State v. Williams

• Decision Date: 09 October 1984
• Docket Number: No. 84,84
• Citation: 458 So.2d 1315
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Archie WILLIAMS. KA 0109.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

Page 1315

458 So.2d 1315

STATE of Louisiana v. Archie WILLIAMS.

No. 84 KA 0109.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana First Circuit.

Oct. 9, 1984.

Rehearing Denied Nov. 21, 1984.

Ossie Brown, Dist. Atty. by Jeff Hollingsworth, Asst. Dist. Atty., Baton Rouge, for plaintiff-appellee.

Kathleen S. Richey-Appellate Counsel, Asst. Public Defender, Baton Rouge, for defendant-appellant.

Before EDWARDS, SHORTESS and SAVOIE, JJ.

SHORTESS, Judge.

Archie C. Williams (defendant) was indicted for aggravated rape (Count I), attempted first degree murder (Count II), and aggravated burglary (Count III), in violation of La.R.S. 14:42, La.R.S. 14:27, La.R.S. 14:30 and La.R.S. 14:60 respectively. He pled not guilty. After a jury trial, defendant was found guilty as charged. He was sentenced as follows: Count I--life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence and with credit for time served; Count II--fifty years in the custody of the Department of Corrections with credit for time served, said sentence to run concurrently with the sentence in Count I; Count III--thirty years in the custody of the Department of Corrections, said sentence to run concurrently with the sentences imposed in Counts I and II. Defendant appeals his convictions and sentences. He alleged sixty-six assignments of error.

Assignments of error numbers 1, 2, 6, 14, 15, 18, 22, 23, 29, 30, 37, 46, 48, 49, 50, 51, 64, 65 and 66 were not briefed and therefore are considered abandoned. Uniform Rules, Court of Appeal, Rule 2-12.4; State v. Trevathan, 432 So.2d 355 (La.App. 1st Cir.1983), writ denied, 437 So.2d 1141 (La.1983).

FACTS

At approximately mid-day on December 9, 1982, a young woman was in her home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, when she opened her side door in response to a knock. She saw a black male, whom she recognized from an encounter about a month earlier. The man had previously come to her home looking for a Williams residence. On this particular day, however, the man stated he was collecting clothes for the needy. The woman became frightened and attempted to slowly close the door as they talked. The man shoved a flier through the opening and told the woman to read it. He then pushed the door open and forced his way into the house. The victim ran to the front door to escape, but it was locked. The intruder grabbed her, threw her to the floor and pinned her down while he removed a knife from a briefcase he was carrying. Holding the knife to her neck, he ordered the woman upstairs, forced her into a child's bedroom and told her to completely disrobe. The attacker removed his own clothing, raped her twice and attempted a third rape. During this incident, the woman was face to face with her attacker and observed his features. She also saw a scar in his shoulder area when he put his arms around her.

As the third attempt was beginning, Stephanie Alexander arrived to drop off the victim's young daughter. She honked her car horn to notify the victim that her daughter was home. When the victim did not come outside, Mrs. Alexander left her car with the motor running and knocked on the front door. When no one responded, she went around to the side door. Seeing that the door was open, she went inside and walked through the house, as she called out the victim's name. The assailant was holding his hand over the victim's mouth so she was unable to respond. About this time, he stabbed the victim in the stomach. He then pulled her toward the door, stabbed her again in the chest, and pushed the bedroom door closed from the inside.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Alexander proceeded upstairs with the children. She reached the top of the stairs and came face to face with the assailant. He grabbed her, pulled her into the bedroom and threw her against the bedroom wall. The children ran and hid. Mrs. Alexander begged the assailant to leave and offered her car for his escape. She covered her eyes and told the assailant that she would not look and could not describe him. At about this time, there was a knock at the door downstairs. It was later discovered that the postman was knocking in an attempt to deliver some certified mail. The assailant dressed and fled. The victim testified that she observed him wipe the bedroom door with his shirt before he left.

Subsequently, Mrs. Alexander drove the victim to a hospital where she underwent surgery for her injuries. Later that day Mrs. Alexander gave a description of the assailant which was used to make a composite drawing.

On December 15, 1982, while recuperating in the hospital, the victim gave a description of her attacker. Using an identikit, she made a composite drawing. This picture differed from the earlier drawing made from Mrs. Alexander's description. Later that day, the victim was shown eight photographic lineups, each consisting of six pictures of black males. No identification was made. The next day, December 16, the investigating officers, Detectives Groht and Mondrick, returned to show the victim three displays. Again no identification was made.

On January 3, 1983, while at her mother-in-law's home, the victim was shown six photographic lineups, each containing six photographs. At this session, the victim stated there was a person in one lineup who strongly resembled her attacker. She did not make a positive identification; rather, she requested side views of the suspects. Another lineup was composed using profiles; only Archie Williams' photograph was repeated. The victim pointed to Williams' picture and told officers to "look for someone who looked like him." She did not positively identify defendant at this time because she said his hair was different. The next day, January 4, the victim was shown one lineup. At that time, she positively identified defendant as her assailant. The January 4 photo lineup contained a photo of Williams with a different hair style. Later that evening, defendant was arrested. On January 5, 1983, a physical lineup was conducted. The victim again positively identified defendant as her attacker.

Mrs. Alexander also viewed the January 5 physical lineup. She identified another man, not defendant, as the assailant but testified that she had two choices but was told to only pick one.

At trial, the victim made an in-court identification of defendant. She also identified the scar on defendant's arm as the scar she noticed on the assailant's shoulder.

Defendant contended he was home asleep at the time of the crime. His mother testified she saw him asleep in her North Baton Rouge apartment at approximately 11:30 a.m., the approximate time of the offense. His sister and Albert Sterling both testified that defendant was home and asleep on the couch earlier that morning.

ARGUMENT NUMBER 1

(Assignments of error numbers 61, 62 and 63)

Defendant contends the trial court erred when it denied motions for new trial and a post-verdict judgment of acquittal and accepted a verdict contrary to the law and evidence. Specifically, he argues that the evidence was insufficient to support the convictions.

The trial judge may not reject the verdict of a jury that is correct as to form and meets procedural requirements. La.Const. art. I, Sec. 17; La.C.Cr.P. arts. 809-820; State v. Coleman, 450 So.2d 1063 (La.App. 1st Cir.1984). Thus, the trial court did not err in accepting the jury's verdict of guilty on all three counts.

Secondly, defendant contends the trial court erred in denying his motion for new trial based upon insufficient evidence. Only the weight of the evidence can be reviewed by the trial court in a motion for new trial under La.C.Cr.P. art. 851. The trial court can grant a new trial only if it is dissatisfied with the weight of the evidence, and in so determining, that court makes a factual review as a thirteenth juror rather than under the sufficiency standard. State v. Korman, 439 So.2d 1099, 1101 (La.App. 1st Cir.1983). The trial court's determination of whether to grant or deny a motion for new trial on this basis is not subject to review by the appellate courts. La.Const. art. V, Sec. 10; La.C.Cr.P. art. 858; See State v. Korman, 439 So.2d at 1101.

In Korman, we held that the proper procedural mechanism to raise the issue of the sufficiency of evidence is by a motion for a post-verdict judgment of acquittal under La.C.Cr.P. art. 821. Since such a motion was filed in this case, we will review the trial court's denial of this motion and address the sufficiency argument.

The standard established by La.C.Cr.P. art. 821 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 were proven beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Walker, 447 So.2d 54 (La.App. 1st Cir.1984).

The evidence in this case was sufficient to prove that the crimes of aggravated rape, attempted first degree murder and aggravated burglary had been committed. Indeed, defendant in his rebuttal brief admits the crimes were successfully proven. The key issue is whether defendant was the person who committed the crimes.

In State v. Long, 408 So.2d 1221 (La.1982), defendant's guilt was based entirely upon identification testimony, and the State presented no additional evidence. In regard to the standard to be used in determining if there was sufficient evidence to convict, the Louisiana Supreme Court stated that "it appears that the state was required to negate any reasonable probability of misidentification in order to carry its burden of proof." That court also stated that the trial court was faced with conflicting testimony and was required to determine which witnesses' testimony was more credible. The Supreme Court held that the misidentification of defendant as the perpetrator of another offense did not destroy nor even lessen the credibility of the identification testimony by the eyewitnesses.

Where the key issue is not whether the crimes have been committed, but whether the...