State v. McDonough
| Docket Number | 2022-KA-0628 |
| Decision Date | 27 October 2023 |
| Parties | STATE OF LOUISIANA v. WILLIAM A. MCDONOUGH |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana (US) |
APPEAL FROM CRIMINAL DISTRICT COURT ORLEANS PARISH NO. 546-035 SECTION "B" Honorable Tracey Flemings-Davillier Judge
Jason R. Williams, District Attorney
Brad Scott, Assistant District Attorney, Chief of Appeals
Thomas Frederick, Assistant District Attorney
ORLEANS PARISH DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
COUNSEL FOR STATE OF LOUISIANA/APPELLEE
Mary Constance Hanes
LOUISIANA APPELLATE PROJECT
COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLANT
Court composed of Judge Rosemary Ledet, Judge Dale N. Atkins, Judge Nakisha Ervin-Knott
This is a criminal case. Defendant, William McDonough (hereinafter "Mr. McDonough"), appeals his conviction and sentence for second degree rape. For the following reasons we affirm Mr. McDonough's conviction and sentence.
In September 2016, C.W.[1] worked as an attorney and piano teacher while living in New Orleans, Louisiana. At that time, C.W. met Mr. McDonough on Tinder, a dating app, and they agreed to go on a first date to a concert on September 15, 2016. At the end of the date, C.W. agreed to go with Mr. McDonough to his condominium to eat some food and watch television. However, while at Mr. McDonough's condominium, C.W. and Mr. McDonough engaged in sexual intercourse, which C.W. maintains was without her consent. C.W. left Mr. McDonough's condominium in the early hours of September 16, 2016, and went to University Medical Center ("UMC") later that same day to undergo a Sexual Assault Forensic Exam ("SAFE"). Eleven days later, on September 27, 2016, C.W. reported the rape to the New Orleans Police Department (hereinafter "NOPD"). Mr. McDonough was charged with second degree rape of C.W. on December 16, 2016, and pled not guilty on arraignment.
After reading a news article about Mr. McDonough's arrest for rape in 2016, M.M. came forward in 2017 to report that she had been sexually assaulted by Mr. McDonough in 2014. Like C.W., M.M. met Mr. McDonough on Tinder and went on one date with him. M.M. stated that she did not recall all of the events of that night but that she did remember waking up in Mr. McDonough's bed naked the next morning and feeling sore between her legs. Additionally, Mr. McDonough's former girlfriend, L.K., reported to the NOPD that Mr. McDonough had raped her on two occasions and battered her on one occasion in 2019.
The State of Louisiana (hereinafter the "State") first initiated criminal proceedings against Mr. McDonough on December 1, 2016, and charged him with a violation of La. R.S. 14:42.1, second degree rape, against C.W. Mr. McDonough pled not guilty. Subsequently, on May 19, 2019, a warrant was issued for Mr. McDonough's arrest for violations of La. R.S. 14:42.1, second degree rape, and La. R.S. 14:34.9, battery upon a dating partner, L.K. A protective order was issued on behalf of L.K. against Mr. McDonough on May 1, 2019. On May 30, 2019, the State filed a superseding indictment against Mr. McDonough which charged him with counts relating to the offenses against L.K. and M.M., in addition to C.W. On June 26, 2019, the State filed a second superseding indictment and charged Mr. McDonough with six counts: 1) the second degree rape of L.K.; 2) violation of protective orders issued for L.K.; 3) second degree battery of L.K.; 4) second degree kidnapping of M.M.; 5) second degree rape of C.W.; and 6) second degree rape of J.D. Mr. McDonough pled not guilty to all of the counts in the second superseding indictment on July 22, 2019.
The State proceeded to trial on March 14, 2022, solely on count three, the second degree rape of C.W. On March 18, 2022, by unanimous jury verdict, Mr. McDonough was found guilty as charged for the second degree rape of C.W.
On April 14, 2022, Mr. McDonough filed a Motion for a New Trial, which the district court denied the same day. After denying Mr. McDonough's Motion for New Trial, the district court asked Mr. McDonough if he waived the 24-hour sentencing delay. Defense counsel stated that he would waive the statutory delays, and the district court proceeded with Mr. McDonough's sentencing.
C.W., her mother, and her fiance all gave victim impact statements. In her victim impact statement, C.W. explained that she suffered "horror and agony" in the years since the sexual assault, including suffering panic attacks, depression, thoughts of suicide, and she feared that she could not go back to the practice of law because of her trauma. C.W. further described how she had received continuous care from a psychologist and psychiatrist and even went to an inpatient trauma center for 28 days. C.W. requested that Mr. McDonough be put "in prison and on the sex offender registry for as long as possible ...."
Mr. McDonough also provided a statement during sentencing, wherein he explained:
I guess really I wanted to testify at trial. I was advised by my attorney to not testify. I wanted to tell my side of the story. You know, suffice it to say there are a lot of details that were glossed over or admitted. I feel like [C.W.] glosses over the fact that she lured me upstairs, even wagging her finger at me, hey, big boy, after we were already having sex downstairs. She never said no. She never told me to stop. But what she did do is go berserk and start screaming at me after the fact.
Following Mr. McDonough's statement, the district court sentenced Mr. McDonough to thirty years hard labor without the benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence and with credit for time served. After the sentencing, defense counsel objected to the sentence and orally moved for the district court to reconsider sentence. The district court denied the motion. Defense counsel made an oral motion for appeal, which the district court granted. Before proceeding to the merits of the appeal, we will provide greater detail about the trial itself.
The State presented seven witnesses, namely Dr. Colin Devlin (hereinafter "Dr. Devlin"); Brian Allred (hereinafter "Mr. Allred"); Detective Sergeant Claudia Bruce (hereinafter "Detective Bruce") M.M.; C.W.'s sister, A.W.; C.W.; and C.N. The State also entered twenty-two exhibits into evidence.
Testimony of Dr. Devlin and Stipulation Regarding DNA evidence
The State called Dr. Devlin as its first witness. After providing his credentials and being subjected to cross-examination by defense counsel, the district court qualified Dr. Devlin as "an expert with respect to emergency room medicine therefore, he could testify . . . [to] treatments in the emergency room to the extent it includes trauma and/or affect."
As part of his duties as an emergency room physician, Dr. Devlin conducted SAFE exams. Dr. Devlin testified that he was working as an emergency room physician at UMC on September 16, 2016, and performed a SAFE exam on C.W. Dr. Devlin explained that he took C.W.'s medical history, collected C.W.'s clothing, took pictures of her, and completed a full physical exam, including swabbing various areas of her body. Dr. Devlin testified that the absence of an injury when conducting such exams was not unusual.
According to Dr. Devlin, during the SAFE exam, C.W. recounted the details of the sexual assault to him. Dr. Devlin testified that C.W. told him that Mr. McDonough had given her half a "molly," but that she did not feel any effects from the drug. Dr. Devlin also stated that he took notes during the exam, including that C.W. had bruising on her thighs, but that C.W. was not sure if the bruising was from her encounter with Mr. McDonough or from a sexual encounter that had occurred earlier in the week. Additionally, Dr. Devlin noted the bruises were in various stages of healing; and he agreed that some of the bruises were old while some of the bruises were new. Dr. Devlin further testified that C.W. identified Mr. McDonough as her rapist during the SAFE exam.
Following Dr. Devlin's testimony, a stipulation was read into the record regarding the testimony of Andrew Ingram (hereinafter "Mr. Ingram"), an expert in forensic DNA analysis. The stipulation provided that Mr. Ingram Further, Mr. Ingram "determined that the DNA recovered from C.W.'s two right thigh swabs belonged to William McDonough."
The State's next witness was Mr. Allred, Mr. McDonough's good friend. Mr. Allred stated that he had known Mr McDonough since 2002. Mr. Allred testified regarding text messages and a fifteen minute phone call he had with Mr. McDonough on September 16, 2016, regarding Mr. McDonough's date with C.W. Mr. Allred explained that because Mr. McDonough was upset about how the date ended and that C.W. would not return his phone calls, he asked Mr. McDonough questions about what might have gone wrong during the date. Mr. Allred stated, His conversation with Mr. McDonough culminated in the following text exchange:
Mr Allred also testified that he exchanged further text messages with Mr. McDonough, stating that he hoped that Mr. McDonough had not been aggressive with C.W. Mr. McDonough responded, ...
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