State v. Riley

1

STATE OF LOUISIANA v. JOSHUA C. RILEY

No. 2023-KA-0040

Court of Appeals of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit

August 31, 2023

APPEAL FROM CRIMINAL DISTRICT COURT ORLEANS PARISH NO. 551-880 SECTION “D” Judge Kimya M. Holmes

Brad Scott

Jason Rogers Williams

Thomas Frederick

ORLEANS PARISH DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE

COUNSEL FOR THE STATE OF LOUISIANA

Jacob K. Weixler

WEIXLER LAW LLC

COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLANT

Court composed of Judge Rosemary Ledet, Judge Paula A. Brown, Judge Dale N. Atkins

Paula A. Brown, Judge

In this criminal appeal, Defendant, Joshua C. Riley ("Defendant"), seeks review of the May 18, 2022 jury's verdict, which found him guilty of one count of third degree rape, a violation of La. R.S 14:43.^[1] Defendant argues that the district court committed reversible error by allowing: (1) the victim A.W.^[2] to testify to lay opinion evidence; and (2) the State of Louisiana (the "State") to pose hypothetical questions to its toxicology expert. Defendant also appeals the district court's denial of his motion for new trial based on a Napue v. Illinois, 360 U.S. 264, 269, 79 S.Ct. 1173, 1177 (1959) violation-where Defendant showed A.W. falsified testimony-and ineffective assistance of counsel. After review of the record and for the reasons set forth below, we find the district court did not commit reversible error in its evidentiary rulings nor did it err in denying Defendant's motion for new trial. Accordingly, we affirm the jury's verdict and the district court's judgment denying the motion for new trial.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Many of the facts of this case are not in dispute. On July 7, 2019 victim A.W. posted on the social networking app Snapchat that after dinner she was going to work at Scores Gentleman's Club ("Scores") on Bourbon Street. Defendant, whom A.W. was friends with on Snapchat, walked into the club during her shift, and the two had a short conversation. After A.W.'s shift, the two of them walked to a nearby bar, The Three Legged Dog (the "Bar"). Defendant and A.W. arrived at the Bar around 3:00 a.m. and had drinks together over the span of three hours. They each took several shots, and, at one point, A.W. left the Bar to buy cocaine. After A.W. returned to the Bar, the two continued to drink. A.W. became progressively more intoxicated as the night went on. According to video footage from the Bar, at approximately 6:20 a.m., A.W.-who appeared to lose consciousness-fell down to the floor inside of the Bar. The video further showed that at approximately 6:40 a.m., after A.W. fell to the floor a second time- Defendant picked her up and carried her out of the Bar towards his car. As Defendant was carrying A.W., the two fell to the ground, then sat against a brick wall and smoked marijuana while Defendant caught his breath. A.W. also ingested cocaine at this time.

Afterward, A.W. fell asleep in Defendant's car. When she awoke that afternoon, she was not wearing pants or underwear. She and Defendant's car seat were covered with blood. She then asked Defendant to drive her to a drug store. Defendant drove her to the CVS Pharmacy ("CVS") located on Elysian Fields Avenue near the intersection of North Claiborne, where she called 911 at approximately 1:45 p.m. In the 911 call, A.W. reported that she had blacked out but believed she had been raped. She felt as though she was going to pass out again. She said she was at a CVS, although she was not sure of the store's specific location, and asked for someone to take her to a hospital. About fifteen minutes later, the police found A.W. walking along North Claiborne and took her to University Medical Center ("UMC"). At UMC, A.W. underwent a forensic medical exam at approximately 4:00 p.m.

After the forensic medical exam, A.W. gave a recorded statement to Detective Brandon McDonald ("Det. McDonald") of the New Orleans Police Department ("NOPD") Sex Crimes Unit, and identified Defendant as her assailant. Det. McDonald collected the sexual assault examination report and submitted it to the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab ("LSP Crime Lab") for testing. He also collected surveillance video from the Bar. The LSP Crime Lab released the results of A.W.'s forensic medical examination on October 24, 2019. A.W.'s blood alcohol concentration was 0.15 percent, and she tested positive for cocaine and cannabinoids. Based on those results and A.W.'s belief that she had been raped, Det. McDonald applied for a search warrant to obtain a DNA swab from Defendant on October 29, 2019. Thereafter, on November 19, 2019, Det. McDonald obtained an arrest warrant for Defendant. On March 29, 2021, the LSP Crime Lab released a supplemental report, which confirmed that the DNA collected from A.W.'s vaginal swabs tested positive for Defendant's seminal fluid. The State filed a bill of information on April 14, 2021, charging Defendant with one count of third degree rape. On May 16, 2022, the case proceeded to a two-day jury trial. The pertinent testimony elicited at trial is as follows:

A.W.'s Sister A.W.'s Sister testified that on July 7, 2019, she received a call from A.W., who was crying and screaming that she had been drugged and raped. A.W.'s Sister testified that A.W. told her she woke up in a car, without pants on, and that she was bloody.

Heidi Martin

Heidi Martin ("Ms. Martin"), a forensic nurse at UMC, was qualified as an expert in sexual assault and forensic examinations. She did not perform the forensic medical exam on A.W., but she reviewed and testified to the contents of the documents related to A.W.'s exam. Ms. Martin said the forensic examiner described A.W.'s appearance as disheveled, glaze-eyed, tired, anxious and tearful. The forensic medical examiner swabbed A.W.'s genitals and vaginal pool, and A.W. submitted blood and urine samples. Ms. Martin explained that A.W. removed a tampon before the examination, but during the examination, the forensic examiner found another tampon lodged in A.W.'s vaginal vault.

During the exam, A.W. confirmed that she had consumed alcohol within twelve hours of the assault, and cocaine within ninety-six hours of the assault. A.W. also had experienced a loss of consciousness and a loss of memory, but she identified her assailant as Defendant, an acquaintance on social media. A.W. told the forensic examiner that she woke up in a car with her pants in the backseat and that there was blood everywhere. She did not remember getting into the car or leaving the Bar. She said that she and Defendant walked to the Bar and she had four to five drinks, but not enough to be in the state she was in.

A.W.

A.W. testified that on July 7, 2019, she posted on social media that she was going to dinner before starting her shift at work at Scores. She testified that Defendant, whom she did not recognize at first, walked into the club during her shift, and the two had a short conversation. The club's DJ told Defendant to leave because the club was nearing closing time, but Defendant answered that he wanted to finish talking to A.W. After her shift, she changed and walked to the Bar to meet a friend. She explained that Defendant followed her and kept asking to take her home, but she declined. A.W. recalled that while at the Bar, Defendant was very persistent so she sat with him and had drinks. She purchased cocaine from a friend, and Defendant bought her drinks. She remembered getting very drunk. She did not remember leaving the Bar with Defendant. Later that morning, she awoke in Defendant's car not wearing pants or underwear, blood was everywhere, and she felt pain in her private area, which she described as having had rough sex. She felt as if she had been raped. She asked Defendant where she was, and he replied, "[o]h, you were drunk. I was taking care of you ...." A.W. asked Defendant to drive her to a drug store, and he drove her to a CVS. Once inside the CVS, A.W. called the police. A.W. said that she started walking away from CVS because she was scared. A.W. testified that "[she] felt like [there] was still something wrong with [her]" and that "[i]t was not a hangover feeling .... [she's] been hungover before."

A.W. recounted that she met Defendant about three years earlier on her eighteenth birthday at a dance club on Bourbon Street, where they exchanged their social media contact information. The next time she saw Defendant was on the night of the incident. A.W. said that she did not interact with Defendant on social media that night; the first time they interacted that day was when Defendant came into Scores.

A.W. did not remember ingesting cocaine, but knew she had done so because her lab results showed cocaine in her system. While there were no other drugs present in A.W.'s toxicology report besides marijuana and cocaine, she believed that she had been drugged. A.W. explained that to her understanding, date rape drugs can get out of your system quickly. On cross-examination, A.W. confirmed that she had no science degrees and no degree in toxicology and that she gained her knowledge of date rape drugs from television.

Detective Brandon McDonald

Det. McDonald served as the primary detective on the case. He testified that he was notified that a female reported that she had been raped and was dropped off at an unknown location. Det. McDonald instructed the unit to have the victim undergo a sexual assault examination at UMC. When he arrived at the hospital, he could tell A.W. had been drinking because her speech was slurred and she did not remember what happened. Det. McDonald testified that a driver's legal limit for blood alcohol concentration is 0.08 percent and that A.W.'s blood alcohol concentration test results confirmed his suspicions that she was still intoxicated at the hospital.

Justin Manuel...