State v. Edwards

552 So. 2d 34, 1989 La. App. LEXIS 1979, 1989 WL 134882
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided November 8, 1989·No. No. CR 89-162·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinions

GUIDRY, Judge.

On May 5, 1987, defendant, Leon Edwards, was found guilty by a jury of twelve of possession of amphetamines, a violation of La.R.S. 40:967(C). On October 23, 1987, he was sentenced to serve five years at hard labor and pay a fine of $5,000.00, the maximum sentence for the offense.

The defendant appealed urging that the trial judge failed to consider the sentencing guidelines set forth in La.C.Cr.P. art. 894.1, and that the sentence imposed was excessive, in violation of La. Const. Art. 1, Section 20. We vacated the defendant’s sentence and remanded the ease for resentenc-ing with full, recorded compliance with Article 894.1. See State v. Edwards, 532 So.2d 304 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1988).

On remand, the trial court sentenced the defendant to serve four years with the Department of Public Safety and Corrections.

Defendant again appeals on the basis of eight assignments of error. Assignments of error numbered one and two have not been briefed and are considered abandoned. State v. Dewey, 408 So.2d 1255 (La.1982); State v. Crawford, 441 So.2d 813 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1983).

FACTS

Defendant was charged with possession of amphetamines with the intent to distribute and conspiracy to distribute amphetamines.

Defendant and two other persons, Terry Lynn Gilbreath and Gilbreath’s wife, La-Donna, allegedly traveled from Texas to Natchitoches to meet some New Orleans drug buyers to make a sale. Unknown to the defendant and the Gilbreaths, the buyers were undercover narcotics officers. Defendant was arrested, tried and, on count one, convicted of the lesser crime of possession of amphetamines. The defendant was found not guilty of conspiracy to distribute amphetamines.

Defendant received the maximum sentence statutorily authorized, five years at hard labor and a fine of $5,000.00. The sentence was vacated on appeal and the case remanded for resentencing. The trial [36] judge resentenced the defendant to four years imprisonment.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 3

Defendant contends that the trial judge erred in supplanting the jury verdict on numerous occasions with his own version of the facts and defendant’s intentions.

During resentencing, the following colloquy took place between the defense counsel and the trial judge:

“MR. HOWARD: He has a honorable discharge ... He has no other arrest before or since August, 1986, when this happened. He has always worked. He worked for the light company for twelve years. He owns his own dairy farm. He has always returned to this court which [sic] so gracious to have let him out on bond each time, but he’s always come back. He’s in business ... because of hardship if Your Honor chose to put him in jail, his business would go out of business. He helps his infirmed mother, she lives with him....
The pre-sentence investigation indicates that he’s a candidate for suspended sentence. He was found guilty by a jury of simple possession only_ And whether you disagree with it or whether I disagree, I think they should have found him not guilty. You feel that he should have been found guilty of all of the things.
But we live and die by our system and I would hope that you would in the spirit of all that’s holy in our democracy take that into consideration when you sentence this man.
This man is guilty of simple possession of a controlled substance.
THE COURT: All right. The Court does disagree with the finding of the jury. However, that is what we have juries for.”

The foregoing exchange indicates two things, the trial judge believed the defendant to be guilty of a more serious crime than that of which he stood convicted, but nevertheless the judge recognized that the jury had spoken and it was his job to sentence the defendant accordingly.

The district judge then went on to recount the events which led to Edwards’ arrest, including the fact that defendant was armed with a dangerous weapon. It is this recital to which defendant objects. We find his objection meritless. This court remanded defendant’s case for resentencing in compliance with La.C.Cr.P. art. 894.1. The cited article requires that a sentencing judge consider both militating and mitigating circumstances in passing sentence on a defendant. Furthermore, as our Supreme Court pointed out in State v. Washington, 414 So.2d 313 (La.1982):

“The sources of information from which a sentencing court may draw are extensive, and traditional rules of evidence are not bars to consideration of otherwise relevant information. State v. Douglas, 389 So.2d 1263 (La.1980).”

We find the circumstances which led to defendant's arrest, as reflected by the record, pertinent and a source which may be considered by the sentencing court. This assignment lacks merit.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR NOS. 4 AND 5

Defendant next urges that the trial court erred in again failing to adequately consider any mitigating circumstances as required by the statutory guidelines, particularly the facts that defendant was honorably discharged from the armed services; had no prior record of criminal activity; his stable work history; and, the hardship to which defendant and his invalid mother would be subjected in the event of his incarceration. In essence, defendant argues that if proper weight had been accorded the factors above set forth, the defendant would have been granted a probated sentence.

On remand, this court stated:

“In the instant case, the record reflects that presumably the trial court failed to consider several relevant mitigating factors. While the trial judge stated that he placed no significance on the fact that defendant earned a G.E.D. rather than a [37] regular high school diploma and he took into consideration that defendant was honorably discharged from the Navy, he failed to mention and apparently did not give consideration to the fact that the defendant was a first offender with a good work record. The pre-sentence report reveals that the defendant had never been in trouble previously; he was earning a good living as a dairy farmer; and, had worked for several years as an electrician for a utility company before acquiring his dairy farm.
The trial judge determined that if the defendant received a probated sentence, there was an undue risk that he would commit another crime; he needed a custodial environment; and, a lesser sentence would deprecate the seriousness of the offense. We find these statements conelusory and not based on any articulated facts. In State v. Cox, 474 So.2d 523 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1985), writ granted in part, 481 So.2d 1328 (La.1986), we held that similar conelusory assertions accompanied by a reference to the pre-sentence report were inadequate to fulfill the requirements of Art. 894.1.”

See State v. Edwards, supra at 305.

In resentencing the defendant, the trial judge, once again, completely ignored the spirit and intent of Article 894.1. At the resentencing, the trial judge stated:

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State v. Edwards, 552 So. 2d 34, 1989 La. App. LEXIS 1979, 1989 WL 134882 (La. Ct. App. 1989).

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