State v. Saucier

• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana
• Writing for the Court: COOKS
• Citation: State v. Saucier, 81 So.3d 691 (La. App. 2011)
• Decision Date: 21 December 2011
• Docket Number: No. 11–246.,11–246.
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. David Lynn SAUCIER.

81 So.3d 691

STATE of Louisiana

v.David Lynn SAUCIER.

No. 11–246.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

Nov. 9, 2011.Rehearing Denied Dec. 21, 2011.

James C. “Jam” Downs, District Attorney, Numa V. Metoyer, III, Assistant District Attorney, Alexandria, LA, for Appellee, State of Louisiana.

Dmitre I. Burnes, Alexandria, LA, for David Lynn Saucier.

Court composed of Judges SYLVIA R. COOKS, OSWALD A. DECUIR and JIMMIE C. PETERS.

COOKS, J.

[3 Cir. 2] FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Defendant, David Saucier, was convicted of stalking his former wife, Candace Saucier, by following her on a motorcycle from the home of a friend to TCBY, a yogurt shop. He has a previous conviction for stalking her in April 2009. Defendant was charged by a bill of information with stalking, second offense, a violation of La.R.S. 14:40.2(A) and (B)(4). Defendant was tried before the bench on July 30, 2010, and was found guilty as charged. He was sentenced on August 13, 2010, to ten years imprisonment without the benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence.

Defendants “Motion to Reconsider Sentence Pursuant to C.Cr.P. art. 881.1” was filed on September 10, 2010. A hearing was held on February 14, 2011, following which the trial court denied the motion.

Defendant has perfected a timely appeal and alleges: (1) The evidence presented at trial was insufficient to sustain the verdict of guilty of a violation of LA. R.S. 14:40.2, stalking, second offense; (2) the trial court erred by “testify” [sic] and using facts not in evidence to reach the verdict of guilty; (3) the trial court erred in finding that defendant was the only one who would know Ms. Saucier and Ms. Lafitte and basing its guilty verdict thereon; (4) the trial court erred by making improper statements at the sentencing and on hearing on the Motion to Reconsider Sentence; and (the trial court erred by imposing an excessive sentence (and denying the Motion to Reconsider Sentence) and sentenced [sic] Defendant to serve ten years at hard labor.

After reviewing the record, we find there are no errors patent.

[3 Cir. 3] ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER 1:

In this assignment of error Defendant argues that the evidence was insufficient to support a conviction because the testimonies of the two States witnesses “were riddled with contradictions and implausible statements.” He also argues that the facts as presented at trial proved he was not the man who followed Ms. Saucier and her friend to the TCBY on the motorcycle.

At the beginning of trial, the State entered into evidence lower court case file, docket number 295,456, wherein Defendant was charged with one count of stalking and one count of criminal damage to property. He pled guilty on April 1, 2009, to two counts of stalking, one of the counts under docket number 295,456 and a prior charge, and to two counts of violation of protective orders. The State dismissed the charge of criminal damage to the victims property and a third charge of stalking.

The State also entered into evidence lower court case file, docket number 200,630, which contained four orders of protection beginning in 2000, including an order of protection which was in affect at the time of the current incident, all directing defendant desist from certain contact with his ex-wife. Defendant did not object to the introduction of these court documents.

Candace Saucier testified that she and Defendant met in 1993. In 1996, she and Defendant had a son. They married in 2000 and divorced the following year. She testified that on the morning of May 5, 2009, she went to city court regarding an allegation of simple battery Defendant made against her. She stated the charge was dismissed. Shortly after noontime, she went to visit a friend, Jacquelyn Lafitte, at her apartment. When she and Ms. Lafitte left the apartment to go to the TCBY, she saw a neon yellow motorcycle drive [3 Cir. 4] rapidly by and thought Defendant was the driver. She testified that while waiting at a stop light, she saw him again sitting on the bike in the Goodyear parking lot. This time she was certain it was Defendant. She further stated that Ms. Lafitte also recognized Defendant for certain this time. According to Ms. Saucier, when they pulled into the parking lot of TCBY, in the Emerald Square Shopping Center, Defendant continued down the street. As they were ordering their ice cream, Defendant drove by the TCBY several times. Eventually, he drove into the parking lot and came right in front of the door areas where TCBY is and stopped and revved up the motorcycle then took off. Ms. Saucier described the shop and stated that the front of the shop was all glassed in and she had a clear view of the parking lot through the front window.

Ms. Saucier testified that she feared Defendant. She stated that she has feared him since I put my first charge on David, in 1998.

Jacquelyn Lafitte's testimony regarding the incident was essentially the same as Ms. Saucier's, except that she said that she did not see him drive into the TCBY parking lot and up to the front door. She did, however, testify that he revved the bike every time he drove by and looked at them.

Rodney Wells (Wells) testified he has known Defendant for years and that Defendant often did mechanical work for him. He stated that he owned the neon yellow motorcycle at the time of the incident. According to Wells, Defendant sometimes rode the bike, he sometimes rode the bike, Mark Hennigan sometimes rode the bike, but his son, Justin, usually rode the bike. He further stated he did not recall if Defendant had the motorcycle on May 5, 2009. Mark Hennigan testified that he purchased the neon yellow motorcycle and [3 Cir. 5] that Defendant had not ridden the bike since he owned it. He testified he did not recall when he purchased the bike nor did he recall whether he used the bike on May 5, 2009.

Christine Gaspard was the TCBY's employee working on May 5, 2009. She stated she remembered the day specifically because it was her birthday. She did not remember anything untoward happening in or in front of the shop that day.

Defendant testified and denied he was the rider of the neon yellow motorcycle on May 5, 2009. He stated, after being in city court that morning, he worked with Rodney Wells repairing a travel trailer the rest of the afternoon.

Defendant premises his sufficiency argument entirely on the contention that the two State's witnesses made up the “story.” He argues that the “the two states witnesses are irreconcilable on key facts.... of such monumental importance that it calls into question the truthfulness of the entire story.” The contradictions Defendant asserts as “monumental” were whether Defendant drove past the TCBY on Jackson Street, or on the service road that “goes right beside TCBY”; whether Defendant was driving at a high rate of speed when they first saw him in front of Ms. Lafitte's apartment house as stated by Ms. Saucier or a slow rate of speed, as stated by Ms. Lafitte; and whether Defendant pulled the bike into the TCBY parking lot. Defendant also points out while Ms. Lafitte testified that she asked the shop's employee for a phone book to look up the police department's number, the clerk testified that no one asked her for a phone book that day.

Defendant further argues his defense witnesses testimonies' established the unlikeliness of the victims and Ms. Lafitte's story. The record, however, reveals the three defense witnesses' testimonies did not refute Ms. Saucier's or Ms. Lafitte's contention that it was Defendant on the neon yellow motorcycle on the afternoon of May 5, 2009.

[3 Cir. 6] In State v. Ryan, 07–504, pp. 2–3 (La.App. 3 Cir. 11/7/07), 969 So.2d 1268, 1270, while discussing sufficiency of the evidence, this court noted:

When the issue of sufficiency of evidence is raised on appeal, the critical inquiry of the reviewing court is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); State ex rel. Graffagnino v. King, 436 So.2d 559 (La.1983); State v. Duncan, 420 So.2d 1105 (La.1982); State v. Moody, 393 So.2d 1212 (La.1981). It is the role of the fact finder to weigh the respective credibility of the witness. Therefore, the appellate court should not second-guess the credibility determination of the trier of fact beyond the sufficiency evaluations under the Jackson standard of review. See King, 436 So.2d 559, citing State v. Richardson, 425 So.2d 1228 (La.1983).

State v. Lambert, 97–64, pp. 4–5 (La.App. 3 Cir. 9/30/98), 720 So.2d 724, 726–27. Thus, ‘[i]t is not the function of an appellate court to assess credibility or reweigh the evidence.’ State v. Smith, 94–3116, p. 2 (La.10/16/95), 661 So.2d 442, 443.

In State v. Milton, 06–550, p. 7 (La.App. 3 Cir. 9/27/06), 939 So.2d 678, 682, writs denied, 07–643 (La.12/7/07), 969 So.2d 625, and 07–1140 (La.12/7/07), 969 So.2d 627, this court stated:

“The resolution of a matter where conflicting testimony exists requires a determination of credibility of the witnesses and is a matter of weight of the evidence and not sufficiency.” State v. Mitchell, 01–0872, p. 9 (La.App. 3 Cir. 2/13/02), 815 So.2d 1041, 1047, writ denied, 02–0785 (La.11/8/02), 828 So.2d 1110, (quoting State v. Taylor, 96–1043, p. 5 (La.App. 3 Cir. 2/5/97), 688 So.2d 1262, 1267). While the witnesses' testimonies are not particularly specific, we find that they are not so inconsistent that the jury's determination was irrational, “especially in light of its function as a fact-finder and the deference given its credibility determinations[.]” Id.

We find, upon reviewing the trial testimony, that the referenced “inconsistencies” in Ms. Saucier's and Ms. Lafitte's testimonies are not such that would have resulted in an irrational finding of guilt. Their testimonies were...