State v. Richards, 78 So. 3d 864

Defendant Roger Richards was charged with aggravated rape by vaginal penetration of a victim under age 13 under La. R.S. 14:42.
A three-day jury trial in October 2010 resulted in a guilty verdict as charged.
On November 16, 2010, the district court sentenced Richards to life without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension.
Evidence included the victim’s testimony, hospital records, expert testimony linking vaginal penetration to Richards via chlamydia and DNA semen analysis on the victim’s jeans.
The State introduced, over defense objection, testimony under La. C.E. art. 412.2 about a prior rape conviction of a different person to show propensity.
The court later amended Richards’ sentence in light of Graham v. Florida and Shaffer v. State, directing parole eligibility be addressed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Insufficiency of evidence for penetration	Richards contends evidence fails to prove penetration beyond a reasonable doubt.	Marigny-like claim of insufficient evidence for sexual intercourse.	Evidence supports vaginal penetration; conviction affirmed.
S constitutionality of life without parole for a juvenile non-homicide offender	Graham does not apply given Louisiana’s parole structure; commutation suffices.	Graham requires vacating life without parole for juveniles in non-homicide cases.	Sentence amended to remove parole restriction and provide access to parole consideration per Shaffer.

State v. Brown, 907 So.2d 1 (La. 2005) (standard for sufficiency of circumstantial evidence; Jackson v. Virginia standard applied)
State v. Marigny, 532 So.2d 420 (La. App. 1st Cir. 1988) (insufficient evidence where only 'had sex' testimony without penetration proof)
Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 2010 (U.S. Supreme Court, 2010) (categorical prohibition on life without parole for juvenile non-homicide offenders)
State v. Shaffer, 77 So.3d 939 (La. 2011) (remedy for Graham by amending life-without-parole sentences to allow parole consideration)