State v. Washington

• Decision Date: 11 April 2018
• Docket Number: No. 51,818–KA,51,818–KA
• Citation: 245 So.3d 1234
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana, Appellee v. Tyrone WASHINGTON, Appellant
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

245 So.3d 1234

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee

v.Tyrone WASHINGTON, Appellant

No. 51,818–KA

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

Judgment rendered April 11, 2018.

LOUISIANA APPELLATE PROJECT, By: Douglas Lee Harville, Counsel for Appellant

TYRONE WASHINGTON, Pro Se

JAMES E. STEWART, SR., District Attorney, Counsel for Appellee

EDWIN L. BLEWER, III, REBECCA A. EDWARDS, Assistant District Attorneys

Before WILLIAMS, MOORE, and STEPHENS, JJ.

MOORE, J.

Following a jury trial, Tyrone Washington was convicted as charged of molestation of a juvenile. The trial court sentenced him to 60 years at hard labor, with the first 25 years to be served without the benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. He now appeals his conviction and sentence. For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTS

A few days after M.B. confided to her friend, Jazzmine Nunn, that Washington, M.B.'s former stepfather, had sexually abused her when he lived in their home, she saw his car parked outside her school. Afraid that Washington might be looking for her, M.B. called Jazzmine on her cell phone. As she told Jazzmine about the defendant's car parked at her school, she lost her connection due to a weak battery in her phone. Jazzmine panicked when the call was suddenly cut off and M.B. did not immediately call her back or answer when Jazzmine called her. Worried for M.B.'s safety, she called M.B.'s mother, S.K., and told her of the situation, including the sexual abuse.

When S.K. learned that her former husband had molested her daughter, she called the Shreveport police. Shreveport Police Cpl. Lonnie Haskins interviewed S.K. and M.B. that evening. At first, M.B. denied that Washington touched her inappropriately, just as she had done a few years earlier when S.K. became suspicious that something might be happening. M.B. then spoke on the phone with Jazzmine, who apparently persuaded M.B. to tell Cpl. Haskins about the incidents in which Washington performed sexual acts with her when he was living with the family.

On October 24, 2014, Washington was arrested. He made two statements to Shreveport Police Detective De'andre Belle. In his first statement, he denied any wrongdoing. However, in his second statement, he admitted to having sexual intercourse with M.B. four times when she was 11 years old and he was 28. Subsequently, he filed a motion to suppress the self-incriminating statement; the court denied this after a hearing.

Washington was charged by amended bill of information for molestation of a juvenile under the age of 13. A unanimous jury convicted him of the charge. He filed a motion for post-verdict judgment of acquittal arguing that the evidence adduced at trial was insufficient to convict him; this was also denied.

Following a hearing, the trial court sentenced Washington to serve 60 years at hard labor, with the first 25 years to be served without the benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence.¹

The defendant filed a motion to reconsider sentence arguing that the trial court failed to consider the applicable mitigating factors when sentencing him to 60 years imprisonment. The motion was denied, and this appeal followed.

DISCUSSION

By his first assignment of error, Washington argues that the trial court erred when it admitted his incriminating statements into evidence. Those statements, he alleges, were the product of duress, inducements or promises; specifically, he cites Det. Belle's threats of a lengthy prison sentence, and his erroneous accusation that he had previously committed a sex crime and a kidnapping. The defendant argues that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder ("PTSD") at the time of his confession, and he was also under the influence of marijuana.

Additionally, although not raised as a specifically assigned error, Washington maintains that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction. He argues that M.B. delayed reporting the molestation, and he testified at trial denying any inappropriate behavior with her.

The state maintains that Washington's statement to police confessing to the molestation was freely and voluntarily given, and the evidence against him was sufficient to support the conviction.

The Motion to Suppress

Detective Belle testified at the suppression hearing that he arrested Washington and advised him of his Miranda² rights, which he waived. Det. Belle said Washington did not appear to be under the influence of alcohol or narcotics, and he understood the questions asked of him. He testified that police did not make any promises to Washington; nor did they threaten him in any way to obtain his statement.

Washington's statement, which was divided into two recordings, was played during the motion to suppress hearing.³ At the beginning of the first recording, he was advised of his Miranda rights,⁴ which he waived, explaining that he wanted to talk about the allegations against him. He confirmed that he was previously married to S.K., and he watched (babysat) M.B. and A.B. when S.K. was at work.

Washington denied that he ever touched M.B. inappropriately. He said that there was a "lot of confusion" in the home. M.B. and A.B. competed for his affection, and would come into his room to get food or movies. When asked why M.B. would tell police that he had sex with her, Washington replied that M.B. was upset with him because he had caught her with a boy.

During the interview, Det. Belle accused Washington of having previously been investigated for a sexual offense, but he denied this, explaining that he was stationed in South Carolina at the time the alleged prior offense occurred. Detective Belle dropped the matter.⁵ Det. Belle also asked Washington if he gave S.K. and M.B. a sexually transmitted disease, which he denied. This interview occurred after the defendant repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

In the second recorded statement, Washington once again waived his Miranda rights. He admitted that he had sex with M.B., but claimed that she "forced herself on me." He said that the sexual encounters, four in all, took place when the family lived at the South Pointe Apartments in Shreveport. M.B. would come to his room wearing only a white T–shirt and underwear when he was changing clothes. Washington denied that he threatened M.B., but he admitted that he told her that their sexual relationship was "our little secret." He claimed that M.B. first initiated the sexual relationship by stopping him as he walked down the hallway. He said she pulled down his pants and performed oral sex on him.

Detective Belle testified that there was only about a one- or-two-minute break between Washington's first and second recorded statements. He explained that after he turned off the recording equipment, Washington began making incriminating remarks so he turned the recording equipment back on.

Following Det. Belle's testimony, the trial court denied the motion to suppress.

Trial Testimony

At trial, Cpl. Haskins testified that on October 14, 2014, he spoke with M.B. She initially denied being touched inappropriately by anyone. However, after M.B. received a phone call from Jazzmine, she confided to Cpl. Haskins that she had been sexually abused by Washington when she was 11 years old.

S.K. testified that she and Washington⁶ began dating in 2006. They married on May 2, 2009, when M.B. was 11 years old, although the couple were already living together along with S.K.'s children, M.B., A.B., C.B. and J.B., at the South Pointe Apartments⁷ in Shreveport, Louisiana. Because S.K. worked two jobs, Washington watched M.B. and A.B. while S.K. was at work. S.K. testified that she noticed M.B.'s behavior change after she married the defendant: her grades fell, and she ran away from home. Suspicious that something was going on between the defendant and M.B., she questioned them both, and both denied any inappropriate behavior. The couple separated in July of 2012 and divorced on December 11, 2013.

On October 14, 2014, S.K. received a phone call from Jazzmine Nunn, M.B.'s best friend. S.K. stated that after the call, she asked M.B. if Washington had ever touched her inappropriately, but M.B. did not respond. S.K. called police the same day to file a report.

M.B. was 18 years old⁸ at the time of trial. She said that when she was 11 years old, Washington babysat her and her younger sister, A.B., at their apartment while their mother was at work. She said that even before her mother married him, and for some time afterward, Washington engaged in sexual acts with her, including touching her vagina and having vaginal intercourse with her. She did not report this to her mother because she was afraid Washington would hurt or even kill her and her family. M.B. testified that Washington said he would kill her and her family if she told anyone.

M.B. recalled one particular occasion when her sister, A.B., walked into the bedroom while Washington was touching her: he yelled at A.B. to get out of the room. A.B. and M.B.'s older sister, C.B., told their mother what A.B. had seen. However, when S.K. asked M.B. about the incident, M.B. lied and denied that anything had happened. She said she lied because she was afraid Washington would make good on his threats to harm her family.

M.B. also testified regarding the incident on October 14, 2014, when she called Jazzmine after she saw Washington's car parked outside her school. She told her friend that she was afraid he was at the school looking for her.

Jazzmine corroborated M.B.'s account of that phone conversation and also confirmed that she called S.K. and informed her that Washington sexually abused M.B. Jazzmine said that she later convinced her to tell the police what Washington had done to her.

M.B.'s younger sister, A.B., testified that when Washington was living with her and her family, she sometimes saw him and M.B. go into the bedroom together while her mother was at work. M.B. wore a big T–shirt, sometimes with nothing underneath. The door was not always locked. She told police she...