State v. Texada

• Decision Date: 05 May 1999
• Docket Number: No. 98-1647.,98-1647.
• Citation: 734 So.2d 854
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana, Appellee, v. Martin Luther TEXADA, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

734 So.2d 854

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee, v. Martin Luther TEXADA, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 98-1647.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

May 5, 1999.

Richard Phillip Ieyoub, Baton Rouge, Donald J. Richard, Asst. Dist. Atty., Earl Taylor, Dist. Atty., for State of La.

Edward K. Bauman, Abita Springs, for Martin Luther Texada.

Before: DOUCET, C.J., COOKS and PICKETT, JJ.

DOUCET, Chief Judge.

The Defendant, Martin Luther Texada, appeals his sentence and conviction on charges of aggravated battery and aggravated escape.

The Defendant was an inmate housed in the St. Landry Parish Jail on December 25, 1997. At around midnight, the time when the prisoners were told to go into their cells for the night, the Defendant and two other inmates, Jerome Thomas and Jason Edwards, hid in the shower area to wait for the arrival of the two guards, who would be coming into their cell block to perform a head count. The inmates were usually told to "rack up"¹ at 10:30 but, because it was Christmas, they were allowed to stay up until midnight. When the two jailers went into the cell block to perform a head count, the three inmates, armed with metal rods which had been pried loose from night stands in their cells, came out of the showers and began to yell at the guards, demanding keys. One of the guards, Deputy Stelly, sought cover under a nearby table and the other deputy, Deputy Bonvillian, got down on the floor. The deputies were unarmed. Two inmates, Edwards and Thomas, stood watch over the guards while the Defendant went to look for the keys in the control room. The Defendant returned to the cell block three times, more or less, to get instructions as to the location of the keys. While waiting for the Defendant to find the keys, Jason Edwards threatened Deputy Stelly and struck him with the metal rod. Jerome Thomas kicked Deputy Bonvillian twice. No major injuries were sustained by either of the deputies. There was testimony adduced at trial that the three inmates had conspired to escape on the night before, Christmas Eve, but they had changed their plans because the guard on duty that night was a big man who carried his nightstick when he made his rounds in the various cell blocks.

After getting the master key, the inmates locked the two guards in the day room in block C. They remained there for over three and a half hours until they were released by a guard working on the second floor, who had become suspicious at around 3:00 a.m. when he realized he hadn't seen them. There was testimony adduced that, before leaving the cell block, the Defendant opened his cell and offered his cell mate, Kirt Antoine, a chance to escape, but Antoine declined. Because the guards were locked up there were no other guards to supervise the inmates on the third floor and some of the inmates in the other blocks remained in the day areas of their cells blocks instead of going to their cells for the night.

The escapees were caught and the Defendant was charged by bill of information with one count of aggravated battery, a violation of La.R.S. 14:34, and with one count of aggravated escape, a violation of La.R.S. 14:110. At his arraignment on April 17, 1998, the Defendant waived formal arraignment and the reading of the bill of information and entered a plea of not guilty to both charges. A trial on the merits began June 22, 1998 and on June 24, 1998, the jury rendered guilty verdicts on both charges. On August 21, 1998, the Defendant was sentenced on the aggravated battery charge to serve five years at hard labor and on the aggravated escape charge to serve ten years at hard labor to run consecutive with each other.

The Defendant appeals asserting three assignments of error.

SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE

The Defendant asserts that the evidence presented at trial was not sufficient to support guilty verdicts to the charges brought against him.

In order for the State to obtain a conviction, it must prove the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.

1. Aggravated Battery

The Defendant first asserts that the evidence at trial was not sufficient to convict him of aggravated battery.

La.R.S. 14:33 defines the offense of battery:

Battery is the intentional use of force or violence upon the person of another; or the intentional administration of a poison or other noxious liquid or substance to another.

La.R.S. 14:34 states that aggravated battery is "a battery committed with a dangerous weapon."

That statute further provides that "Whoever commits an aggravated battery shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars, imprisoned with or without hard labor for not more than ten years, or both."

To convict a defendant of aggravated battery, the prosecution must prove that the defendant intentionally used force or violence upon the victim, that the force or violence was inflicted with a dangerous weapon and that the dangerous weapon was an instrumentality used in a manner likely to cause death or great bodily harm. State v. Brooks, 499 So.2d 741 (La.App. 3 Cir.1986). After reviewing the record, we are convinced that the evidence adduced at trial is sufficient to carry this burden.

Deputy Stelly, one of the jailers on the third floor of the St. Landry Parish Jail on the night of the incident, testified at trial that Jason Edwards, Jerome Thomas and Martin Texada, were all housed on the third floor of the jail in cell block 3C on December 25, 1997. At midnight, the two jailers on duty, Mike Stelly and Andrew Bonvillian, called out "rack up" on their PA system to each of the four cell blocks on the third floor. The deputies on duty had a television monitor which allowed them to watch the prisoners and the control panel in the control room informed them when a door was open or closed. The doors in cell block 3A would automatically lock when the prisoners went into their cells but, for all of the other cell blocks, it was necessary to press down a button to lock the doors. Deputy Stelly testified that the prisoners usually take their time to go to bed and have to be told several times to "rack up." That night, cell blocks A, Band D did not go to bed right away, but cell block C did. The deputy testified he thought this was unusual but thought the prisoners were just tired. The deputies entered cell block C first to see if the prisoners were in the correct cells and to take out the trash. Deputy Stelly stated at trial that he had taken about three steps inside the cell block when he turned and saw three men come out of the bathroom with pipes in their hands. Deputy Stelly, having previously been severely beaten by two inmates, became very scared. At first Deputy Stelly testified that all three of the prisoners had pipes in their hands but later said that two of them, Jason Edwards and Jerome Thomas, definitely had pipes in their hands. When asked what he did after he first saw these prisoners, Deputy Stelly replied that he said "Oh, my God, not again" and ran under a table. Deputy Bonvillian was out in the open about five feet away from Deputy Stelly. After he sought cover under the table, the prisoners started asking the jailers for keys. Deputy Stelly testified that the Defendant was with the other two prisoners but walked out to go to the control room then returned and said that he could not find the keys. Before the Defendant left the cell block to go to the control room, Jason Edwards hit Deputy Stelly with the rod. Later in the trial it was established that Deputy Stelly was hit on the forearm, approximately two to four inches from the elbow. Deputy Stelly sustained a little cut for which he did not seek medical treatment. Deputy Stelly also testified that Jason Edwards swung the rod at him about five other times while he was underneath the table. There were chairs surrounding the table which could be moved a little bit, and he used them to protect himself. After the Defendant came back the first time saying that he could not find the keys, Edwards and Thomas began yelling and swinging pipes at the deputies. Deputy Bonvillain asked if he could put his hands up and get up but Edwards started screaming profanities at him and kicked him a couple of times on the left side. Edwards also kicked Deputy Stelly twice in his side and swung at him again saying to him, "I told you to shut up too" and "I'll bash you [sic] head in." Deputy Stelly said that the Defendant ran out of the room at least four times in search of the keys. On one occasion, the Defendant ran into the room and told Edwards and Thomas to empty out their pockets. After the Defendant found the key, the escapees offered to let Kirk Antoine, the Defendant's cell mate, go with them, but he declined. Then the three prisoners left, shutting the door behind them and leaving the deputies in the cell block day room without any means of communication.

On cross-examination, Deputy Stelly testified that neither he nor Deputy Bonvillian brought a flashlight, a nightstick or pepper spray with them to do the headcount that night. Deputy Stelly testified that he never brought the nightstick or the mace with him to do the headcount. He later stated that the inmates were locked inside their cells when they went into the cell blocks. On cross examination, Deputy Stelly again said that the three prisoners all had something in their hands and that he saw this from six or seven feet away. When it was called to his attention that during direct examination he had said that two of the prisoners had pipes for sure, Deputy Stelly replied that he was scared and could not recall whether he had seen anything in the Defendant's hands. Deputy Stelly clarified during cross-examination that he had been hit one time with the pipe and kicked twice. He said that he was certain he saw Deputy Bonvillian get kicked one time but he did not see him get hit with the pipe.

The next witness to testify regarding the battery and the escape was Deputy Bonvillian, the other jailer on the third floor on...