State v. Canada

838 So. 2d 784, 2002 WL 963635
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 10, 2002
Docket2001 KA 2674
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 838 So. 2d 784 (State v. Canada) 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. Canada, 838 So. 2d 784, 2002 WL 963635 (La. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

838 So.2d 784 (2002)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Roosevelt CANADA, Jr.

No. 2001 KA 2674.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

May 10, 2002.

*785 Doug Moreau, D.A., By Aaron Brooks, Asst. D.A., Baton Rouge, Counsel for Appellee State of Louisiana.

Frederick Kroenke, Baton Rouge, Counsel for Defendant/Appellant Roosevelt Canada, Jr.

Before: FITZSIMMONS, DOWNING, and LANIER[1], JJ.

WALTER I. LANIER, Jr., Judge Pro Tem.

The defendant, Roosevelt Canada, Jr., was charged by bill of information with four offenses: (1) simple criminal damage to property of a value greater than $500 and less than $50,000, in violation of La. R.S. 14:56; (2) armed robbery, in violation of La. R.S. 14:64; (3) attempted carjacking, in violation of La. R.S. 14:27 and 14:64.2; and (4) carjacking, in violation of La. R.S. 14:64.2. He entered into a plea agreement with the State and trial court, and pled guilty to one count of carjacking with the understanding that he would receive a sentence in the range of 3 to 40 years and the other three charges against him would be dismissed. (The sentencing range for carjacking under La. R.S. 14:64.2 is actually 2 to 20 years.) He was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment at hard labor. He filed a motion for reconsideration of the sentence that was denied.

This appeal followed. Appellant's only assignment of error is that the sentence imposed is unconstitutionally excessive.

FACTS

At the May 8, 2001 Boykin hearing, the trial court judge asked the assistant district attorney to state the factual basis for the defendant's plea. The record reflects the following:

THE COURT: A FACTUAL BASIS FOR THE PLEA?
MR. BROOKS: YOUR HONOR, THIS INDIVIDUAL WALKED INTO JEFF'S FOOD MARKET AT APPROXIMATELY SEVEN O'CLOCK ON THE DATE OF JUNE 17TH. HE *786 PLACED SOME COLD DRINKS AND CIGARETTES ON THE COUNTER AND WAS ASKED TO PAY FOR THE CIGARETTES AND COLD DRINKS. HE DECIDED HE WASNT. HE PULLED OUT A CRESCENT WRENCH AND THREATENED THE OWNER OF JEFF'S FOOD MARKET AND SAID, "GO AHEAD AND CALL THE POLICE," AND RAISED THE WRENCH AS IF TO HIT THEM. HE THEN WALKED OUT AND PROCEEDED TO BREAK WINDOWS ON CAR DOORS IN AN ATTEMPT TO GET THEM. WHEN HE COULD NOT GET THOSE TWO CARS TO OPERATE HE THEN CAME INTO CONTACT WITH ANDREE LEFEVERE, WHO IS PRESENT IN THE COURT ROOM AND WISHES TO MAKE A VICTIM STATEMENT AT THIS INDIVIDUAL'S SENTENCING AT A FUTURE DATE,—UH—WHEREUPON HE THREATENED HER AND FORCEFULLY TOOK HER CAR FROM HER WITHOUT HER PERMISSION.
BY THE COURT:
Q. SIR, DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE FACTS THAT HAVE BEEN READ INTO THE RECORD BY THE STATE OF LOUISIANA?
A. YES, SIR.
Q. ARE THOSE THE FACTS THAT YOU DESIRE TO PLEAD GUILTY TO TODAY?
A. YES, SIR.

VALIDITY OF THE PLEA BARGAIN

In his only assignment of error, the defendant asserts the sentence imposed pursuant to the plea agreement "is unconstitutionally excessive." He contends he is 35 years old, his prior arrest record occurred when he was 20 years old, he took responsibility for his conduct by pleading guilty and his conduct "did not involve the use of great force, or violence, though the victims were frightened." He asserts a "trial court cannot allow its dislike for the emotional trauma of the crime to influence its sentencing" and the trial court failed to properly consider the appropriate factors.

The Nature of a Plea Agreement

A discussion of the legal relations between the State, the defendant and a court in a plea agreement is necessary to properly decide this case.

In State v. Lewis, 539 So.2d 1199, 1204 (La.1989), appears the following:

We relied on contract principles to reach a decision in Nall, reasoning that a plea bargain is a contract between the state and one accused of a crime. Nall, 379 So.2d at 733. Such an approach has been looked upon with approval in the federal jurisprudence, especially where a promise of immunity from prosecution is at issue. See e.g., Rowe v. Griffin, 676 F.2d 524, 528 (11th Cir.1982). Although the code provisions we interpreted in Nall have been revised, their substance remains unchanged. Compare former La. C.C. arts. 1779, 1819, 1823-24 with current La. C.C. arts. 1927, 1948-50. Thus, the principles enuciated in that decision remain viable.
A long-standing rule of contract law is that consent of both parties is required for a valid contract. La. C.C. art. 1927. Consent may be vitiated by error, fraud, or duress. La. C.C. art. 1948. Error vitiates consent only when it concerns a cause without which the obligation would not have been incurred and that cause was known or should have been known to the other party. La. C.C. art. 1949. Finally, the Civil Code provides:
Error may concern a cause when it bears on the nature of the contract, or the thing that is the contractual object *787..., or the law, or any other circumstance that the parties regarded, or should in good faith have regarded, as a cause of the obligation. La. C.C. art. 1950.

In State v. Louis, 94-0761 (La.11/30/94), 645 So.2d 1144, 1148 and 1149 appears the following:

In determining the validity of agreements not to prosecute or of plea agreements, the courts generally refer to rules of contract law. State v. Nall, 379 So.2d 731 (La.1980); State v. Lewis, 539 So.2d 1199 (La.1989). Contractual principles may be helpful by analogy in deciding disputes involving plea agreements. Ricketts v. Adamson, 483 U.S. 1, 107 S.Ct. 2680, 97 L.Ed.2d 1 (1987); Cf. Blackledge v. Allison, 431 U.S. 63, 97 S.Ct. 1621, 52 L.Ed.2d 136 (1977). However, the criminal defendant's constitutional right to fairness may be broader than his or her rights under contract laws. State v. Nall, 379 So.2d at 734 (Dennis, J., concurring). Moreover, commercial contract law can do no more than to serve as an analogy or point of departure, since "plea agreements are constitutional contracts." Ricketts v. Adamson, 483 U.S. at 16, 107 S.Ct. at 2689. The Court further stated in Ricketts:
The values that underlie commercial contract law, and that govern the relations between economic actors, are not coextensive with those that underlie the due Process Clause, and that govern relations between criminal defendants and the State. Unlike some commercial contracts, plea agreements must be construed in light of the rights and obligations created by the Constitution. 483 U.S. at 16, 107 S.Ct. at 2689.

. . .

In the present case, we refer first to the law of contracts for application by analogy in determining whether a contract was formed. A contract is formed by the consent of the parties established through offer and acceptance. La. Civ. Code art. 1927. The offer and acceptance may be verbal unless the law prescribes a requirement of writing. Id.; Laroussini v. Werlein, 52 La.Ann. 424, 27 So. 89 (1900). Once there is an offer and acceptance, the agreement is subject to specific performance. La. Civ. Code art.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
838 So. 2d 784, 2002 WL 963635, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-canada-lactapp-2002.