## Facts

- On June 9, 1992, Lynn Paul Galliano and a 39-year-old woman helped Tammy Baudoin move into an apartment next door to the woman’s home.
- Later that day, Galliano and the woman went to a lounge together.
- After about forty-five minutes, the woman asked Galliano to take her home, but Galliano drove to his house instead, saying he wanted to show her something.
- Once inside, Galliano locked the doors and turned off the lights while the woman asked to leave.
- In the bedroom, Galliano retrieved a .38 revolver, placed it to the woman’s head, threatened to kill her if she did not comply, and raped her.
- When the woman tried to leave, Galliano forced her back into the bedroom and raped her a second time.
- Galliano later obtained a .410 shotgun, pointed it at the woman, and raped her a third time.
- The woman ultimately persuaded Galliano to call a taxi; she left the house and reported the rape shortly thereafter, prompting police involvement.
- Police contacted Galliano at his residence; he admitted having sex with the woman but claimed it was consensual, and officers recovered firearms and other items during a search.
- A physician examined the woman within hours and found vaginal trauma consistent with forced intercourse.
- Galliano was charged with aggravated rape and tried by jury.
- Before trial, defense counsel advised the court that Galliano intended to call Laurie Clement to testify that during her prior relationship with Galliano, he never raped her or attempted nonconsensual sex.
- The trial court indicated Clement’s testimony could be admitted, but warned that testimony portraying Galliano’s past sexual conduct as always consensual would allow the State to call Baudoin in rebuttal to testify that Galliano allegedly raped Baudoin three months earlier.
- Defense counsel objected and chose not to call Clement; the jury convicted Galliano of aggravated rape, and he appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether the trial court’s ruling—that Clement’s testimony about Galliano’s prior consensual sexual conduct would allow the State to rebut with Baudoin’s allegation of a prior rape—improperly restricted Galliano’s right to present a defense.
2. Whether the evidence was sufficient to support aggravated rape beyond a reasonable doubt.
3. Whether any other appellate claims were reviewable when not properly assigned and briefed.
4. Whether the sentence needed amendment to reflect credit for time served.

## Decision

- The court affirmed Galliano’s conviction and life sentence for aggravated rape.
- The court held the trial court did not improperly bar Galliano from calling Clement; it merely ruled that the State could rebut that testimony with contrary evidence, and Galliano’s choice not to call the witness was strategic.
- The court found the evidence sufficient for a rational jury to find aggravated rape beyond a reasonable doubt.
- The court declined to consider assignments of error that were not briefed and treated arguments not included in the formal assignments as not properly before the court.
- The court amended the sentence to grant credit for time served and remanded for correction of the commitment/minute entry.

## Legal Principles

- Evidence is sufficient if, viewing the record in the light most favorable to the prosecution, a rational juror could find the elements proved beyond a reasonable doubt. (Jackson v. Virginia)
- A rape conviction may rest on the victim’s testimony if the factfinder believes it and it is not irreconcilable with the physical evidence or other testimony.
- A defendant may offer evidence of a character trait, but once the defense introduces such character-type evidence, the State may offer evidence to rebut it; trial courts have discretion to determine the scope and admissibility of rebuttal.
- The constitutional right to present witnesses is subject to generally applicable evidentiary rules; an evidentiary ruling that sets consequences for introducing certain testimony is not, by itself, an unconstitutional exclusion of defense evidence.
- Appellate courts may treat unbriefed assignments as abandoned and may refuse to address arguments not included in properly filed assignments of error.
- A defendant is entitled to credit for time served before sentence execution, and the record should be corrected when that credit is omitted.

## Conclusion

The Louisiana First Circuit affirmed Galliano’s aggravated-rape conviction and life sentence, rejecting his claim that the trial court’s warning about rebuttal testimony deprived him of the right to present Clement as a witness; the court treated the ruling as a permissible application of evidentiary rules governing defense character-type evidence and State rebuttal, found the proof sufficient under Jackson, limited review to properly raised claims, and amended the sentence only to award credit for time served with a limited remand to correct the record.


State v. Galliano, 639 So. 2d 440 (1994)