State v. Benavides

336 So.3d 114

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee

v.Jorge Lopez BENAVIDES, Appellant

No. 54,265-KA

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

Judgment rendered March 9, 2022.

LOUISIANA APPELLATE PROJECT, By: Prentice Lang White, Counsel for Appellant

ROBERT STEPHEN TEW, District Attorney, SHIRLEY M. WILSON-DAVIS, Assistant District Attorney, Counsel for Appellee

Before MOORE, ROBINSON, and O'CALLAGHAN (Pro Tempore), JJ.

MOORE, C.J.

A unanimous jury convicted Jorge Lopez Benavides as charged for two counts of vehicular homicide ( La. R.S. 14:32.1 ) and one count of first degree vehicular negligent injuring ( La. R.S. 14:39.2 ). The trial court imposed a sentence of 20 years and 19 years at hard labor for each count of vehicular homicide, to be served consecutively as required by statute. For the first degree vehicular negligent injury, the court imposed a 3-year sentence to be served concurrently with the homicide sentences.¹ The court also imposed $5,000 fines for each homicide conviction, or in default thereof, to serve 720 days each, and a $5,000 fine for vehicular negligent injuring, or in default thereof, 180 days. Additionally, for each of the three convictions, the court ordered Benavides to pay $5,000 to the Crime Victims Reparations fund, for a total of $30,000 in fines and reparations. The court ordered all default time to be served concurrently. Benavides received credit for time served since September 27, 2015.

Benavides appealed alleging that the evidence at trial was insufficient to sustain his conviction for first degree vehicular negligent injuring, and the consecutive 20-year and 19-year sentences constitute a 39-year sentence that is constitutionally excessive for this 47-year-old first offender.

For the following reasons, we affirm in part, amend in part, reverse and vacate in part, and remand with instructions.

FACTS

Jorge Lopez Benavides, a 47-year-old resident of Mississippi, spent the evening of September 26, 2015, visiting a friend in the Monroe area. Shortly after 11:00 p.m., while driving his white Toyota Tundra pickup truck on La. 594, Benavides entered the exit ramp at Exit 124 of I-20 East and began traveling west on the inside lane of the two eastbound lanes. Several vehicles swerved to avoid colliding head-on with Benavides, who apparently remained unaware that he was traveling in the wrong direction despite oncoming vehicles. One of the eastbound vehicles swerved across the outside lane and the shoulder before colliding with a fence. No injuries resulted from that accident.

Moments later, Benavides’ truck collided head-on with a blue Ford Mustang driven by Thomas Williams, age 20. Williams and his front-seat passenger, Jamerro May, age 19, died at the scene within minutes of the collision. A back-seat passenger, Randarious Cooper, age 16, sustained injuries. He was apparently airlifted by helicopter to LSU-HSC in Shreveport, and ultimately spent 4 weeks in hospitals.

Benavides suffered only minor injuries as a result of the collision. He was taken to Glenwood Medical Center in West Monroe where he spent one night for observation before his arrest upon release the next day. State trooper Michael Williamson testified that he arrived at the hospital shortly after Benavides and was directed to his room where he was being examined for injuries. He said there was a strong odor of alcohol and Benavides appeared to be intoxicated. He was Mirandized and a blood sample was obtained by the state police. The test showed .15% blood alcohol, nearly double the legal limit of .08%.

Benavides was initially charged by bill of information with five offenses: two counts (Counts I and II) of vehicular homicide, one count (Count III) of first degree vehicular negligent injuring, and two misdemeanor charges (Counts IV and V), driving the wrong direction on a one-way, and driving without a valid driver's license. Subsequently, an amended bill was filed that did not include the two misdemeanor charges.²

Benavides moved to suppress the blood alcohol test results on grounds of a warrantless search, but these were ultimately found admissible.

Benavides remained in jail while awaiting trial for more than 5½ years after the accident and his arrest. Following a three-day trial, a jury found him guilty as charged on all three counts.

At trial, Dr. Frank Paretti, a forensic pathologist, testified that he performed the autopsies on the victims, Williams and May. He described the injuries suffered by each that resulted in their deaths minutes after the accident. Williams bled to death from a completely severed aorta; May died from massive trauma to his head and body.

Two witnesses, Morgan Anderson Graham and Lathaius Simmons, testified that they were driving east on I-20 moments before the collision and were forced off the interstate to avoid a head-on collision with the Toyota truck driven by Benavides. Ms. Graham's father, Brad Anderson, testified that his shaken daughter called him after she was forced off the interstate. When she returned home, he removed a video camera mounted above her rear-view mirror; this contained video footage of Benavides’ truck traveling in the wrong direction. He turned the video over to the state police when he learned of the fatal accident, and it was played to the jury.

Randarious Cooper's mother, Wanda Lagino, testified that the police came to her door and told her that there had been an accident in which two people had passed away and her son was injured. She then went to the Delhi Police Department, where a state trooper told her she needed to hurry to Shreveport because her son might not survive. She testified that Randarious spent two weeks at LSU-HSC and two weeks at Willis-Knighton recovering from his injuries. The prosecutor asked Ms. Lagino if Randarious's injuries were serious and if he still dealt with them; she responded, "yes, ma'am."

Three of the state troopers who worked the accident scene testified at trial. Trooper Ian Dollins, the first trooper to arrive at the scene, observed the two young men in the front seat of the blue Mustang bleeding profusely. He said that although they appeared to be alive, they were unresponsive to his screams to unlock or open the door. He did not see and was not aware of anyone in the backseat of the vehicle. He did not learn until later that there was a third person in the backseat of the vehicle. Trooper Michael Williamson, who arrived at the scene to assist Tpr. Dollins, testified that he saw the two victims in the front seats, and they appeared to be deceased. He did not see Randarious Cooper in the backseat of the vehicle. Shortly afterwards, Tpr. Dollins went to Glenwood to make contact with Benavides.

Trooper James Olmstead was dispatched to the scene to assist Tpr. Dollins in the investigation at 11:15 p.m. He testified that the victims were deceased when he arrived, but still in the blue Mustang; he did not see a backseat passenger; Benavides had already been taken to Glenwood. Trooper Olmstead was not asked about the narrative in the police report he wrote, to the effect that Randarious Cooper was "transported to LSU Hospital (Shreveport) in critical condition." Hence, it is not clear whether his knowledge of Cooper's condition was firsthand. This report, though part of the appellate record, does not appear to have been placed into the evidence at trial.

The exhibits that were put into evidence contain photographs of the deceased victims and of the severely damaged blue Mustang. There is also a DVD recording taken from Tpr. Dollins’ dash camera. This recording captures almost 32 minutes after Dollins arrived at the accident, a helicopter descending on the other side of several emergency vehicles and landing either on the median or on the interstate itself. Some 28 minutes later, the helicopter is seen lifting off, presumably headed to Shreveport.

During closing argument, defense counsel argued that the state had failed to prove "serious bodily injury" to Randarious Cooper, a necessary element to prove the charge of first degree negligent injuring.

After deliberations, the jury found Benavides guilty on all three counts as charged.

At the sentencing hearing, the members of the deceased victims’ and of Benavides’ families were permitted to address the court. Benavides himself made a statement in which he accepted responsibility for the terrible accident, and he apologized to the victims’ families. The court then imposed the sentences.

The court later denied Benavides’ motion to reconsider sentences. This appeal followed.

DISCUSSION

By his first assignment of error, Benavides contends that the trial court erred by accepting the jury's verdict of first degree negligent injuring when the state failed to present any medical documentation to establish what injuries Randarious Cooper sustained as a result of the accident. Other than his mother's personal assessment that his injuries were serious, there was no medical testimony or medical records that described the injuries, specifically, whether they involved, e.g., unconsciousness, extreme pain, or posed a serious risk of death, as required by the statute. Hence, Benavides argues that the "serious bodily injury" element of the offense was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

The state argues that the jury could infer from the totality of circumstantial evidence that Cooper suffered serious bodily injuries: there was extensive damage to the Ford Mustang where the driver and front-seat passengers were killed and he was a backseat passenger; Tpr. Dollins was unaware of anyone in the backseat when he tried to get the front-seat victims, who appeared to be still alive, to respond to his shouts to open the door (and this implies that Cooper was probably unconscious); Tpr. Williamson did not see a passenger in the backseat when he went to the vehicle; and Cooper was airlifted by helicopter to Shreveport for emergency medical treatment. The state argues that a jury could infer that the injuries were serious,...