Louisiana: Court Upholds Conviction in Casino Drugging, Assault Case

A man who was sentenced last year after spicing a drink, kidnapping and taking advantage of a woman at a Louisiana casino saw his appeal denied.

Evidence Leads to Jury Prejudice, Attacker Claims

The criminal case involves a Lake Charles man identified with the initials S.D.C., who was convicted in 2023 of second-degree kidnapping, mingling harmful substances and second-degree sexual battery. The conviction follows a trial after an incident dating back to 2021 when S.D.C. sexually assaulted a woman he met at a casino, which according to some local media outlets was Golden Nugget Lake Charles.

For his involvement in the criminal act, the man received a five-year sentence for the mingling of harmful substances, 40 years of prison for the kidnapping and 99 years in prison due to second-degree sexual battery. The prison sentences were ordered to run concurrently.

The Lake Charles man attempted to appeal his 99-year sentence, a report from American Press reveals. Putting the matter in front of the 3rd Circuit Appeal of Court, S.D.C. argued that a piece of evidence that was uncovered in the process of the investigation should not have been allowed during the trial. The man claimed that the evidence led to prejudice of the jury.

The evidence the man is referring to was extracted from his phone. Investigators found a video where the man allegedly sexually abused another woman in a separate incident from the one at the casino. However, the man claimed that no evidence suggests that he assaulted the woman from the second video, kidnapped her or gave her harmful substances.

Appeal Was Denied

Ultimately, the man’s appeal was denied with the 3rd Circuit Appeal of Court ruling that the second video demonstrated the probability that the defendant was willing to take advantage of a woman who was unconscious with the intent to sexually assault her, for which he was charged in the case at the local casino with another woman.

The court explained: “Given the similarity between what (the defendant) was alleged to have done to (the woman) in the present case, what he recorded himself doing to (the second woman) while she was unconscious, and the trial court’s instruction that (the defendant) may not be found guilty merely because he committed another offense, we cannot say the trial court abused its discretion.”

During the investigation of the case the Lake Charles man was convicted, law enforcement uncovered photographic evidence, including photos and videos of the woman who was assaulted, along with a video of a second victim, the same one that the man claimed shouldn’t be used in the trial.

Meeting a woman at the casino, the man was recorded by CCTV collecting a couple of shots and then pouring an unknown substance into one of the glasses. Shortly after, he is seen helping the woman she met at the casino to walk. Subsequently, the man assaulted the woman and took photos of her without any clothes on.