State v. Bryan

535 So. 2d 815, 1988 WL 85616
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedAugust 17, 1988
Docket19783-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 535 So. 2d 815 (State v. Bryan) 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. Bryan, 535 So. 2d 815, 1988 WL 85616 (La. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

535 So.2d 815 (1988)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
Daniel Gray BRYAN, Appellant.

No. 19783-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

August 17, 1988.

*816 James D. Sparks, Jr., Monroe, for appellant.

William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Baton Rouge, T.J. Adkins, Dist. Atty., Dan J. Grady, III, Asst. Dist. Atty., Ruston, for appellee.

Before HALL, MARVIN and SEXTON, JJ.

MARVIN, Judge.

Defendant Daniel Gray Bryan, manager and co-owner of the now-defunct Dan Bryan Chevrolet-Buick, Inc. dealership in Farmerville, was originally charged with four counts of theft of dealership property. After an amended bill charged him with 21 counts of theft, 7 under $500 and 14 over $500, Bryan bargained to plead nolo contendere to one count of theft over $500 which tracked 20 of the 21 counts in the amended bill. The 20 "counts" totaled over $58,000. The things of value alleged to have been stolen from the dealership included cash, trade-in vehicles, TV sets taken from vans in inventory, materials and employee labor.

Bryan was sentenced to five years at hard labor, suspended upon payment of a $2,500 fine and costs, and was placed on supervised probation for four years, conditioned in part on his paying $74,487.52 in restitution to the other three owners of the dealership. This amount, payable over 42 months, includes $44,487.52 as the value of the property taken and $30,000 for inconvenience, humiliation, embarrassment and grief.[1]

Bryan contends the amount of restitution is excessive because:

—he did not admit guilt when he pleaded nolo contendere, the record does not otherwise show that his actions constituted criminal conduct, and the plea agreement calls for restitution for losses resulting from criminal but not civil responsibility;
—the $30,000 for nonpecuniary loss was not part of the plea agreement and is not factually supported in the record;
—the court did not give him credit for payments he is making to these victims under his reorganization plan in bankruptcy court; and
—he does not have the means to pay the amount ordered.

Bryan also contends that any restitution would be owed to the dealership corporation and not to the individual stockholders as the court ordered.

We consider Bryan's contentions under headings which follow. We amend to reduce the restitution obligation, and as amended, affirm the sentence.

THE PLEA AGREEMENT

The memorandum of plea negotiations contains Bryan's tender of a plea of nolo contendere to "one count of theft in excess of $500, encompassing all matters set forth in Exhibit 1." Exhibit 1 lists property descriptions and values for 20 of the 21 counts in the amended bill. The remaining *817 count was not included because the property described in that count was recovered during the investigation.

Bryan agreed to the maximum sentence for one count of theft over $500, ten years at hard labor. In return, the State agreed to recommend to the court that Bryan be given a suspended sentence and probation conditioned on restitution. The agreement left the imposition of a fine to the court's discretion.

We emphasize, in part, the essence of the agreement about restitution:

Defendant desires, and the State will permit, a hearing in which defendant may present evidence tending to mitigate the amount of restitution which may be found to be due as a result of defendant's criminal activity. The State, at such hearing, may also present evidence which may tend to rebut defendant's evidence and/or disclose other restitution which is not found in Exhibit 1.
The amount of restitution which is to be ordered as a condition of probation, if probation is granted, is to be fixed by the Court at the time of sentencing; and is to cover those matters only for which the Court finds criminal responsibility. Civil actions between the various parties concerned are now pending and/or under investigation, and matters of restitution which appear to the Court to be purely civil should be left to those proceedings....
The State's recommendation for suspended sentence and probation is motivated solely out of desire that the victims of this offense receive maximum restitution attributable to criminal acts in this matter. At the hearing requested by defendant, Exhibit 1 shall be taken as prima facie proof of the amount due, and may be enhanced by additional matters which the State may show at that time. The burden of proof shall be upon defendant to show that such amount as may be thereby established should be amended by the Court in defendant's favor, by clear and convincing evidence.

Other details were inadvertently omitted from the memorandum of plea negotiations and were read into the record before the plea was accepted. The State agreed that Bryan would have the benefit of compulsory process for the hearing to determine the amount of restitution; that upon sentencing, all pending charges against him would be dismissed and no further charges, including any charges related to sales tax owed to the State of Louisiana would be filed. The State also agreed not to file charges against his wife or children arising from the events involved in the plea.

After the plea was accepted by the court and before sentencing, Bryan waived a formal hearing on the restitution issue. The court ordered that the PSI report be supplemented "to include any sworn statements either by the State or defense ... as a possible consideration of the amount stolen."

The State filed a joint affidavit of the primary investigating police officers and the dealership co-owners giving their explanation of each transaction listed on Exhibit 1 (Items A through T, totaling $58,878.60), as well as two transactions discovered since Exhibit 1 was prepared (Item A-1 in the amount of $36,588 and Item A-2 in the amount of $6,000). Bryan filed a verified "motion" in response to the State's affidavit, giving his explanation of Items A through T. He also filed two other motions containing unsworn statements of others in support of his contentions. Bryan did not respond to the State's assertions about Items A-1 and A-2. The State then filed a rebuttal by the Assistant District Attorney to counter the contentions in the defense motions.

Bryan admitted converting to personal use some items of dealership property, but said he had either reimbursed the dealership or would have done so if the bookkeeper had asked him for reimbursement. As to other items, such as vehicles he obtained from dealership customers and then used or sold personally, he maintained either that the vehicles were never traded directly to the dealership but were simply purchased by him individually, or that he reimbursed *818 the dealership for trade-ins which he or members of his family used. The State responded that the dealership's financial records should have, but did not, reflect the claimed reimbursements. Bryan denied personally using other items and attempted to explain how disposition of these items benefited the dealership.

At sentencing, the court stated that it had thoroughly reviewed the extensive information provided by both the State and the defense. These filings mentioned, as well as the memorandum of plea negotiations, were considered by the court as a supplement to the PSI report.

The court ordered restitution in the amount of $74,487.52 and specified that $30,000 was for inconvenience, humiliation, embarrassment and grief.

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Bluebook (online)
535 So. 2d 815, 1988 WL 85616, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bryan-lactapp-1988.