State v. Durham

90 So. 3d 1126, 2012 WL 833345
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 13, 2012
DocketNos. 11-KA-652, 11-KA-653
StatusPublished

This text of 90 So. 3d 1126 (State v. Durham) 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. Durham, 90 So. 3d 1126, 2012 WL 833345 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

MARION F. EDWARDS, Chief Judge.

pThe State of Louisiana, plaintiff/appellant, through the Jefferson Parish District Attorney, appeals a judgment of the Twenty-Fourth Judicial District Court that granted a motion to quash bills of information charging defendant/appellee, James D. Durham, with two counts of issuing worthless checks in violation of La. R.S. 14:71 and charging defendant/appellee, Donald H. Durham, with one count of issuing a worthless check in violation of La. R.S. 14:71.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On July 31, 2009, the State filed a bill of information charging Donald H. Durham with one count of issuing a worthless check on August 25, 2008 to the West Jefferson Levee District, a violation of La. R.S. 14:71, in the amount of $1,222 in case No. 09^4125. Also on July 31, 2009, another bill of information against James D. Durham was filed, likewise alleging a violation of La. R.S. 14:71 for writing a worthless check to the Levee District in the amount of $133,292 on July 20, 2008 in case No. 09-4124. The two matters were consolidated, and a motion to quash for lack of jurisdiction and/or venue was filed on behalf of both ^defendants. At the hearing on the motion, there was no testimony, and the State submitted no evidence. However, the defendants produced copies of three checks. Following argument, the motion was granted.

The State appealed the granting of the motion with this Court in case Nos. 10-KA-336 consolidated with 10-KA-337. Oral arguments in the original appeal occurred on November 10, 2010, before Judges Dufresne, Edwards, and Wicker. However, before the panel issued its decision, Judge Dufresne passed away, and the matter was scheduled for re-argument on January 10, 2011. On January 7, 2011, however, the State filed a motion to dismiss the consolidated appeals, and this Court dismissed the appeals on January 10, 2011.

Later that same month, on January 28, 2011, the State filed bills of information against the same defendants in district court case Nos. 11-0459 and 11-0460. In case No. 11-0459, James D. Durham was charged with two counts of issuing worthless checks, one for $130,895 and one for $2,397, to the Levee District on June 20, 2008, in violation of La. R.S. 14:71. In district court case No. 11-0460, Donald H. Durham was charged with one count of issuing a worthless check in the amount of $1,222 to the Levee District on August 25, 2008, in violation of La. R.S. 14:71.

Following pleas of not guilty, the defendants filed a motion to quash and a memorandum in support of the motion. The court granted defense counsel’s request to waive the defendants’ presence at this hearing. The defendants’ motion to quash was granted at the hearing on April 26, 2011. The State’s appeal follows.

The defendants argued that the court’s previous order quashing the cases was final and was “law of the case,” urging that the State was attempting to reincarnate the cases by re-filing virtually identical bills of information and was seeking to circumvent the rule of finality by relying on the district attorney’s Ldiscretionary powers under La.C.Cr.P. art. 61. The defendants also argued that La.C.Cr.P. art. 693 was inapplicable to this matter because the district attorney never entered a nolle prosequi inasmuch as the cases had already been quashed by the court. The defendants accused the State of flaunting its authority over the defendants and the court, alleging that the State had granted itself an appellate victory when the normal order of law would be that the district attorney could bring the defendants to trial after the court quashed the bills and the Court of Appeal reversed.

[1128]*1128At the hearing on the motion to quash, the trial judge asked the State if the charge against Donald Durham was identical to the charge that had been previously quashed. The State agreed that it was. As for the charges against James Durham, the State explained that it had previously made a mistake as to the amount of the check in the original charge. It explained that one of the counts from the bill involved the same check, but a different amount than the check in the original charge. The State then explained that count two was a charge that was missed initially. Defense counsel argued that the amounts from the two counts in the new bill of information for James Durham totaled the amount alleged in the original bill of information. The State agreed that the total amount was the same, but it alleged that the original bill was incorrect because there were actually two worthless checks. The court then asked the State if there were any other factual distinctions between the new case against James Durham with the two counts and the original count. The State said there were none, and it agreed that the transaction was the same. The court asked if the geography was the same, and the State indicated that issue had not been raised.

The State disputed that the bills were identical, noting that there were two separate checks, instead of one check. The State also argued that it had the [^authority under the law to dismiss the appeal and re-file the bill of information, and that dismissal of the prosecution was not a bar to subsequent prosecutions, suggesting that the dismissal of an appeal amounted to the dismissal of prosecution. The State argued that dismissing an appeal and then re-filing a bill had the same effect as if the State had chosen not to appeal and instead re-filed the bill. The State claimed it had a legitimate reason for re-filing and did not do so to avoid time limitations.

After questioning the State about its authority to determine jurisdiction, the State said it would argue the issue if it were brought up in the “new case” but that, up until that point, it had not been raised. The trial judge granted the motion to quash by stating the following:

The State suggests that even though I may have decided an issue regarding jurisdiction of which I have jurisdiction over the issue of jurisdiction, based on a set of circumstances and facts, that even though I may have decided that that way and even though I may be confronted repeatedly with the same facts with no substantiative [sic] distinction, all right — ... that the State can continue to revolve the door to run the same charges through.
I disagree with that logic, your motion to quash is granted.

Thereafter, the State claimed that the same facts would not be presented if jurisdiction had been raised again in the motion to quash. It contended that it would present “new light” to the issue of jurisdiction that perhaps the court did not have before, and it said that this was the reason it had to re-file the bills of information.

On appeal, the State argues that the district attorney has the authority to dismiss a criminal prosecution and reinstitute the charges for the same offense based on the same facts, citing La. Const, art. V, § 26(B), La.C.Cr.P. art. 61, and La.C.Cr.P. art. 691. The State further argues that La.C.Cr.P. art. 538 does not prevent reinstitution of the charges. It contends that the fact the original [fiprosecution was dismissed during the appeal process of the original motion to quash is of no consequence. The State argues that the defendants do not allege that witnesses or evidence was lost or that the defense has been prejudiced.

The State explains that the instant bill of information clarified the amount of the [1129]

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Related

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State v. King
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Bluebook (online)
90 So. 3d 1126, 2012 WL 833345, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-durham-lactapp-2012.