State v. Jason

• Decision Date: 10 July 2002
• Docket Number: No. 01-1428.,01-1428.
• Citation: 820 So.2d 1286
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Rocky James JASON.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

Page 1286

820 So.2d 1286

STATE of Louisiana v. Rocky James JASON.

No. 01-1428.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

July 10, 2002.

Elbert Lee Guillory, Opelousas, LA, for Defendant/Appellant Rocky James Jason.

Rick Bryant, District Attorney, Lake Charles, LA, for Appellee State of Louisiana.

Court composed of BILLIE COLOMBARO WOODARD, OSWALD A. DECUIR, and JIMMIE C. PETERS, Judges.

PETERS, J.

The defendant, Rocky James Jason, was originally charged by grand jury indictment with one count of attempted aggravated rape, a violation of La.R.S. 14:27 and La.R.S. 14:42; one count of aggravated oral sexual battery, a violation of La.R.S. 14:43.4¹; and one count of aggravated burglary, a violation of La.R.S. 14:60. After a jury trial, which began on May 8, 2000, the jury found the defendant guilty of aggravated burglary, but returned responsive verdicts on the other two counts. On the attempted aggravated rape charge, the jury found the defendant guilty of the responsive charge of attempted forcible rape, a violation of La.R.S. 14:27 and La. R.S. 14:42.1, and on the aggravated oral sexual battery charge, the jury found the defendant guilty of the responsive charge of oral sexual battery, a violation of La. R.S. 14:43.3. On May 26, 2000, the state filed a bill of information charging the defendant as an habitual offender pursuant to La.R.S. 15:529.1.

On June 23, 2000, the defendant filed the first of two motions for a new trial, asserting that he had discovered new and material evidence since his trial. In this motion, he asserted that he had available new evidence establishing that "the DNA of the seminal fluid present at the [crime] scene was not [his]" and that two witnesses had come forward to establish that he was somewhere other than the crime scene at the time of the offense.

Before the trial court ruled on the June 23, 2000 motion, the defendant filed a second motion for new trial wherein he again argued that the DNA evidence and the newly discovered witnesses would provide evidence that he was not at the scene of the crime at the time of the offenses. In this motion, he identified three witnesses by name and further asserted that "[r]ecent psychological testing reflects the defendant to be mentally handicapped." He added the assertion that injustice would result if the verdicts were allowed to stand. In support of his mental incapacity assertion, the defendant attached a copy of an October 5, 2000 report from Dr. Jeff Sandoz, an Opelousas, Louisiana licensed professional counselor. In a separate pleading, the defendant requested that the trial court allow him to enter a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.

The trial court considered and rejected all of the pending motions at a hearing held on January 16, 2001. Immediately thereafter, the trial court held a hearing on the state's motion to have the defendant adjudicated an habitual offender. After presentation of the evidence on this issue, the trial court adjudicated the defendant an habitual offender and sentenced him on the three convictions.

On the attempted forcible rape conviction, the trial court sentenced the defendant to life in prison without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. On the oral sexual battery conviction, the trial court sentenced the defendant to serve fifteen years at hard labor without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, and ordered that the sentence run consecutive to the life sentence. On the aggravated burglary conviction, the trial court sentenced the defendant to serve thirty years at hard labor, with the sentence to run concurrently with the other two sentences.

DISCUSSION OF THE RECORD

On November 28, 1998, at approximately 5:00 a.m., the victim of these offenses awoke to a loud noise in her Lake Charles home. When she attempted to investigate the source of the noise, she was confronted by a man who had broken into her home. The man forced her back into her bedroom, attempted to rape her, and then forced the victim to allow him to place his genitals in her mouth. Before ejaculating, the assailant removed his genitals from the victim's mouth and fled the scene. In the initial police investigation, the victim identified the defendant as her assailant. Additionally, two days after the incident, she picked the defendant from a photographic lineup, and, at trial, she again identified the defendant as the individual who committed the offenses.

OPINION

On appeal, the defendant questions the trial court's rulings on his post-conviction motions as well as the sentence imposed. For the following reasons, we affirm the convictions, but vacate the sentences, and remand the matter to the trial court for re-sentencing.

Errors Patent

Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 920(2) requires that we review all appeals for errors "discoverable by a mere inspection of the pleadings and proceedings and without inspection of the evidence." In performing this review, we find one error patent which requires that we vacate the sentences imposed on the defendant and remand the matter for re-sentencing.

The trial court sentenced the defendant the same day it denied his motions for a new trial. Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 873 prohibits the trial court, absent a waiver by the defendant, from imposing sentence until at least twenty-four hours after it has denied a motion for new trial. Because the defendant challenged his sentences on appeal, the error cannot be considered harmless. State v. Augustine, 555 So.2d 1331 (La. 1990); State v. Dronet, 97-991 (La.App. 3 Cir. 11/4/98), 721 So.2d 1038. Thus, we find it necessary to vacate the defendant's sentences and remand this matter to the trial court for re-sentencing.

Assignment of Error No. 1

At the January 16, 2001 hearing, the defendant's counsel requested that the trial court appoint a sanity commission to evaluate the defendant. The trial court rejected this request, and, in his first assignment of error, the defendant asserts that the trial court erred in doing so.

Dr. Sandoz did not testify at the January 16, 2001 hearing. Instead, the defendant relied entirely on Dr. Sandoz's October 5, 2000 report wherein Dr. Sandoz diagnosed the defendant as suffering from a "developmental disability which manifests itself in both intellectual and behavioral areas." The doctor, who had interviewed the defendant and examined the defendant's school records, noted in his report that the defendant's school records categorized him as mildly mentally handicapped with a speech impediment. He concluded that the defendant "does not have sufficient intellectual capability to understand many of the demands placed upon him by society."

The trial court acknowledged that the defendant might suffer from "some mild mental handicap." However, the trial court recalled that at trial the defendant clearly consulted with his attorney, testified on his own behalf, and "presented a consistent recital of the facts as he saw them." Based on its review of Dr. Sandoz's report as well as observations at trial, the trial court concluded that there existed no need for a sanity commission.

Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 641 provides that "[m]ental incapacity to proceed exists when, as a result of mental disease or defect, a defendant presently lacks the capacity to understand the proceedings against him or to assist in his defense." The issue may be raised at any time during the proceedings, even after conviction. State v. Cyriak, 96-661 (La.App. 3 Cir. 11/6/96), 684 So.2d 42. When raised, "there shall be no further steps in the criminal prosecution, except the institution of prosecution, until the defendant is found to have the mental capacity to proceed." La.Code Crim.P. art. 642. Additionally, when the issue is raised, the trial court "shall order a mental examination of the defendant when it has reasonable ground to doubt the defendant's mental capacity to proceed." La.Code Crim.P. art. 643 (emphasis added).

The defendant has the burden of proving by a clear preponderance of the evidence reasonable grounds for the trial judge to believe he is mentally deficient. State v. Vincent, 338 So.2d 1376 (La.1976). "The fact that the defendant's capacity to proceed is called into question does not, for that reason alone, require the trial court to order a mental examination of the defendant." State v. Lott, 574 So.2d 417, 424 (La.App. 2 Cir. 1991), writ denied, 580 So.2d 666 (La. 1991), affirmed after remand, 27,849 (La.App. 2 Cir. 4/3/96); 671 So.2d 1182.

Cyriak, 684 So.2d at 47.

Furthermore, "[a] trial judge's determination as to a defendant's mental capacity to proceed is entitled to great weight and will not be disturbed on appeal absent an abuse of discretion." Id. In State v. Morris, 340 So.2d 195, 203 (La.1976), the supreme court noted:

Mere weakness of mentality or subnormal intelligence does not of itself constitute legal insanity . . . . It is only when the retardation, defect or disease, alone or in combination, is so severe that an accused is unable to understand the proceedings against him and to assist in his defense that an accused is, within the contemplation of law, presently insane and unable to stand trial.

There exists no evidence in this matter that the defendant suffers from a mental illness. Additionally, Dr. Sandoz did not state that the defendant was incapable of assisting in his defense, and the defendant points to nothing in the trial record that would suggest that he was unable to assist his counsel. In fact, as suggested by the trial court, the evidence is contrary to that assertion. Thus, we find no merit in this assignment of error.

Assignment of Error No. 2

In this assignment of error, the defendant asserts that the trial court erred in denying his motions for a new trial. In asserting this error, he raises three grounds for the grant of a new trial: (1) that DNA testing of the sperm found in the...