State v. DeGueurce

710 So. 2d 296, 1998 WL 101905
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided February 25, 1998·No. 30334-KA·Published·Cited by 9 cases

Opinion

710 So.2d 296 (1998)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
Kelly Layne Dukes DeGUEURCE, Appellant.

No. 30334-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

February 25, 1998.
Rehearing Denied April 2, 1998.

*298 Blanchard, Walker, O'Quin & Roberts by A.M. Stroud, III, Shreveport, for Appellant.

Richard Ieyoub, Attorney General, James M. Bullers, District Attorney, Randall Smith, Assistant District Attorney, for Appellee.

Before MARVIN, C.J., and STEWART and GASKINS, JJ.

MARVIN, Chief Judge.

Having pleaded guilty to carnal knowledge of her teenage student, this 28-year-old school teacher, Kelly Layne Dukes DeGueurce,[1] appeals, arguing the constitutional excessiveness of her sentence to three years at hard labor and the illegality of the trial court's imposing both the three-year hard labor sentence and requiring the teacher to make restitution to the victim or his family of an unstated amount expended for the student's medical treatment or serve an "additional" year in jail.

In a third assignment of error, defendant complains that she was denied due process when her motion for reconsideration of the sentence was denied without affording her the opportunity to examine, contradict or explain "evidence" which the court relied upon that was gained from an "apparent investigation conducted sua sponte by the court."

Restitution is authorized when a sentencing court suspends a sentence and places the offender on probation. When a sentence is not suspended, restitution and additional default time are said to be illegal. See State v. Frith, 561 So.2d 879 (La.App. 2d Cir.1990), writ denied, 571 So.2d 625 (La.1990); State v. Faulkner, 570 So.2d 516 (La.App. 5th Cir. 1990).

Addressing each of the assignments, we amend to delete the illegal part of the sentence [restitution and additional default time]. We affirm the three-year hard labor sentence. We also resolve appellant's motion to vacate a trial court order, signed ex parte in November 1997, after the appellate record was lodged in July 1997.

FACTS

The teacher, Kelly Dukes DeGueurce, born April 4, 1967, instituted the sexual relationship with her male student, born May 31, 1980, about a month before his 15th birthday in 1995. The affair came to light several months later when the student was hospitalized for psychological treatment. We shall refer to the student as "John."

Upon learning of the affair, John's mother contacted attorney James Hall, who also served as the City Attorney of Bossier City, and the Bossier City Police Department. A video camera was then hidden in her home. The hidden camera first recorded her son and DeGueurce hugging and kissing on February 6, 1996, and the next day engaging in intercourse and oral sex.

In March 1996, DeGueurce was formally charged with carnal knowledge of a juvenile [La.R.S. 14:80] between the dates of April 1, 1995, and February 7, 1996. After her arrest, her counsel had her psychologically tested by Dr. Mark Vigen, sought discovery of the State's evidence and filed several pre-trial motions, while negotiating with the State for a plea. Apparently the State agreed with DeGueurce's counsel to answer his discovery request "informally" rather than doing so on the record, giving counsel, among other things, the entirety of the report of the Bossier City Police Department's investigation. DeGueurce formally requested discovery in a pleading filed in the record on April 9, 1996. The State asserts that it "informally" responded, at defendant's request, *299 by giving the requested material or information to defendant.

In support of her motion to reconsider her sentence filed on June 20, 1997, DeGueurce submitted to the court on June 30, 1997, as "Defendant [Exhibit] 1" page 43 of the Bossier City Police Department's "Crimes Management System Incident Report." This page first relates what Attorney Hall told police about the affair, the video tape recording, which the police obtained from him, and that the police thereafter recorded an interview with the victim, John.

Eventually, the State apparently accepted DeGueurce's offer to plead guilty with the State agreeing to nol pros other charges pending against DeGueurce and to "make no recommendation [to the court] as to sentence." DeGueurce pleaded guilty on February 14, 1997, with that agreement being stated to the court.

Believing a suspended and probated sentence would be "inappropriate," the trial court, however, stated on the record during DeGueurce's guilty plea proceedings that she would be sentenced based on information to be given to the court in a pre-sentence investigation [PSI] report to be submitted after investigation by state probation authorities.

At the sentencing hearing on June 9, 1997, the trial court made numerous references to the PSI report. According to the PSI, John suffered severe stress as a result of the affair, being hospitalized in Shreveport and treated by specialists in Dallas. The probation officer who compiled the PSI reported that he did not interview John because the boy's mother felt he was too emotionally fragile to be interviewed. The expense of John's medical treatment reached several thousand dollars, according to the PSI.

The trial court acknowledged receiving several letters on behalf of defendant, who had no prior criminal history. The court mentioned the psychological profile by Dr. Vigen that negated defendant's being a pedophile [relatively incurable], considering this to be a mitigating factor. Also noted as mitigating factors were that defendant, a first felony offender, had shown remorse, had suffered public humiliation and had been removed from her teaching position.

The court, nonetheless, concluded that a sentence less than imprisonment would deprecate the seriousness of the offense and imposed the three-year hard labor sentence. After that sentence was pronounced, the court ordered defendant to make full restitution to John's family for any losses they sustained, or to serve an additional year in jail.

In her motion to reconsider sentence filed June 20, 1997, defendant contended the sentence was excessive because it was premised upon incorrect information in the PSI about the emotional harm suffered by John. Defendant insisted the probation officer presented an inaccurate report of John's psychological condition because he relied solely upon misrepresentations made by the mother, who had not had custody of John since July 1996.

During the hearing on the motion to reconsider sentence held on June 30, 1997, counsel questioned Dr. Vigen about his reported findings. The trial court informed defense counsel he only wanted to hear information beyond what Dr. Vigen had already submitted in his written report that the court considered at the sentencing hearing. DeGueurce's counsel concluded his questioning of Dr. Vigen and his argument by submitting to the court letters from John and his father and step-mother, a judgment granting the father custody of John, and "Defendant 1," page 43 of the Bossier City police report mentioned above. The motion to reconsider asserted that John and his father had not submitted letters to the court before the sentencing because they had not been given notice of sentencing. La.C.Cr.P. art. 894.3. The trial court immediately denied DeGueurce's motion to reconsider sentence at the conclusion of the hearing. Defendant promptly appealed.

The appellate record, lodged here on July 22, 1997, includes an exhibit envelope containing things referred to by the court at the sentencing hearing: The PSI, Dr.

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