Cevero Garcia v. Cynthia Killingsworth, Asst. D.A.

• Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal
• Decided: May 2, 2007
• Docket: CA-0006-1504
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

STATE OF LOUISIANA COURT OF APPEAL, THIRD CIRCUIT

06-1504

CEVERO GARCIA

VERSUS

CYNTHIA KILLINGSWORTH, ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY, ET AL.

************

APPEAL FROM THE FOURTEENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT, PARISH OF CALCASIEU, NO. 2006-766 HONORABLE MICHAEL CANADAY, DISTRICT JUDGE

JIMMIE C. PETERS JUDGE

Court composed of John D. Saunders, Jimmie C. Peters, and Glenn B. Gremillion, Judges.

AFFIRMED.

Cevero Garcia Inmate #368938 Camp D, Eagle 4 Louisiana State Penitentiary Angola, LA 70712 PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT: In Proper Person John F. Derosier District Attorney Carla S. Sigler Assistant District Attorney Fourteenth Judicial District 1020 Ryan Street Lake Charles, LA 70601 (337) 437-3400 COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANTS/APPELLEES: Cynthia Killingsworth Judge Charles Quienalty PETERS, J.

Cevero Garcia was convicted by a jury of two counts of aggravated rape and

sentenced to life imprisonment on both counts on May 22, 1996. On February 17,

2006, Garcia filed the present civil suit to have his convictions declared null pursuant

to the provisions of La.Code Civ.P. art. 2004. He named as defendants Cynthia

Hollingsworth, an assistant district attorney with the Calcasieu Parish District

Attorney’s Office who prosecuted the case against Garcia, and now-retired Judge

Charles Quienalty, who presided at Garcia’s jury trial and subsequently imposed

sentence on him. The petition challenges the validity of Garcia’s criminal conviction

and the fact of his confinement in prison based on allegations of fraud and ill

practices on the part of the defendants.1 After the trial court dismissed the petition,

Garcia perfected this appeal. We affirm the trial court’s dismissal of Garcia’s suit,

but for reasons different from those expressed by the trial court.

DISCUSSION OF THE RECORD

Garcia’s 1996 convictions and sentences were affirmed by this court in an

unpublished opinion. State v. Garcia, 96-1594 (La.App. 3 Cir. 12/10/97), 704 So.2d

990, writ denied, 98-108 (La. 5/1/98), 805 So.2d 201. Accordingly, the judgment of

his conviction and sentences is final. La.Code Crim.P. art. 922.

The petition now before us is a civil action, wherein Garcia asserts that his

convictions are final judgments which may be annulled based on fraud and ill

practices as provided for in La.Code Civ.P. art. 2004(A). As we appreciate Garcia’s

petition, he asserts that the indictment charging him with the offenses was defective

and the trial court allowed evidence not included on the face of the indictment. In

1 Although Garcia names Ms. Killingsworth and Judge Quienalty as the only defendants, the only relief he seeks is nullification of the judgment of conviction. asserting the conspiratorial nature of the actions of Ms. Killingsworth and Judge

Quienalty, Garcia stated the following in Paragraph 8 of his petition:

The prosecutor and the judge in this case knew or should have known that the ILL-PRACTICE that was performed, in executing an indictment that failed to contain any aggravating factors to constitute the crime and absent the mandatory elements, upon the petit jury would compromise judgement, verdict or sentence rendered upon facts not contained in the formal accusation or in the Bill Of Particulars, moreover, enforcement of the May 22d 1996 sentence of two lives without the benefit of parole or probation stands to be unconscionable and or inequitable.

The trial court dismissed Garcia’s suit on its own motion based on its

interpretation of the Prison Litigation Reform Act, La.R.S. 15:1181, et seq. Garcia

now appeals.

OPINION

In dismissing Garcia’s suit, the trial court applied La.R.S. 15:1181 and La.R.S.

15:1184(B), which authorize a court to dismiss any prisoner suit “if the court is

satisfied that the action is frivolous, is malicious, fails to state a cause of action, seeks

monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief, or fails to state a

claim upon which relief can be granted.” La.R.S. 15:1184(B). We agree that the

petition fails to state a cause of action, but we reach that conclusion based on the

provisions of the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, not the Prison Litigation Reform

Act.

The present proceeding is not a civil action authorized under the Prison

Litigation Reform Act. The Act defines “civil action with respect to prison

conditions” or “prisoner's suit” to mean any civil proceeding with respect to the

conditions of confinement or the effects of actions by government officials on the

lives of persons confined in prison, but it expressly does not apply to “post conviction

2 relief or habeas corpus proceedings challenging the fact or duration of confinement

in prison.” La. R.S. 15:1181(2). Mr. Garcia’s present civil action concerns neither

the conditions of his confinement nor the effects of actions by the district attorney or

judge on his life as a person confined in prison. Instead, his civil action concerns the

fact or duration of his confinement in prison, matters that could only be the subject

of post-conviction relief. Thus, Garcia is seeking post-conviction relief by means of

his present civil petition. An application for post-conviction relief is “a petition filed

by a person in custody after sentence following conviction for the commission of an

offense seeking to have the conviction and sentence set aside.” La.Code Crim.P. art.

924(1). The statutory time limitations for filing an application for post-conviction

relief as provided in La.Code. Crim.P. art. 930.8(A) have expired in Garcia’s case,

and he apparently seeks to avoid this prescriptive ban on his action by attacking his

sentences and convictions in a civil action.

The failure of a petition to disclose a cause of action may be noticed by either

the trial court or the appellate court on its own motion. La.Code Civ.P. art. 927(B);

Succession of Wilson v. Wilson, 446 So.2d 526 (La.App. 3 Cir. 1984). In ruling on

an exception of no cause of action, the court is limited to the face of the pleadings,

and factual allegations in the petition must be accepted as true. Colquitt v. Claiborne

Parish, Louisiana, 36,260 (La.App. 2 Cir. 8/14/02), 823 So.2d 1103. The allegations

of Mr. Garcia’s petition with respect to the indictment and the bill of particulars are

matters that are properly addressed through post-conviction relief, not through a civil

petition against the district attorney and judge to annul the judgment of conviction.

Although the dismissal by the trial court under the Prison Litigation Reform Act was

3 technically inappropriate, the petition was properly dismissed because it failed to state

a cause of action.

A case directly on point is McCoy v. City of Monroe, 32,521 (La.App. 2 Cir.

12/8/99), 747 So.2d 1234, writ denied, 00-1280 (La. 3/30/01), 788 So.2d 441. In that

civil action, the plaintiff claimed that his criminal conviction was an absolute nullity

under La.Code Civ.P. arts. 2001-2006. The court held that the procedural articles

dealing with the nullity of a civil judgment had no application to the plaintiff's attack

on his criminal conviction and sentence. We agree with the second circuit’s ruling

in McCoy and hold likewise that Garcia’s petition does not state a cause of action that

would entitle him to release from incarceration.

When a petition fails to state a cause of action, the plaintiff is allowed to amend

his demand if the grounds of the objection can be removed by amendment. La.Code

Civ.P. art. 934. However, where the grounds for the objection cannot be removed by

amendment, the court is not required to allow the pleadings to be amended. Id.;

Richardson v. Home Depot USA, 00-393 (La.App. 1 Cir. 3/28/01), 808 So.2d 544.

No amendment by plaintiff could possibly cure the deficiencies in his demands. The

dismissal with prejudice was proper.

DISPOSITION

For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the trial court judgment dismissing

Cevero Garcia’s suit against the defendants, Cynthia Killingsworth and Judge Charles

Quienalty. We assess all costs of this appeal to Cevero Garcia.2

2 When judgment is rendered against a party who has been allowed to litigate without the payment of costs, the party “shall be condemned to pay the costs incurred by him . . . and those recoverable by the adverse party.” La.Code. Civ. P. art. 5188.