State v. Bowden

406 So. 2d 1316, 1981 La. LEXIS 10925
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedNovember 16, 1981
DocketNo. 81-KA-1376
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 406 So. 2d 1316 (State v. Bowden) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Bowden, 406 So. 2d 1316, 1981 La. LEXIS 10925 (La. 1981).

Opinions

E. L. GUIDRY, Jr., Justice Ad Hoc.

Defendant in this case appeals from his conviction and sentence for the crime of armed robbery. In a companion matter entitled State of Louisiana v. Ronald O’Shea Bowden, our docket No. 81-KA-1377, defendant appeals from his conviction and sentence for the crime .of forcible rape. Both offenses arise out of the same incident and the matters were consolidated on appeal for purposes of argument. We decide the issues presented in both cases in this opinion but render a separate decision in the matter entitled State of Louisiana v. Ronald O’Shea Bowden, 406 So.2d 1325, our docket No. 81-KA-1377.

On December 31, 1979, defendant, Ronald O’Shea Bowden, III, was arrested for the aggravated rape, armed robbery, and attempted first degree murder of a Ruston, Louisiana woman. Upon discovering that the defendant was a juvenile (Bowden was 15 years of age at the time of the commission of the offenses), investigating officers brought the defendant before the Ruston City Juvenile Court where the juvenile judge, after hearing the evidence, concluded that there existed adequate grounds for the continued detention of the defendant. Shortly thereafter, the State filed a motion to transfer the matter to the District Court. A transfer hearing was conducted on January 3, 1980. As a result of this hearing all charges against Bowden were ordered transferred to the District Court where the juvenile defendant could be tried as an adult. Subsequent to this transfer hearing, the State, recognizing the doubtful validity thereof, moved for an order rescinding the juvenile court’s prior order of transfer and for a dismissal of the transfer proceeding. [1318]*1318The State, in brief and argument to this court, admits that an order was subsequently granted dismissing this transfer proceeding.

On March 10, 1980, the Lincoln Parish Grand Jury returned an indictment charging the defendant with aggravated rape, a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:42. On April 11, 1980, the defendant was formally arraigned in District Court on the aggravated rape charge and entered a plea of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. Thereafter, the District Court conducted a sanity hearing after which the trial judge concluded that the defendant was competent to stand trial. Trial of the defendant on the aggravated rape charge was set for November 10, 1980. On the date set for trial, defense counsel moved to quash the indictment urging that under the 1979 amendment to Article 5, Sec. 19 of the 1974 Louisiana Constitution the District Court had no jurisdiction over persons under the age of seventeen. The trial court overruled defendant’s motion, whereupon defendant moved to stay the proceedings so that he could petition this Court for remedial writs. Defendant’s motion to stay was granted and the date for trial was subsequently moved to February 2, 1981. We subsequently denied writs. See State v. Bowden, 395 So.2d 810 (La.1980).

On January 30, 1981, the State filed with the District Court, sitting as a juvenile court, a bill of information charging Bow-den with armed robbery and attempted second degree murder. Simultaneously, the State filed a petition with the juvenile court requesting that the defendant be transferred to the jurisdiction of the District Court for trial as an adult on the armed robbery charge. A transfer hearing was then held and the State’s petition for transfer was granted. Following the transfer hearing, the juvenile court heard and accepted the defendant’s guilty plea to the charge of attempted second degree murder. Subsequently, the District Court convened to address the armed robbery charge and the aforementioned grand jury indictment charging the defendant with aggravated rape. The State then filed a bill of information with the District Court formally charging the defendant with armed robbery. Thereafter, Bowden entered a guilty plea to the armed robbery charge and on the aggravated rape indictment, defendant pled guilty to the lesser charge of forcible rape in accordance with plea negotiations. The District Court accepted Bowden’s guilty pleas subject to a specific reservation of his right to question the District Court’s jurisdiction on appeal.

On March 27, 1981, following a pre-sen-tence investigation, Bowden was sentenced to serve 40 years at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence in connection with the forcible rape conviction and 50 years at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence on the armed robbery conviction, the sentences to run concurrently-

Defendant appeals both convictions. The following issues are presented on appeal:

(1) Did the District Court err in denying defendant’s motion to quash the indictment charging Bowden with aggravated rape for lack of jurisdiction, in light of the 1979 amendment to Article V, Sec. 19 of the 1974 Louisiana Constitution?

(2a) Did the District Court err in exercising jurisdiction over the juvenile defendant in regard to the bill of information charging Bowden with armed robbery considering the 1979 amendment to Article V, Sec. 19 of the 1974 La.Constitution? and,

(2b) If not, did the record before the juvenile court contain sufficient evidence to justify the transfer of the armed robbery matter to the district court?

Defendant argues that Article V, Sec. 19 of the 1974 Louisiana Constitution as amended by Act 801 of 1979, enacted thirty-one days before the subject crimes were committed and in full force and effect on the date of commission of the subject offenses, prohibited the trial of persons under seventeen years of age as adults in the district court and further mandated that all such persons were required to be tried pursuant to special juvenile procedures estab[1319]*1319lished by law. Thus, defendant argues the district court lacked jurisdiction over him at the time of his convictions.

Prior to the 1979 amendment, Article V, Sec. 19 of the 1974 Louisiana Constitution provided as follows:

“Section 19. Except for a person fifteen years of age or older who is alleged to have committed a capital offense or attempted aggravated rape, the determination of guilt or innocence, the detention, and the custody of a person who is alleged to have committed a crime prior to his seventeenth birthday shall be exclusively pursuant to special juvenile procedures which shall be provided by law. However, by law enacted by two-thirds of the elected members of each house, the legislature may (1) lower the maximum ages of persons to whom juvenile procedures would apply and (2) establish a procedure by which the court of original jurisdiction may waive such special juvenile procedures in order that adult procedures would apply in individual cases....”

The constitutional provision above quoted authorized the trial by the district court of juvenile defendants, 15 years of age or older, who were accused of committing a capital crime or the crime of attempted aggravated rape.1 Thus, Article V, Sec. 19 before the 1979 amendment provided that the State could initiate the prosecution of a juvenile defendant who had reached the minimum age and who was accused of one or more of the aforesaid crimes directly in the district court without any proceedings whatsoever in the juvenile court.

Prior to the commission of the instant offenses by Bowden, Act 801 of 1979 was adopted which amended Article V, Sec.

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Bluebook (online)
406 So. 2d 1316, 1981 La. LEXIS 10925, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bowden-la-1981.