State of Louisiana v. Brian Michael Hughes A/K/A Brian Hughes
This text of State of Louisiana v. Brian Michael Hughes A/K/A Brian Hughes (State of Louisiana v. Brian Michael Hughes A/K/A Brian Hughes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.
Opinion
NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION
STATE OF LOUISIANA COURT OF APPEAL, THIRD CIRCUIT
19-547
STATE OF LOUISIANA
VERSUS
BRIAN MICHAEL HUGHES A/K/A BRIAN HUGHES
********** APPEAL FROM THE THIRTY-FIFTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT PARISH OF GRANT, NO. 16-490 HONORABLE WARREN DANIEL WILLETT, DISTRICT JUDGE **********
ELIZABETH A. PICKETT JUDGE
**********
Court composed of Ulysses Gene Thibodeaux, Chief Judge, Elizabeth A. Pickett and Shannon J. Gremillion, Judges.
SENTENCE VACATED AND REMANDED.
Paula C. Marx Louisiana Appellate Project P. O. Box 82389 Lafayette, LA 70598-2389 (337) 991-9757 COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLANT: Brian Michael Hughes
James P. Lemoine District Attorney, Thirty-fifth Judicial District Jimmy D. White Assistant District Attorney P. O. Box 309 Colfax, LA 71417-0309 (318) 627-3205 COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE: State of Louisiana
1 PICKETT, Judge.
FACTS
On April 20, 2016, the defendant, Brian Michael Hughes, was arrested and
charged with possession of methamphetamines, a violation of La.R.S. 40:967(C).
The defendant possessed 1.73 grams of crystal methamphetamine. He was found
guilty as charged on February 14, 2017. The trial court sentenced the defendant to
five years at hard labor on April 13, 2017.
The defendant appealed; this court reversed his conviction, finding the state
failed to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Hughes, 17-458
(La.App. 3 Cir. 11/29/17), 258 So.3d 179. The Louisiana Supreme Court granted
the state’s writ application on January 18, 2019. The supreme court reversed this
court’s decision and reinstated the defendant’s conviction and sentence on June 26,
2019. State v. Hughes, 18-06 (La. 6/26/19), __ So.3d __.
While the defendant’s appeal to this court was pending, the state charged the
defendant as a habitual offender pursuant to La.R.S. 15:529.1 on April 21, 2017.
The bill of information alleged that the defendant had previously been convicted of
possession of CDS I with intent to distribute, a violation of La.R.S. 40:966(A)(1),
on May 8, 2008; attempted possession of a firearm, a violation of La.R.S. 14:95.1
and 14:27, on January 13, 2011; conspiracy to produce/manufacture CDS II, a
violation of La.R.S. 40:967(A)(1) and 14:26, on August 15, 2013; and possession
of CDS II, a violation of La.R.S. 40:967(C), on February 14, 2017. The bill sought
to sentence the defendant as a fourth felony offender.
In written reasons dated August 15, 2017, the trial court vacated the
defendant’s five-year sentence imposed on April 13, 2017, and adjudicated him a
fourth felony offender. The trial court then sentenced the defendant to life
imprisonment. The defendant filed a motion to reconsider his sentence on September 8,
2017. The trial court denied that motion, noting it considered the defendant’s age
and criminal history at the sentencing hearing.
After this court reversed the defendant’s last underlying conviction for
possession of methamphetamine on November 29, 2017, the defendant filed a
motion for an out-of-time appeal of his habitual offender adjudication and life
sentence on December 21, 2017. The district court clerk’s office did not forward
the notice of the defendant’s appeal to this court until August 29, 2018.
On January 3, 2018, the State filed a writ application with the Louisiana
Supreme Court seeking review of this court’s reversal of the trial court’s
conviction and sentence. The court granted the State’s writ on January 18, 2019.
It issued a per curiam on June 26, 2019, found this court “erred in its analysis of
the defendant’s sole contention on appeal,” and reinstated the defendant’s
conviction and sentence.
The defendant has now filed his brief pursuant to this court’s briefing
schedule, seeking review of his habitual offender adjudication and his life
sentence.
ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR
1. The 2018 Legislative Amendment to habitual offender sentencing laws in La. R.S. § 15:529.19 was an unconstitutional, ex post facto change in the law. The Legislature, in 2017 bestowed sentencing rights upon defendants, such as Brian Hughes, to a maximum sentence of twenty years as a fourth- felony offender with a non-violent criminal history. The 2018 Amendment stripped defendants of that right.
2. Ameliorative changes to LSA R. S. 40:967 currently provide that the maximum sentence for the instant offense - possession of less than 2 grams of a Schedule II CDS - is two years with or without hard labor. Yet with no consideration for ameliorative changes in the law or mitigating factors presented, the court sentenced Brian Hughes as a
2 fourth-felony offender to serve life in prison for possessing a small amount of methamphetamines.
The trial court failed to comply with the mandates of Code of Criminal Procedure Article 894.1 and erred in imposing a sentence that is unconstitutionally excessive for this young offender who has substance abuse issues and no violent criminal history.
ERRORS PATENT
In accordance with La.Code Crim.P. art. 920, all appeals are reviewed by
this court for errors patent on the face of the record. After reviewing the record,
this court finds there are potential errors patent raised and discussed in Assignment
of Error Number One.
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER ONE
The defendant argues that the trial court’s application of the 2018
amendment to La.R.S. 15:529.1 regarding the sentencing of habitual offenders
subjects him to an unconstitutional, ex post facto change in the law.
After the trial court sentenced the defendant and since the filing of the
defendant’s brief, the Louisiana Supreme Court decided State v. Lyles, 19-203 (La.
10/22/19), __ So.3d __,1 and held that 2017 La. Acts No. 282, §2 applies to those
whose habitual offender bills were filed before November 1, 2017, and whose
convictions became final after that date. The defendant’s habitual offender bill
was filed on April 21, 2017. His conviction became final fourteen days after June
26, 2019, when the Louisiana Supreme Court reinstated the trial court’s verdict of
guilty. La.Code Crim.P. art. 922(B). Thus, 2017 La. Acts No. 282 applies to the
defendant, whose habitual offender bill was filed before November 1, 2017, and
whose conviction became final after that date.
Act 282 amended La.R.S. 15:529.1(A)(4)(b) to read:
1 The Westlaw citation is 2019 WL 5435291. 3 A. Any person who, after having been convicted within this state of a felony, or who, after having been convicted under the laws of any other state or of the United States, or any foreign government of a crime which, if committed in this state would be a felony, thereafter commits any subsequent felony within this state, upon conviction of said felony, shall be punished as follows:
....
(4) If the fourth or subsequent felony is such that, upon a first conviction the offender would be punishable by imprisonment for any term less than his natural life then the following sentences apply:
(b) If the fourth felony and no prior felony is defined as a crime of violence under R.S. 14:2(B) or as a sex offense under R.S. 15:541, the person shall be imprisoned for not less than twenty years nor more than twice the longest possible sentence prescribed for a first conviction. If twice the possible sentence prescribed for a first conviction is less than twenty years, the person shall be imprisoned for twenty years.
The trial court’s application of the 2018 amendment to La.R.S. 15:529.1 was
Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI
Related
Cite This Page — Counsel Stack
State of Louisiana v. Brian Michael Hughes A/K/A Brian Hughes, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-louisiana-v-brian-michael-hughes-aka-brian-hughes-lactapp-2020.