State v. Parks

• Decision Date: 25 November 2014
• Docket Number: No. 14–KA–497.,14–KA–497.
• Citation: 165 So.3d 930
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Daniel PARKS, Sr.

165 So.3d 930

STATE of Louisiana

v.Daniel PARKS, Sr.

No. 14–KA–497.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

Nov. 25, 2014.

Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Terry M. Boudreaux, Gail D. Schlosser, Rachel Africk, Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, LA, for Appellee, The State of Louisiana.

Powell W. Miller, Attorney at Law, Louisiana Appellate Project, New Orleans, LA, for Appellant, Daniel Parks, Sr.

Panel composed of Judges SUSAN M. CHEHARDY, JUDE G. GRAVOIS, and ROBERT A. CHAISSON.

Opinion

SUSAN M. CHEHARDY, Chief Judge.

Defendant, Daniel Parks, Sr., appeals from his conviction of aggravated rape of a juvenile and sentence of life imprisonment. For the reasons that follow, we affirm defendant's conviction and sentence.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On December 6, 2012, a Jefferson Parish Grand Jury indicted defendant with aggravated rape upon a known juvenile (D.O.B. 2/26/72), wherein the victim was under the age of twelve, a violation of La. R.S. 14:42 (count one), and with possession of marijuana, second offense, a violation of La. R.S. 40:966(C) (count two). Defendant was arraigned and pled not guilty to both charges. Following a trial by jury, a twelve-person jury unanimously found defendant guilty as charged on December 12, 2013. On January 9, 2014, following the denial of defendant's motions for post-verdict judgment of acquittal and new trial, the trial court sentenced defendant on count one to life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. The State dismissed count two. Defendant's motion to reconsider sentence was denied that day and this appeal followed.

FACTS

T.L.,¹ who was forty-one years old at the time of trial,² testified that defendant raped her when she was seven or eight years old. She explained that she grew up in Waggaman, Louisiana, where her family resided next door to defendant, who had been best friends with her father, L.G., since high school. L.G. testified that he trusted defendant and allowed him to babysit T.L. and her younger brother, L.L. T.L. described one such occasion where defendant, while watching his own son along with T.L. and L.L. at his house, asked the children if they wanted to play hide and go seek, to which they all agreed. Defendant directed his son and L.L. to go to his son's room and count to ten. Once the two boys left, defendant grabbed T.L.'s hand and led her into his bathroom, shut the door, locked it, and turned off the light. When T.L. asked why the door was locked and the light was off, defendant explained, “so they wouldn't find us.” Defendant laid T.L. down on the floor and removed her shorts and underwear. T.L. heard defendant's zipper and then felt defendant lay on top of her and insert his penis into her vagina. He began rocking up and down and was breathing heavily. T.L. told him that it hurt, and he told her that he was almost finished. L.L. and defendant's son then knocked on the door, saying that they had found them. Defendant put his hand over T.L.'s mouth and whispered into her ear: “If you ever tell anybody, I'll kill your dad and your brother.” He then told her to get dressed and go play.

Years later, T.L. and her children attended a crawfish boil at defendant's house to visit with her father, who was often out of town for work. At some point that day, T.L. walked into the kitchen where defendant was stirring a pot of gumbo. She wanted to confront him, but was rendered speechless, so she stared at him and he stared back. He then said, “Do you want to end up like Stephanie, do you?” T.L. understood defendant

was referring to Stephanie Hebert, a childhood friend of T.L.'s who defendant also babysat and who was the victim of an unsolved murder in 1978 at the age of six. Interpreting defendant's remark as a threat, T.L. gathered her children and left.

Over a decade later, following Hurricane Katrina, T.L. had moved to Arkansas and in 2012, she called defendant, confronted him, and told him that she was going to contact the police. Indeed, on July 24, 2012, Lieutenant Ralph Sacks of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office received a long-distance telephone call from T.L., after which he set up a meeting between T.L. and Detective Kay Horne. In August of 2012, T.L. gave a statement identifying defendant as the man who raped her. Following T.L.'s statement, Detective Home obtained a search warrant for defendant's residence. On August 17, 2012, during the search of defendant's residence, Lt. Sacks encountered defendant, advised him of his Miranda³ rights, and explained the nature of the officers' presence. Defendant indicated he understood his rights and agreed to accompany the officers back to the detective bureau. Once back at the bureau, defendant was led into an interview room where Detective Home executed a waiver of rights form with him. Defendant indicated that he understood his rights, waived them, and provided a statement.

In his recorded statement, which commenced at 2:00 p.m., defendant explained to Detective Home that T.L. had called him about one month prior, wherein she accused him of raping her and told him that she was going to come to New Orleans and speak to the District Attorney about it. He admitted that when T.L. was seven or eight years old, they played hide and seek, that they might have hidden in the bathroom when the lights went out, that he might have fallen on top of her, and that they were rolling around trying to get up. He acknowledged that he might have touched T.L. inappropriately, but he denied inserting his penis into her vagina. This statement concluded at 2:25 p.m.

Following this statement, defendant provided a second recorded statement, which commenced at 5:29 p.m. In this statement, he acknowledged that he had been advised of his rights and that he waived them. Defendant then went on to explain that he and T.L., who was about eight years old at the time, hid in the bathroom together while playing hide and seek. While in the darkened room, T.L. and defendant stumbled and when defendant “hit the floor at the right spot the hand was in the right spot to feel somethin[g] and I guess you know the ... animal instinct more or less started to take over.” He admitted that he touched the outside of T.L.'s vagina with his hand and became aroused. Clad in short shorts, defendant admitted his penis “did come out;” and he attempted to put it near her vagina, but as he made contact with her, he stopped and pulled back. He denied fully inserting his penis, but admitted that the head of his penis might have touched her skin, penetrating approximately one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch into her vagina. He denied threatening T.L. This statement concluded at 5:35 p.m.

Then, in a third recorded statement, in which defendant again acknowledged that he understood his rights and remained willing to waive them, defendant admitted that he made a statement to T.L. to the effect of: “Get out of here before they find you like they found poor little Stephanie Hebert.” Defendant denied that this was a threat, and denied kidnapping, raping, or murdering Stephanie Hebert. This statement concluded at 8:26 p.m.⁴

The next day, August 18, 2012, at 3:10 p.m., defendant made a telephone call from the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center to his wife. Deputy Eva Banner, the custodian of recorded telephone calls at the correctional center, authenticated the recording of defendant's telephone call which was played for the jury. In the conversation, defendant repeated many of the same things he had said in his statements. He explained that he did something “stupid,” that he touched the victim with his hand on her vagina, that he was

using drugs at the time, and that he was wearing “short shorts” and “it popped out.” He stated that he did not do anything but “it was in the vicinity” and that he stopped himself before anything happened. Defendant asserted that he put the “old bird” by her vagina, but that it did not go in. He explained that the incident happened in the hall bathroom and that the lights were out while they were playing hide and seek. He said he regretted what had happened and felt bad that he had caused the victim a lot of grief. He further said that he was glad to get the “guilt” off his shoulders, that he realized what he did was wrong, and that it was in the back of his mind all these years, but he did not want to remember it.

Dr. Neha Mehta, the Medical Director of the Audrey Hepburn Care Center at Children's Hospital and an expert in child abuse pediatrics, testified that it is common for children to delay disclosing that they have been sexually abused. One reason for such delayed disclosure, Dr. Mehta offered, is that the child has been threatened with negative consequences if disclosure is made. Dr. Mehta further explained that over ninety percent of child sex abuse cases involve perpetrators who know the child, often a family member or care provider, and have access to the child.

Tara Phillips testified for the defense that she grew up on the same block as T.L. and defendant, that she was around the same age as defendant's son, and that she often spent time at defendant's house. She stated that she never saw defendant do anything inappropriate to children, that she never observed children exhibit any fear of defendant, and that she never saw children interacting with defendant.

Likewise, Debra Parks, defendant's wife of forty-one years at the time of trial, testified that she never received any complaints about her husband being inappropriate with children, that her husband has never displayed an improper interest in children, and that she has never seen him do anything inappropriate with any child. She identified her voice on the recorded phone call from her husband while in jail.

Defendant took the stand and testified that at 10:30 a.m. on August 17, 2012, police officers arrived at his house and asked him to accompany them back to the detective bureau for questioning, where he remained for eight...