waiver.)
The detective: Ok, I also need for you to put today's date down there. Where it says date. It's 6/9/99.
After the defendant signed and dated the form, the detectives questioned the defendant about the rape. He initially told the detectives about how the victim would come to his mother's house five days a week. On that day he went into a rage because of an argument he had with his mother. He stated that in this rage, he grabbed the victim. He admitted having a butter knife when he grabbed the victim. He described first trying to stab his mother, then grabbing the victim, and wanting to stab her.
As the detectives began to question the defendant about the rape, he was initially reluctant to admit the facts. For example, when asked if he put his penis in the victim's vagina, the defendant first replied, "I don't remember, if she say so, I did it." When told by the detective that the victim was being examined by a doctor, the defendant next stated, "I guess I did." When told that the response was not good enough, the defendant then stated, "Ok, I did, I did."
Next, the detective asked the defendant if he said that because he thought that was what the detective wanted to hear or because it was the truth. To this, the defendant replied, "Ah, it's the truth, whatever, whatever." The defendant denied pulling off the victim's clothes, asserting that she pulled them off because he had a knife. The defendant then stated that they had sex from behind. When asked if he told the victim to pull her pants down, the defendant first responded, "I might have told her." When asked again, he stated, "Yea, I guess I did." When asked the third time, the defendant admitted to telling the victim to pull her pants down. After further questioning the defendant admitted that he was threatening the victim with the knife as he told her to pull her pants down. In further questioning, the detectives got the defendant to repeatedly admit having sex with the victim, although he would assert that it wasn't rape. The defendant did deny ever having sex with the victim prior to this incident.
The defendant was charged with aggravated rape. At the hearing on the defendant's motion to suppress held on June 29, 2000, the trial court denied the motion to suppress. At trial, the defendant testified and claimed that he did not have sex with the victim on that date, but that they had sex on prior days. Following the trial, the jury convicted the defendant of aggravated rape. The trial court sentenced defendant to life imprisonment, without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.
La. R.S. 14:42 provides, in pertinent part:
Contending that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to convict him of aggravated rape, the defendant argued that the defendant denied the rape at trial, the state did not prove that a "dangerous weapon" was used during the commission of the rape, and that the nursing assistant originally stated that it was an "attempt" to rape her.1 In applying the Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979) standard to the facts of this case, the first question is whether or not the state proved that the victim was raped. In...
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State v. Franklin
...803 So.2d 1057 STATE of Louisiana, Milton FRANKLIN, Appellant. No. 35,268-KA. Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit. December 19, 2001. Page 1058 COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED Page 1059 Peggy J. Sullivan, Monroe, Counsel for Appellant. Richard Ieyoub, Attorney General, Paul J. Carmouche......