State v. Willis
| Decision Date | 21 December 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. 05-218.,05-218. |
| Citation | 915 So.2d 365 |
| Parties | STATE of Louisiana v. Robert S. WILLIS. |
| Court | Louisiana Supreme Court |
John Frederick Johnson, District Attorney — 7th Judicial District Court, Bradley Rex Burget, Assistant District Attorney, Vidalia, LA, for Plaintiff/Appellee — State of Louisiana.
L.J. Hymel, Jr., Judge, 19th Judicial District Court, Michael Reese Davis, Stephen H. Shapiro, Sharp, Hymel, Cerniglia, Colvin, Weaver & Davis, L.L.C., Baton Rouge, LA, for Defendant/Appellant — Robert S. Willis.
Court composed of ULYSSES GENE THIBODEAUX, Chief Judge, MICHAEL G. SULLIVAN, and ELIZABETH A. PICKETT, Judges.
The Defendant, Robert Willis, appeals his convictions for aggravated rape for which he received a mandatory life sentence and four counts of forcible rape for which he received a forty-year sentence on each count, consecutive to each other and consecutive to the life sentence. He asserts twelve assignments of error, including insufficiency of the evidence.
For the following reasons, we affirm the Defendant's conviction and sentence for aggravated rape, vacate the Defendant's convictions of forcible rape for the years 1992, 1993, and 1994, and enter judgments of guilty of sexual battery for the years 1992, 1993, and 1994. We remand for sentencing on these convictions. Finally, because of insufficiency of the evidence, we vacate the Defendant's conviction for forcible rape for the year 1995.
The Defendant contends the evidence presented was insufficient to support the jury's verdict. State v. Hearold, 603 So.2d 731 (La.1992) stated that, because a finding of insufficient evidence may result in an outright acquittal, sufficiency challenges should be addressed before other claims.
In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction,
[T]he appellate court must determine that the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, was sufficient to convince a rational trier of fact that all of the elements of the crime had been proved beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Captville, 448 So.2d 676, 678 (La.1984).
State v. Williams, 03-3514, p. 5 (La.12/13/04), 893 So.2d 7, 12.
The Defendant was convicted of one count of aggravated rape and four counts of forcible rape. At the time of the offenses, aggravated rape was defined as follows:
A. Aggravated rape is a rape committed where the anal or vaginal sexual intercourse is deemed to be without lawful consent of the victim because it is committed under any one or more of the following circumstances:
(1) When the victim resists the act to the utmost, but whose resistance is overcome by force.
(2) When the victim is prevented from resisting the act by threats of great and immediate bodily harm, accompanied by apparent power of execution.
(3) When the victim is prevented from resisting the act because the offender is armed with a dangerous weapon.
(4) When the victim is under the age of twelve years. Lack of knowledge of the victim's age shall not be a defense.
(5) When two or more offenders participated in the act.
La.R.S. 14:42.
At the time of the offenses, forcible rape was defined as follows:
a rape committed where the anal or vaginal sexual intercourse is deemed to be without the lawful consent of the victim because the victim is prevented from resisting the act by force or threats of physical violence under circumstances where the victim reasonably believes that such resistance would not prevent the rape.
J.W.1 had two children, C.M., born January 10, 1980, and R.M., born January 28, 1978. J.W. met the Defendant in June of 1990, and he moved in with her family during the first part of 1991. The two were married on March 3, 1994.
OFFENSES INVOLVING C.M.
During 1990, for a period of eight to nine months, the Defendant told C.M. to feel the knife in his pocket and forced her hands between his legs. This abuse progressed and, in 1991, the Defendant had sexual intercourse with C.M., who was eleven years old. C.M. testified that she did not voluntarily participate in this sex act and was held down by the Defendant. When asked how many times this act occurred in 1991, C.M. testified that she could not count the number and "[t]his was every day." During sexual intercourse, the Defendant would choke C.M. until she lost her breath. Additionally, the Defendant threatened to kill her if she told her mother what occurred.
J.W. became aware of the sexual activity when C.M. was twelve as this activity began to occur in J.W.'s presence. According to C.M., J.W. began to purchase condoms for the Defendant's use when having sex with her when she was eleven or twelve, which would have been in 1991 or 1992; however, J.W. testified that this practice began in 1992 or 1993.
Eventually, C.M. began sleeping in bed with the Defendant and J.W. The Defendant then had sex with C.M. in J.W.'s presence and with J.W. in C.M.'s presence. C.M. participated in sex with her mother, J.W., once when the two performed oral sex upon each other. C.M. could not recall the date of this incident, but J.W. testified that this act occurred on March 3, 1994, the day she married the Defendant.2 When asked if she agreed to perform a sexual act upon her mother, C.M. testified that she had no choice. She explained that the Defendant threatened to kill her if she refused to cooperate and that she feared him because he had beaten both her and her mother. C.M. also testified that she was constantly reminded not to tell anyone what was happening to her and that if she reported the incidents she would be killed.
While on vacation in 1994, C.M., who was fourteen, discovered she was pregnant with the Defendant's child. Defendant and J.W. took C.M. to Baton Rouge where she had an abortion.
The Defendant ceased having sex with C.M. in late 1995, when she was fifteen years old. C.M. reported these events to police on April 4, 2001.
The above testimony is the only direct evidence the State presented regarding sexual intercourse between C.M. and the Defendant. In its closing argument, the State indicated that it relied upon proof of other beatings to satisfy the force element of the forcible rape offenses.
C.M. testified that the Defendant once beat her with a bull whip and threatened her with a gun when he thought he contracted a rash from her because she was having sex with boys at school. Although there was no testimony regarding the date of this incident, C.M. was home schooled after she completed the seventh grade. J.W. testified that C.M. was taken out of school in 1993 or 1994.
C.M. witnessed the Defendant kick, stomp, and punch J.W. C.M. testified that the Defendant badly beat J.W. twice and other times he would hit and slap her. C.M. testified that she could not count the number of times she witnessed the Defendant hit J.W.
C.M. testified that on one occasion the Defendant returned from hunting and he and J.W. argued. During that incident, the Defendant threw J.W. down and kicked, stomped, and hit her. The Defendant then dragged J.W. into the house. When C.M. tried to stop the Defendant, he hit her, splitting her lip. Once C.M. and J.W. were on the floor, the Defendant took out his pocket knife and told them he would rather see them lying by C.M.'s father, who was deceased, than to look at them. During this episode, the Defendant also beat a gun over a chair until the chair and the gun were broken. J.W. corroborated this testimony, indicating this incident occurred while she worked at Four Rivers Home Care. Although J.W. did not testify as to what time period she was employed at Four Rivers Home Care, R.M. testified this incident occurred in 1993. During another altercation, C.M. saw the Defendant put J.W. in a headlock and hit her in the stomach.
C.M. also saw the Defendant beat R.M. She indicated this occurred "pretty often" until R.M. moved out. J.W. also testified that the Defendant physically and verbally abused R.M. R.M. testified that while he hunted with the Defendant, the two sometimes fought and the Defendant would give him a knot on the head. R.M. moved out the day after the incident in 1993.
J.W. testified that the Defendant began to use force or violence against her in the latter part of 1990 and that this was a routine practice from 1991 until March 1999. J.W. further testified that she was beaten by the Defendant "pretty often." When asked to explain what that meant, she stated
One winter the Defendant returned from hunting and hit J.W. and C.M. with his fists. During that altercation, J.W. instructed C.M. to run to the neighbor's house for protection. J.W. did not testify as to what year this event took place.
J.W. further testified that after the Defendant moved into the home, she placed padlocks on the bedroom doors of C.M. and R.M. because the Defendant told her C.M. and R.M. were having sex. R.M. testified that he was not told why padlocks were put on his door. R.M. indicated the locks were put on in 1997 or 1998. Neither C.M. nor J.W. testified regarding the date the locks were installed. C.M. testified that the Defendant accused her of having sex with her brother and she went out of her way to avoid her brother. However, R.M. testified that he was not aware of any prohibition against C.M. looking at him.
C.M. was shown several pictures of the family home that depicted padlocks on her bedroom door and that of R.M. Additionally, C.M. identified photographs reflecting holes in the wall of the home. She testified the holes were the result of the Defendant pushing R.M. into the wall.
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