State v. Divine

738 So. 2d 614, 1999 WL 314710
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 19, 1999
Docket98-KA-812
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 738 So. 2d 614 (State v. Divine) 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. Divine, 738 So. 2d 614, 1999 WL 314710 (La. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

738 So.2d 614 (1999)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Neal G. DIVINE aka Terry Horton.

No. 98-KA-812.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

May 19, 1999.
Rehearing Denied July 19, 1999.

*615 Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Alison Wallis, Terry M. Boudreaux, George M. Kennedy, Assistant District Attorneys, Courthouse Annex, Gretna, Louisiana, Counsels for plaintiff-appellee.

Provino Mosca, Mosca & Mosca, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Joseph Negron, Jr., Stuart, Florida, Counsels for defendant-appellant.

Court composed of Judges H. CHARLES GAUDIN, SOL GOTHARD and MARION F. EDWARDS.

GAUDIN, Judge.

Neal G. Divine, a/k/a Terry Horton, was convicted by a Jefferson Parish jury of armed robbery, LSA-R.S. 14:64, and attempted second degree murder, LSA-R.S. 14:27:30.1, for assaulting and robbing Robert Partain, a Treasure Chest casino patron, in the casino's restroom on June 23, 1996. He was sentenced as a second felony offender to 99 years for armed robbery and 30 years for attempted second degree murder. The sentences are to be served without benefit of parole, probation or suspension and they are to run concurrent with each other.

The defendant was charged, prosecuted and convicted and he is referred to in this opinion as "Neal G. Divine, a/k/a Terry *616 Horton." It is clear from the record, however, that Neal G. Divine is an alias. His real name is Terry Joseph Horton.

On appeal, Divine assigns various district court errors, including a contention that his trial counsel was ineffective. We did not consider the ineffective assistance of counsel allegation as this issue is more appropriately raised via a post-conviction petition for relief which would enable the trial judge to conduct a full evidentiary hearing in accord with State v. Cooks, 720 So.2d 637 (La.1998), and State v. Hamilton, 699 So.2d 29 (La.1997). We found no reversible error in Divine's other assignments of error, which are:

(1) denial of his pre-trial Motion to Continue,
(2) the verdict was not responsive to the Bill of Information,
(3) the verdict was contrary to the law and the evidence,
(4) the jury charge was incorrect,
(5) double jeopardy,
(6) denial of post-trial and pre-sentence pleadings, including Motion for a New Trial, Motion in Arrest of Judgment, Motion to Quash and Motion for a Pre-sentence investigation, was error,
(7) the sentence was excessive,
(8) the prosecutor made an impermissible reference to Divine's statement during the state's opening argument,
(9) it was reversible error for a police officer to comment on defendant's silence at time of arrest,
(10) the prosecutor's characterization of the defendant in his closing argument as "the meanest, the scariest, the most Charles Manson-looking guy in the place," was prejudicial, and
(11) it was reversible error for the state to comment on a witness' right to remain silent.

In searching for errors patent, we found that Divine was not advised of the prescriptive period for post-conviction relief as specified in LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 930.8. We remand for that purpose and for the trial court to place proof in the record that appellant received such notice.

ASSIGNMENT NO. 1

When the case was called for trial on August 14, 1997, Divine's attorney, Bruce Netterville, orally moved for a continuance, saying that Divine had told him that he had hired another lawyer, Provino Mosca, to represent him. This was the case's first trial setting.

In denying the motion, the trial judge said:

"All right. The Court knows Mr. Mosca. I certainly would believe that if Mr. Mosca had been retained in this matter, that he would be here today, or he would have called the Court to indicate that he, in fact, had been retained.
"Reviewing the record, it appears that this matter was set for the arraignment of the defendant on June 19th, 1997, and that was the date, in fact, he was arraigned. And a trial date of September the 11th[1] was set. So we have had—and from the 11th, it was continued to today. So it does appear that it is, you might say, a first setting. However, there has been a two-month period for the defendant to retain new counsel, if he chose to do so, or to handle any other matters that he felt appropriate. So your request for a continuance is denied."

The granting or refusal of a motion for a continuance rests with the sound discretion of the trial judge. Such a ruling is not upset on appeal absent a clear abuse of discretion and a showing of specific prejudice. We see no reversible error, *617 noting that it is well settled that a defendant in a criminal trial cannot, by a last minute change of counsel, force a postponement. In State v. Anthony, 347 So.2d 483 (La.1977), the defendant sought to continue his trial because he claimed to have procured new trial counsel. The Louisiana Supreme Court upheld the trial court's denial of the defendant's motion to continue, and assigned these reasons at page 487:

"The trial court's ruling was correct. We find the following pertinent in reaching our conclusion: (1) The alleged retained attorney neither appeared in court to verify his retention, nor communicated with the trial judge in any other way; (2) the record reflects only defendant's statement that a third party had contacted and retained the attorney and that defendant had only had a telephone conversation with the attorney; (3) appointed counsel had filed a prior motion on the same ground regarding another alleged retained counsel; (4) the motion was made on the morning of trial; and (5) the alleged retained counsel neither made an appearance nor contacted the court either during the trial or on the Motion for New Trial. We are convinced, as was the trial judge, that defendant's request was a dilatory tactic."

In State v. Leggett, 363 So.2d 434 (La. 1978), the Louisiana Supreme Court again visited the issue of retaining new counsel on the morning of trial, saying at page 436:

"Both the federal and state constitutions provide that the accused has the right to counsel of his own choosing to defend him on a criminal charge. However, this right does not permit arbitrary action which obstructs orderly procedures in the courts. Rather the right to choose one's attorney is a right to be exercised at a reasonable time, in a reasonable manner, and at an appropriate stage within the procedural framework of the criminal justice system. There is no constitutional right to make a new choice of counsel on the very date the trial is to begin, with the attendant necessity of a continuance and its disrupting implications to the orderly trial of cases. Once the trial day has arrived, the question of withdrawal of counsel rests largely within the discretion of the trial judge. This court has frequently upheld the trial court's denial of motions for continuances or withdrawal of counsel made on the day of trial when defendant is dissatisfied with his present attorney but had ample opportunity to retain private counsel."

In the present case, as correctly noted by the trial judge, Divine had approximately two months between the time he was arraigned and the date set for his trial to retain other counsel.

Mr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
738 So. 2d 614, 1999 WL 314710, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-divine-lactapp-1999.