State v. Strain
| Docket Number | 2022 KA 0670 |
| Decision Date | 01 June 2023 |
| Parties | STATE OF LOUISIANA v. RODNEY JACK STRAIN, JR. |
| Court | Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US |
NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION
Appealed from the Twenty-Second Judicial District Court In and for the Parish of St. Tammany State of Louisiana Docket Number 0703-F-2019 The Honorable Ashly Bruce Simpson, Ad Hoc Judge Presiding
Warren L. Montgomery District Attorney Matthew Caplan Assistant District Attorney Covington, Louisiana Counsel for Appellee State of Louisiana
Gwendolyn K. Brown Baton Rouge, Louisiana Counsel for Defendant/Appellant Rodney Jack Strain, Jr.
BEFORE: GUIDRY, C.J., WOLFE, AND MILLER, JJ.
A grand jury indicted the defendant, Rodney Jack Strain, Jr., with committing the following offenses: aggravated rape (counts one through four); aggravated incest (count five); indecent behavior with a juvenile (count six); aggravated incest (count seven); and sexual battery (count eight).[1] He pled not guilty and, following a jury trial, was found guilty as charged on each count. The defendant subsequently filed a "motion for post-verdict judgment of acquittal, and alternative motion for a new trial," which the trial court denied in separate rulings.
Thereafter the trial court sentenced the defendant on counts one through four to life imprisonment at hard labor without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence on each count. On counts five and seven, the trial court sentenced the defendant to fifteen years imprisonment at hard labor and a $15,000.00 fine[2] on each count. On counts six and eight, the trial court sentenced the defendant to five years imprisonment at hard labor on each count, with count eight to be served without benefit of parole. The trial court further ordered the following: counts one through four to be served concurrently; counts five and six to be served concurrently but consecutive to the sentences imposed on counts one through four; counts seven and eight to be served concurrently but consecutive to the sentences imposed on counts one through six.
The defendant now appeals, raising ten assignments of error that challenge several trial court rulings and the sufficiency of the evidence on counts five, seven, and eight. For the following reasons, we affirm the convictions and sentences.
STATEMENT OF FACTS[3]
An investigation of the defendant for sexual abuse started in 2017, after Special Agent Timothy Lee Moore with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Special Agent De Wayne J. Homer with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) interviewed S.K. (the victim in counts one through three) as part of an unrelated investigation of ownership interests in St. Tammany Workforce Solutions, L.L.C. (STWS), a work release program.[4] S.K. was then a major with the St. Tammany Parish Sheriffs Office (STPSO), overseeing its maintenance division. While being interviewed regarding STWS, S.K. revealed that the defendant sexually abused him when he was a child. The interview took place in the presence of S.K.'s wife and child. S.K. provided the agents with the names of four other potential victims of the defendant's sexual abuse: R.F. (not related to this case); M.F. (the victim in count four); A.D. (the victim in counts seven and eight); and R.P. (the victim in counts five and six), who was identified as the defendant's nephew.
For the sex crimes portion of the investigation, the special agents assigned an FBI child/adolescent forensic interviewer, Janetta Michaels, to assist in interviewing the alleged victims. They also brought in Trooper Malcolm Brown with the Louisiana State Police, and the District Attorney's Office assigned Agent Allyson Hoffine with the U.S. Postal Inspection Services to assist with the investigation.
Subsequently, the special agents interviewed M.F., who was incarcerated at the time. Early on during questioning by the special agents, M.F. broke down crying and stated that he had been sexually abused by the defendant as a child. M.F. did not, at that time, disclose that the abuse included penetration.
An interview with R.P. was set up next. The investigation bore out that in addition to being a STPSO employee, R.P. was receiving a $30,000.00 salary from STWS, though he had no active role in the program. R.P. started crying and appeared distraught as he confirmed to the special agents that he had been abused by the defendant. He declined an offer to meet with a forensic interviewer or specialist.
A couple of weeks later, the special agents interviewed A.D. A.D. confirmed that he was sexually abused by the defendant. In addition to interviewing the alleged victims, the agents interviewed family members and friends to whom the victims may have spoken about the alleged abuse before reporting the allegations to law enforcement. Trooper Brown determined that S.K. previously disclosed his claims to his wife, V.K., in 2011 or 2013. He further determined that R.P. first reported his sexual abuse claims to his mother prior to the investigation. The IRS interviews were memorialized, the forensic interviews were recorded, and the sexual abuse allegations were presented to the St. Tammany Parish District Attorney's Office in the spring of 2018. It was determined that the IRS and FBI would continue to investigate the work release program, while Trooper Brown and Agent Hoffine, individuals unassociated with the STPSO, would investigate the sexual abuse allegations.[5]
S.K. (Aggravated Rape, Counts 1-3):
At trial, S.K. testified that his date of birth is July 19, 1968, and that he knew and grew up around the defendant from about eight years old to adulthood. The defendant was five and a half years older than S.K.[6] S.K. testified that his family was poor and ultimately moved to property owned by the Strains when S.K. was between nine and eleven years old. S.K.'s parents worked at one of the Strain's local fireworks businesses twice a year (in July and December), and when S.K. was ten and eleven years old, he worked at the Mandeville fireworks stand with the defendant. S.K. testified that the defendant was like a brother to him and treated him very well. S.K. testified that when he was ten years old, while he and the defendant were spending nights at the fireworks stand, the defendant began initiating sexual contact with him.[7] S.K. testified the defendant was about two hundred pounds larger than him at the time and said he "played dead" during the acts. Later, when S.K. was an adult working at the STPSO, the defendant asked to have oral sex with S.K. in exchange for a vehicle that S.K. needed for his maintenance duties (or some other advantages at work), and the defendant would arrange for S.K. to engage in sexual acts with a female in the defendant's presence.
M.F. (AggravatedRape, Count 4):
M.F. testified that he has known the defendant his whole life and also grew up around the defendant in Abita Springs.[8] M.F. was bom on September 5, 1969, so he is about seven years younger than the defendant. When M.F. was about six or seven years old and weighed about 60 pounds, the defendant was thirteen or fourteen years old and weighed about 250 to 300 pounds at that time. M.F.'s parents and the defendant's parents were friends, and M.F. spent several days a week at the Strain residence. M.F. initially enjoyed swimming in the pond on the Strains' property while being supervised by the defendant. But, according to his testimony, when he was six or seven years old, while they were in the pond swimming on the Strains' property, the defendant started touching his private parts.[9] M.F. testified that the defendant was intimidating and threatened him, telling M.F. he "better not go back and say anything." M.F. stated the defendant was like a big brother and father to him. M.F. testified that over the years, as an adult, he would ask the defendant to provide things for him, and the defendant would do it "[b]ecause he knows what he did to me."
R.P. (Aggravated Incest &Indecent Behavior with Juveniles, Counts 5 & 6);
R.P. was thirty-four years old at the time of trial and his date of birth is June 23, 1987. R.P., also the defendant's nephew, testified that his mother and the defendant's wife are sisters. He also confirmed that A.D. is the son of another one of Mrs. Strain's sisters. He testified that he was very close with the defendant when he was about nine and ten years old and that between the ages of ten and fifteen years old, he stayed overnight at the Strain residence numerous times, would go hunting with the Strains, and would take trips with them.
R.P. testified that when he was around ten years old, while riding a fourwheeler with the defendant, the defendant put his hand "closer and closer" to R.P.'s inner thigh while moving his body closer to R.P. and putting his groin against him. As R.P. kept trying to move forward, the defendant would scoot closer to him. R.P. indicated that other inappropriate conduct occurred while hunting and at the Strain residence. For example, the defendant wanted R.P. to stand next to him to urinate. The defendant would also rub R.P.'s chest, touch R.P.'s groin area, and try to "play with [R.P.'s],pubic hair[.]" According to R.P., the defendant's acts progressed to the defendant touching and trying to stroke R.P.'s penis, sometimes causing R.P. to get an erection, and to the defendant telling R.P. to masturbate in his presence, while watching internet pornography. R.P. testified that the above described acts at the Strain residence would occur after the other members of the household went to sleep.
A.D. (Aggravated Incest &Sexual Battery, Counts 7 & 8):
A.D testified that he was thirty-three years old at the time of the trial and that he is the defendant's nephew, specifically...
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