State v. Camese

791 So. 2d 173, 2001 WL 812629
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided July 11, 2001·No. 2000-KA-1943·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

791 So.2d 173 (2001)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Ronnie CAMESE.

No. 2000-KA-1943.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

July 11, 2001.

*175 Harry F. Connick, District Attorney, Julie C. Tizzard, Assistant District Attorney, New Orleans, LA, for plaintiff/appellee.

Holli Herrle-Castillo, Louisiana Appellate Project, Marrero, LA, for defendant/appellant.

Court composed of Chief Judge WILLIAM H. BYRNES III, MIRIAM G. WALTZER, JAMES F. McKAY III, JJ.

BYRNES, Chief Judge.

On November 13, 1996, the defendant, Ronnie Camese, was charged by bill of information with armed robbery, La.R.S. 14:64, and attempted second degree murder, La.R.S. 14:27(30.1). He was arraigned January 6, 1997, and pled not guilty. He filed a motion to suppress which was denied April 8, 1998. A twelve member jury found the defendant guilty as charged November 2, 1998. He filed a motion for new trial which was denied. He waived delays and was immediately sentenced November 13, 1998, to fifty years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence on the attempted second degree murder conviction and forty-nine years without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence on the armed robbery charge, with the sentences to run consecutively. He filed a motion for appeal that day. The State filed a multiple bill, but no hearing has been held.

FACTS:

On March 28, 1996, at approximately 11:30 p.m., Jamie Williams was driving his car home to the 2300 block of Murl Street from a visit to his daughter. His brother Jermaine Johnson, with whom he lived, was with him in the passenger seat. Outside the men's apartment complex, Williams stopped to insert the parking card into the security gate. The defendant approached from the back of the car and demanded the car. He put a chrome colored gun up to Williams's head. Williams recognized the defendant from the Fischer Housing Project where Williams's family *176 formerly lived. Williams called the defendant's name. He tried to give him the car. The defendant then shot him. Williams grabbed the fence to pull himself out of the way of the defendant running over him as the defendant fled in his car.

Lance Stuke, a paramedic, said he responded to the call and found the victim lying on the ground with a close range gunshot wound to his face. He was awake and alert.

Officer Keith Sholes also responded to the call. He interviewed both Johnson and Williams at the hospital. Williams told him he recognized the perpetrator as "Ronnie", a man he knew from the Fischer Housing Project, and gave a physical description. Johnson gave a physical description similar to that given by Williams.

Dr. David Chaplan said Williams suffered a gunshot wound to the jaw.

The car was located March 29, 1996 in the 1500 block of Hendee Court, about a mile from the Fischer Housing Project. A print was lifted which was unsuitable for comparison purposes.

Williams identified the defendant in a photographic lineup April 15, 1996.

At trial, Johnson said the defendant approached them as they were arriving home and demanded the car. Williams got out of the car to give it to him. Johnson ran for help and heard the shot. Johnson recognized the defendant from the neighborhood, and he identified him at trial.

Both Williams and Johnson identified the defendant at trial. Williams said the bullet remains lodged in his jaw. Williams had no criminal record and said he had not been drinking the night of the crime. Although he knew the defendant's name, he had never "hung with him."

ERRORS PATENT:

A review of the record reveals no errors patent.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR ONE:

The defendant argues the sentences imposed are unconstitutionally excessive. Article 1, Section 20 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974 provides that "No law shall subject any person ... to cruel, excessive or unusual punishment."

A sentence within the statutory limit is constitutionally excessive if it is "grossly out of proportion to the severity of the crime" or is "nothing more than the purposeless imposition of pain and suffering." State v. Caston, 477 So.2d 868 (La. App. 4 Cir.1985). Generally, a reviewing court must determine whether the trial judge adequately complied with the sentencing guidelines set forth in La.C.Cr.P. art. 894.1 and whether the sentence is warranted in light of the particular circumstances of the case. State v. Soco, 441 So.2d 719 (La.1983);. State v. Quebedeaux, 424 So.2d 1009 (La.1982).

If adequate compliance with La. C.Cr.P. article 894.1 is found, the reviewing court must determine whether the sentence imposed is too severe in light of the particular defendant and the circumstances of his case, keeping in mind that maximum sentences should be reserved for the most egregious violators of the offense so charged. State v. Quebedeaux, supra; State v. Guajardo, 428 So.2d 468 (La.1983).

The defendant argues the trial court failed to comply with article 894.1. However, in State v. Soraparu, 97-1027, p. 1 (La.1997), 703 So.2d 608, the Louisiana Supreme Court stated:

On appellate review of sentence, the only relevant question is "`whether the trial court abused its broad sentencing discretion, not whether another sentence might have been more appropriate.'" *177 State v. Cook, 95-2784, p. 3 (La.5/31/96), 674 So.2d 957, 959 (quoting State v. Humphrey, 445 So.2d 1155, 1165 (La. 1984)), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 1043, 117 S.Ct. 615, 136 L.Ed.2d 539 (1996). For legal sentences imposed within the range provided by the legislature, a trial court abuses its discretion only when it contravenes the prohibition of excessive punishment in La. Const. art. I, § 20, i.e., when it imposes "punishment disproportionate to the offense." State v. Sepulvado, 367 So.2d 762, 767 (La.1979). In cases in which the trial court has left a less than fully articulated record indicating that it has considered not only aggravating circumstances but also factors militating for a less severe sentence, State v. Franks, 373 So.2d 1307, 1308 (La.1979), a remand for resentencing is appropriate only when "there appeal[s] to be a substantial possibility that the defendant's complaints of an excessive sentence ha[ve] merit." State v. Wimberly, 414 So.2d 666, 672 (La. 1982).

The sentences imposed are not unconstitutionally excessive.

In State v. Davis, 93-0663 (La.App. 4 Cir. 2/25/94), 633 So.2d 822, the defendant was convicted of two counts of attempted second degree murder and one count of attempted armed robbery. The trial court sentenced the defendant to serve forty-nine and one half years at hard labor on the attempted armed robbery conviction and fifty years at hard labor on each of the attempted second degree murder convictions. The defendant had prior convictions for theft, attempted simple burglary, shoplifting, attempted armed robbery, armed robbery and possession of stolen property. In Davis, the defendant attempted to rob three people and shot at them. He pointed a gun at the head of one of the victims and injured at least one of the victims. The appellate court found that the sentences imposed were not excessive.

Likewise, in State v. Pyke, 95-919 (La. App. 3 Cir. 3/6/96), 670 So.2d 713, the Third Circuit affirmed the defendant's sentence of fifty years at hard labor on his convict

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State v. Camese, 791 So. 2d 173, 2001 WL 812629 (La. Ct. App. 2001).

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