State v. WatkinsState v. Watkins
Kenneth E. Watkins was charged by bill of information with simple kidnapping, in violation of
FACTS
On August 20, 1986, the victim, a female real estate agent, was kidnapped by thе defendant and terrorized in an ordeal which lasted approximately two hours. Earlier that day, the defendant had telephoned her and set up an appointment for 1:00 p.m. At 1:00 p.m. that afternoon, the defendant arrived at the victim‘s office and discussed the purchase of a house with the victim. At approximately 2:30 p.m., the victim and the defendant left her office in her car and drove to the northern part of East Baton Rouge Parish, where the victim showed the defendant several houses. In the last house, the defendant suddenly grabbed the victim and choked her until she nearly was rendered unconscious. He forced her into the attic, produced a rope or cord of some type, and bound her hands. He informed her that he was not going to rape her but was gоing to take her “for security” and would kill her if she did not cooperate.
The defendant took the victim outside and placed her in the passenger seat of her car, a grey, 1984 Oldsmobile 88, and drove her across the state line into Mississippi. During the ordeal, the victim asked the defendant to loosen the rope because it was hurting her wrists and fingers; the defendant eventually complied. Later, at a truck stop in Fernwood, Mississippi, when the defendant stopped to buy gas, the victim managed to untie her hands and run for help. The defendant sped away in the victim‘s car and managed to elude the authorities that night. However, he was apprehended the next day and returned to Louisiana.
At the trial, the victim positively identified the defendant as the man who had kidnapped her. It was also stipulated that the defendant‘s fingerprints were found on the trunk of the victim‘s car. The defendant‘s taped confession, in which he admitted kidnapping the victim, was played to the jury.
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER ONE
In this assignment of error, the defendant contends that the trial court erred in ruling that the
By ruling that the State‘s article 768 notice was “good and sufficient,” the trial court was, in effect, making a determination that the State had properly complied with its pretrial discovery obligations. While the State erred in failing to disclose
This assignment of error is meritless.
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER SIXTEEN
In this assignment of error, the defendant contends that the trial court erred in overruling his objectiоn to the introduction into evidence of State Exhibits S-1, S-2, and S-3 during the habitual offender hearing.
At the habitual offender hearing, the State introduced documents intended to prove that the defendant had been previously convicted of aggravated rape. Defense counsel argued that State Exhibits S-1, S-2, and S-3 should not be allowed into evidence because they did not comply with the provisions of the habitual offender statute,
After these exhibits were introduced into evidence at the habitual offender hearing, defense counsel also objected that the same predicate conviction (aggravated rape) was being used to enhance the sentences for two subsequent convictions (the instant simple kidnapping conviction and the defendant‘s forgery conviction). Neither in his brief to this Court, nor at the hаbitual offender hearing, was the defendant able to cite any statutory or jurisprudential authority which would prevent the defendant‘s aggravated rape conviction from being used in the enhancement of the sentences for his subsequent simple kidnapping аnd forgery convictions. There is no doubt that, given compliance with the five year requirement in
For the above reasons, this assignment of error is meritless.
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER TWENTY-ONE
In this assignment of error, the defendant contends that the trial court erred in accepting Ms. Ettie Travis as an expert in the field of identification, recognition, and comparison of rolled fingerрrints.
The test of the competency of an expert is his knowledge of the subject about which he is called upon to express an opinion, and before any witness can give evidence as an expert his competency so to testify must have been established to the satisfaction of the court.
The acceptance of a witness as an expert is a matter entrusted to the discretion of the trial court. Its ruling will not be overturned on appeal absent an abuse of discretion. State v. Lewis, 489 So.2d 1055, 1061 (La.App. 1st Cir.), cert. denied, 493 So.2d 1218 (La.1986).
Ms. Ettie Travis testified that she had been working with fingerprints for fourteen years and was a fingerprint technician supervisor for the Louisiana State Police for the past four years. Her current duties included supervising a group of fingerprint technicians and supervising the classification of new fingerprints. Her technical training included six months of on the job training by a former supervisor and an F.B.I. latent fingerprint training course at L.S.U. She testified that she did not compare latent fingerprints, only rolled prints. She testified that, in her career, she had madе a few hundred thousand comparisons of rolled fingerprints. Finally, she testified that, in connection with her duties as a fingerprint technician supervisor for the Louisiana State Police, she had been accepted as an expert witness on four previous occasions in the 19th and 21st Judicial District Courts. Considering these qualifications, we find no abuse of the trial court‘s great discretion in this area.
This assignment of error is meritless.
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER TWENTY-SEVEN
In this assignment of error, the defendant contends that the trial court erred in imposing an excessive sentence and in failing to comply with the sentencing guidelines of
The Code of Criminal Procedure sets forth items which must be considered by the trial court in imposing sentence.
Although a sеntence falls within statutory limits, it may be excessive. State v. Sepulvado, 367 So.2d 762 (La.1979). However, the trial court has wide discretion in the imposition of sentences; and a sentence within statutory limits will not be set aside in the absence of an abuse of discretion. State v. Louis, 496 So.2d 563, 568 (La.App. 1st Cir.1986).
At the conclusion of the habitual offender hearing, the defendant was adjudicated a second felony offender. Before imposing sentence, the trial court stated that it had reviewed the pre-sentence investigation report. The report indicated that the defendant, age thirty-one, had a juvenile record and an adult criminal record which contained numerous arrests and three felony convictions, including the instant offense. Referring to the instant offense, the trial court noted that the victim did nothing to induce or facilitate the сrime. The trial court reviewed the defendant‘s social background, education, physical and mental health, and employment record. Concluding that the defendant‘s criminal conduct was the result of circumstances likely to recur, the trial court statеd that the defendant was in need of correctional treatment and that any lesser sentence would deprecate the seriousness of the offense. We find that the trial court thoroughly complied with the sentencing guidelines of article 894.1 in imposing this sentence.
For this conviction of simple kidnapping, the defendant was exposed to a maximum sentence of five years at hard labor. See
This assignment of error is meritless.
CONVICTION AND SENTENCE AFFIRMED.