State v. Counterman

461 So. 2d 664
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 28, 1984
DocketKA 84 0739
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 461 So. 2d 664 (State v. Counterman) 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. Counterman, 461 So. 2d 664 (La. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

461 So.2d 664 (1984)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Marion COUNTERMAN.

No. KA 84 0739.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

December 28, 1984.

*665 Ossie Brown, Dist. Atty. by Premila Chumbley, Asst. Dist. Atty., Baton Rouge, for plaintiff-appellee.

Vincent Wilkins, Jr., Asst. Public Defender, Baton Rouge, for defendant-appellant.

Before COLE, CARTER and LANIER, JJ.

LANIER, Judge.

The defendant, Marion Counterman, was charged by grand jury indictment with aggravated rape and aggravated burglary in violation of La.R.S. 14:42 and 60, respectively. After a trial by jury, he was found guilty as charged. For the aggravated burglary, he was sentenced to imprisonment in the custody of the Louisiana Department of Corrections (DOC) at hard labor for thirty years. For the aggravated rape, he was sentenced to be imprisoned in the custody of the DOC at hard labor for life without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence, which sentence is to run consecutively with the sentence for aggravated burglary. He was also sentenced to pay the actual cost of prosecution and, in default thereof, to serve an additional one year at hard labor in the custody of the DOC.

PROCEDURAL FACTS

On October 6, 1982, Counterman was indicted by the East Baton Rouge Parish Grand Jury for committing aggravated burglary and aggravated rape on August 22, 1982. On November 10, 1982, he was arraigned and pled not guilty to both charges. He was tried by jury on January 5-6, 1983, and convicted. On February 10, 1983, in the presence of his attorney, he was sentenced. After sentencing, the district court judge advised the defendant that he had "a right to appeal the convictions and the sentences."

On April 10, 1984, counsel for Counterman filed a motion for an "out-of-time" appeal alleging that "[d]efendant recently informed this office on April 4, 1984, that he now desires to appeal." On April 12, 1984, the district court granted the motion without a response from the State and without holding an evidentiary hearing.

PROVIDENCY OF "OUT-OF-TIME" APPEAL

The motion for an appeal of a conviction and sentence in a criminal case "must be made no later than five days after the rendition of the" sentence. La.C.Cr.P. arts. 912(C)(1) and 914. The motion for the appeal in the instant case was made 425 days after the sentence was rendered.

For this court to have appellate jurisdiction over a criminal case, the motion for appeal must be timely filed. State ex rel. McIsaac v. Sigler, 236 La. 773, 109 So.2d 89 (1959); State v. Dartez, 222 La. 9, 62 So.2d 83 (1952); State v. Metoyer, 427 So.2d 93 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1983). If a motion *666 for an appeal has not been timely filed, there is nothing for an appellate court to review, and the appeal should be dismissed. State v. Washington, 278 So.2d 484 (La. 1973); State v. Breaux, 441 So.2d 811 (La. App. 3rd Cir.1983).

In State v. Simmons, 390 So.2d 504 (La.1980), the Louisiana Supreme Court recognized that a defendant may be entitled to an "out-of-time" appeal if he was unconstitutionally deprived of his right to appeal. A district court is without authority or jurisdiction to grant an "out-of-time" appeal on ex parte motion of the defendant. State v. Banks, 457 So.2d 1264 (La. App. 1st Cir.1984); State v. Braxton, 428 So.2d 1153 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1983). A district court can only consider a motion for an "out-of-time" appeal if it is properly framed as an application for post conviction relief pursuant to La.C.Cr.P. art. 924 et seq. State v. Davis, 457 So.2d 848 (La. App. 1st Cir.1984). That was not done in the instant case.

Further, the allegation made herein to support the motion for the "out-of-time" appeal does not show a constitutional deprivation of the right to appeal. Thus, based on the record presently before us, we must conclude that we have no appellate jurisdiction to consider this matter and the appeal must be dismissed. This ruling should not be construed to preclude the defendant from seeking relief with a properly framed application for post conviction relief in the district court.

DECREE

For the foregoing reasons, this appeal is dismissed.

APPEAL DISMISSED.

COLE, CARTER and LANIER, JJ., specially concurring.

LANIER, J.

In State v. Simmons, 390 So.2d 504, 506 (La.1980), cited in the main opinion, the Louisiana Supreme Court observed as follows:

The Louisiana Constitution of 1974 provides in Article 1, § 19, for the right to judicial review:

`No person shall be subjected to imprisonment or forfeiture of rights or property without the right of judicial review based upon a complete record of all evidence upon which the judgment is based. This right may be intelligently waived. The cost of transcribing the record shall be paid as provided by law.'
There is a constitutional right in Louisiana to an appeal. This right can only be waived by the defendant himself. State v. Marcell, 320 So.2d 195 (La., 1975). Any waiver of right to appeal must be an informed one. Arrastia v. United States, 455 F.2d 736 (5 Cir.1972); Flanagan v. Henderson, 496 F.2d 1274 (5 Cir.1974). It is apparent that Simmons was not offered an appeal by his attorney. Lowe admitted that he did not contact Simmons after the sentencing about his right to an appeal. An attorney must advise his client of his appellate rights. Lumpkin v. Smith, 439 F.2d 1084 (5 Cir.1971); Riser v. Craven, 501 F.2d 381 (9 Cir.1974). (Bolding added).

In State v. Marcell, 320 So.2d 195, 198 (La.1975), cited in Simmons, the court stated:

We read Article 1, § 19 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974 as establishing the right to an appeal and as conferring on the accused, and the accused alone, the right to waive this right.[[1]]

We do not agree that Article I, § 19 of the Constitution establishes a right to an appeal. In L. Hargrave, The Declaration of Rights of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974, 35 La.L.Rev. 1, 60-62 (1974) appears the following:

Not part of the committee proposal, this section results from a floor amendment designed to cure what the author conceived as a hiatus in the previously *667 adopted article on the judiciary. Under the judiciary article, a criminal defendant has a right of appeal to the Louisiana supreme court if `convicted of a felony' or if `a fine exceeding five hundred dollars or imprisonment exceeding six months actually has been imposed.' In other criminal matters, no right of appeal to the supreme court is specified; the provision is simply that a defendant has `a right of appeal or review, as provided by law.' The policy, in the case of minor offenses, was to give the legislature freedom to act, particularly with respect to review of convictions in courts of limited jurisdiction which traditionally had been subject to trial de novo in district court.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State ex rel. Counterman v. Whitley
611 So. 2d 661 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1992)
State v. Counterman
491 So. 2d 86 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1986)
Community Coffee Co., Inc. v. Tri-Parish Const. & Materials, Inc.
490 So. 2d 1109 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1986)
Lee v. K-Mart Corp.
483 So. 2d 609 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1985)
State v. Counterman
475 So. 2d 336 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1985)
State v. Higginbotham
470 So. 2d 648 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1985)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
461 So. 2d 664, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-counterman-lactapp-1984.