State v. Camps

476 So. 2d 864
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 25, 1985
Docket17280-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 476 So. 2d 864 (State v. Camps) 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. Camps, 476 So. 2d 864 (La. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

476 So.2d 864 (1985)

STATE of Louisiana, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Manuel D.J. CAMPS, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 17280-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

September 25, 1985.
Rehearing Denied October 24, 1985.

*865 Jack & Hudsmith by Wellborn Jack, Jr., Shreveport, for defendant-appellant.

William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., New Orleans, Henry Brown, Dist. Atty., and James M. Bullers, Asst. Dist. Atty., Bossier City, for plaintiff-appellee.

Before HALL, MARVIN and LINDSAY, JJ.

HALL, Chief Judge.

The defendant, Manuel D.J. Camps, and a codefendant, David R. Green, were charged by bill of information with the crime of possession of more than 400 grams of a Schedule II(A)(4) controlled dangerous substance, i.e., cocaine, in violation of LSA-R.S. 40:967 F(3). The defendant filed a motion to quash grounded on multiple contentions relating to his prosecution in federal court on charges arising out of the same drug transaction. Pursuant to a plea bargain with the state, Camps pled guilty to possession of 200 grams or more but less than 400 grams of cocaine under LSA-R.S. 40:967 F(2) and was sentenced by the trial court to serve ten years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, the sentence to run consecutively with the sentence imposed by the federal court. Codefendant Green was found guilty as charged by a jury and has separately appealed his conviction and sentence. See State v. Green, 476 So.2d 859 (La.App. 2d Cir.1985). Camps has appealed contending that the trial court erred in overruling his motion to quash and that the trial court imposed an excessive sentence. For reasons to follow, we affirm defendant Camps' conviction, *866 amend the sentence imposed, and remand to the district court.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The two convictions are the result of an undercover drug investigation involving law enforcement authorities of both the State of Louisiana and the United States. In April of 1984 undercover FBI agents negotiated the purchase of 2 kilograms of cocaine from Green for $80,000.00. Green had indicated he was interested in selling one kilogram of cocaine each week during the racing season at Louisiana Downs, and agents produced $250,000.00 in "show money."

On the afternoon of April 13, Green met defendant Camps at a New Orleans airport and both men flew back to Shreveport on the same day. At 5:00 p.m. on that day Green contacted the undercover agent and indicated that he and his partner, defendant Camps, were ready to consummate the deal. A meeting was set up at the Sheraton Inn in Bossier City.

The undercover agents met Green and Camps in Room 104 of the Sheraton Inn. After a short conversation, Camps asked Agent Cleveland to "check on the stuff." Camps and Agent Cleveland then proceeded to Room 116 while Green and Agent McGee waited outside the room by the pool. Agent Cleveland was wired with a transmitting device and federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities waited in an office behind the front desk of the Sheraton Inn listening to the transaction.

Once inside Room 116, Agent Cleveland observed Camps walk to the back of the room and remove a blue shaving kit from a clothes bag hanging in a closet. Camps opened the shaving kit and pulled out a white, powdery substance wrapped in newspaper and plastic. Agent Cleveland took a sample from the packet for testing purposes. At that time law enforcement officers began approaching Room 116 and upon hearing noise outside, Camps looked outside the window while Agent Cleveland opened the door of the room to allow the arresting officers inside. Camps was placed under arrest and a package of cocaine lying on the bed was seized. A subsequent search of the room revealed another package of cocaine concealed in a trash can.

Camps and Green were both indicted by a grand jury of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana" and charged with one count of conspiracy to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute, eight counts of unlawful use of communication facilities, and one count of attempted distribution of cocaine. Defendant Camps entered into a plea bargain with the United States which obligated him to render substantial assistance to the federal government in their undercover drug operations. In return, the federal prosecutor agreed to recommend to the state court (1) that defendant Camps receive no greater sentence in state court than he receives in federal court; (2) that any state sentence run concurrently with any federal sentence imposed; and (3) that any state sentence be served in a federal penal institution.

Defendant Camps then filed a motion to quash in the state district court alleging that his continued prosecution in state court violated principles of due process and fundamental fairness and exposed him to excessive punishment in violation of LSA Const. Art. 1, Sec. 20. The district court denied defendant Camp's motion.

Defendant subsequently entered into a plea bargain with the state. There were five "inducements" to the entry of Camps' plea of guilty, agreed to by the defendant and the state. First, Camps was allowed to enter a plea of guilty to the lesser offense of possession of between 200 and 400 grams of cocaine in violation of LSA-R.S. 40:967 F(2). Second, Camps reserved the right to appeal the district court's ruling on the motion to quash. Third, the district attorney agreed to make no recommendation as to any specific sentence and would urge only that the court consider all relevant circumstances in imposing sentence, and specifically that that court consider the quantity of cocaine actually involved (2 kilograms rather than 200 and 400 grams), *867 and that the court consider the quality of the substantial assistance rendered to the federal government as the kind of substantial assistance contemplated by LSA-R.S. 40:967 G(2). Fourth, there would be no state presentence investigation ordered by the court. And fifth, the state sentencing would occur after sentencing in federal court and the defendant would be remanded to federal custody.

On August 14, 1984, defendant Camps was sentenced in United States District Court to five years imprisonment on the conspiracy count, imposition of sentence on the remaining counts was suspended, and Camps was placed on five years supervised probation to follow completion of the five year term of imprisonment.

Pursuant to Camps' plea bargain with the federal government, an Assistant U.S. Attorney reported to the state district court that defendant had "technically" complied with their agreement in cooperating and rendering substantial assistance to the United States. Due to defendant Camps' compliance with his plea bargain with the federal government, the Assistant U.S. Attorney recommended to the court that defendant Camps receive no greater sentence in the presently pending state prosecution than he received in the federal prosecution, that the sentence, if any is imposed, run concurrently with the federal sentence imposed, and that any state sentence imposing a term of imprisonment be served in a federal penal institution. Defendant was subsequently sentenced by the district court to serve ten years at hard labor, the sentence to run consecutively to the sentence imposed by the federal court.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1—MOTION TO QUASH

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476 So. 2d 864, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-camps-lactapp-1985.