State v. Bagneris

830 So. 2d 1047, 2002 WL 31375546
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 16, 2002
Docket2002-KA-0773
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 830 So. 2d 1047 (State v. Bagneris) 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.

Bluebook
State v. Bagneris, 830 So. 2d 1047, 2002 WL 31375546 (La. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

830 So.2d 1047 (2002)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Terry BAGNERIS.

No. 2002-KA-0773.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

October 16, 2002.

*1048 Harry F. Connick, District Attorney, Juliet Clark, Assistant District Attorney, New Orleans, LA, for appellee.

Christopher A. Aberle, Mandeville, LA, for Defendant/Appellant.

(Court composed of Judge STEVEN R. PLOTKIN, Judge, MIRIAM G. WALTZER, Judge, PATRICIA RIVET MURRAY).

MIRIAM G. WALTZER, Judge.

The defendant, Terry Bagneris, appeals his conviction and sentence for attempted simple escape and his adjudication and sentence as a fourth felony offender. The state answers the appeal arguing that the trial court erred and imposed an illegally lenient sentence.

*1049 STATEMENT OF CASE

On 26 January 2001, the State charged Bagneris with attempted aggravated escape in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:27. On 22 February 2001, a hearing was held on the defendant's motion to suppress his confession, which the trial court denied. On 18 March 2001, a jury found the defendant guilty of the lesser charge of attempted simple escape. On 11 July 2002, a multiple bill hearing was held, and the trial court found the defendant to be a fourth felony offender. The defendant was sentenced to twenty years at hard labor, without benefits, in the custody of the Department of Corrections, consecutive to a life sentence the defendant is currently serving. The State objected to the sentencing, arguing that the proper sentence was a mandatory minimum sentence of life imprisonment. The trial court overruled the objection. On 14 January 2002, the trial court granted the defendant an out of time appeal.

Defendant's appellate counsel submitted a Motion to Withdraw as Counsel for Appellant and an Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967), Brief in Support Thereof. Appellate counsel argues that there are no non-frivolous grounds for appeal. The State filed a brief, arguing that the trial court imposed an illegally lenient sentence, a patent error. Appellate counsel filed a Reply Brief, arguing that the sentence was not illegally lenient, and if it was error, it was not patent and no longer subject to correction. The defendant, pro se, filed a supplemental brief claiming ineffective assistance of counsel.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

Four witnesses testified at the defendant's one-day jury trial. Deputy Eugene Joseph Cummings, with the Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff's Office, testified that on 30 October 2000, he was escorting six handcuffed and shackled inmates down a hallway at the Orleans Parish Criminal Court back to the parish prison. As he reached the bottom of a stairwell and was attempting to unlock the door leading to the adjoining prison facility, a large person jumped him from behind and choked him. The officer could not see who was choking him during the struggle, but before he lost consciousness, he heard an inmate exclaim "Terry, don't do it. It's not worth it. Terry, let him go. Let him go." Defense counsel objected to the statement as hearsay, but the trial court found the statement to be an excited utterance, and the State noted that the declarant would be testifying. The officer testified that he sustained cuts to his neck and over his eye as a result of the attack.

Carlos Arroyave, an Orleans Parish Prison inmate being escorted back to the parish prison by Deputy Cummings, testified that Terry Bagneris was the person who attacked the officer and that during the incident, he pleaded with the defendant to stop what he was doing.

Corporal Craig Lawson, also with the Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff's Office, testified that he observed the defendant walking down a hallway in the courthouse. The defendant was not wearing handcuffs or shackles, and he had removed his prison shirt so that he was wearing only a white T-shirt. In the officer's opinion, the defendant was trying to conceal the writing on his pants, which identified him as a prisoner. The officer attempted to apprehend the defendant by grabbing his shirt, but the shirt ripped and the defendant evaded capture. The officer then shouted to his colleague for assistance, who sprayed the defendant with pepper spray, and the officer was then able to restrain and handcuff the defendant.

Sergeant Tris Lear, also with the Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff's Office, testified *1050 that after reading the defendant his rights and having him sign a Rights of Arrestee form, the defendant voluntarily stated that he attacked Deputy Cummings and that he had tried to escape. The defendant further stated that he had fashioned a handcuff key from an ink pen cartridge and a razor blade, which he used to get out of his restraints. As the makeshift key could not be located, and the officer feared that the defendant had used a real handcuff key that other inmates could use, the defendant was provided with the materials to fashion another handcuff key. The key that the defendant fashioned, however, could not be made to work in the short amount of time available, and the defendant explained that he had perfected the key he used and had been waiting for the right time to use it to escape.

ERRORS PATENT

The State argues in its brief that a review of the record reveals that the defendant was sentenced to an illegally lenient sentence. The State claims that the trial court erred in applying the amended version of the habitual offender statute, not the version in effect at the time the defendant committed his offense on 30 October 2000. The version in effect at the time of the offense requires a mandatory minimum life sentence. The revised version of the habitual offender statute provided an effective date of 15 June 2001, and the trial court sentenced Bagneris on 11 July 2002.

The defendant argues that the question of whether the trial court was obligated to apply the amended version of LSA-R.S. 15:529.1 is pending before the Louisiana Supreme Court. However, the cases upon which defendant relies have been decided and do not apply to change the result in this case. State v. Mayeux, XXXX-XXXX (La.6/21/2002), 820 So.2d 526, (applying 2001 amendment to LSA-R.S. 14:98(E) to a conviction obtained after effective date when the defendant committed the offense before effective date), State v. Sugasti, XXXX-XXXX (La.6/21/02), 820 So.2d 518, (applying 2001 amendment to LSA-R.S. 40:966C(1) to offenses committed after effective date of amendment) State v. Mayeux, XXXX-XXXX, p. 1-2 (La.6/21/02), 820 So.2d 524, (applying 2001 amendment to LSA-R.S 40:966(C)(1) to offenses committed after effective date of amendment). Bagneris was sentenced as a fourth felony offender under LSA-R.S. 15:529.1(A)(1)(c)(ii). The 2001 amendment to the habitual offender law in no way specifically indicates a legislative intent to deviate from the general rule that the law in effect at the time of the offense controls sentencing. Mayeux, supra at XXXX-XXXX, p. 5, 820 So.2d at 529. Generally, the law in effect at the time of the offense determines the penalty. State v. Narcisse, 426 So.2d 118, 130-131 (La.1983). Therefore, the trial court erred in sentencing the defendant under the amended version of LSA-R.S. 15:529.1(A)(1)(c)(ii). The version of LSA-R.S. 15:529.1(A)(1)(c)(ii) in effect at the time of the defendant's offense provided:

If the fourth or subsequent felony or any of the prior felonies is a felony defined as a crime of violence under R.S.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
830 So. 2d 1047, 2002 WL 31375546, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bagneris-lactapp-2002.