State v. Fisher

105 So. 3d 964, 12 La.App. 5 Cir. 412, 2012 WL 5934418, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 1525
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided November 27, 2012·No. No. 12-KA-412·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

ROBERT A. CHAISSON, Judge.

|2On appeal, the State challenges the ruling of the district court which granted the defendant’s motion to quash the bill of information. For the reasons that follow, we find merit to the State’s arguments and accordingly reverse the judgment of the trial court.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On February 24, 2011, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney filed a bill of information charging the defendant, Jamar Fisher, with a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:95(E) “in that he did possess a handgun firearm while in the commission of an Aggravated Assault, a crime of violence as defined by L.R.S. 14:2.” At his arraignment, the defendant pled not guilty. On October 21, 2011, the defendant filed a motion to quash pursuant to LSA-C.Cr.P. arts. 531, 532(6) and 591, alleging that the State’s charging him with a violation of LSA-R.S. [sic] 14:95(E) constituted a double jeopardy violation. He specifically asserted that the | ¡¡dangerous weapon alleged in the aggravated assault was the same firearm he allegedly possessed to justify the violation of LSA-R.S. 14:95(E). The defendant further argued that the same [966]*966evidence was used to prove both crimes and that all of the facts alleged by the State were identical to prove both the required element of the commission of a crime of violence (using a firearm to commit an aggravated assault) and the possession of the firearm during the crime of violence (possession of the same firearm used in the aggravated assault).

The trial judge conducted a hearing on the defendant’s motion to quash on November 4 and December 14, 2011. After entertaining the arguments of counsel, the trial judge granted the motion to quash on the basis that the defendant was inappropriately charged, not on double jeopardy grounds. The trial judge specifically stated that the defendant should have been charged with aggravated assault and not a LSA-R.S. 14:95(E) violation. The State now appeals that ruling.

LAW AND ANALYSIS

On appeal, the State argues that the trial judge erred by granting the defendant’s motion to quash. The State contends that the trial judge did not assert a recognized legal basis for granting the motion to quash, and the district attorney, not the district court, has control and charge of criminal prosecutions instituted or pending in his or her district. We find merit to these arguments.

In the instant case, the defendant filed his motion to quash based on double jeopardy grounds. Pursuant to LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 532(6) a motion to quash may be granted if trial for the offense charged would constitute double jeopardy. Both the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article 1, § 15 of the Louisiana Constitution guarantee that no person shall be twice placed in jeopardy for the same offense. See also LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 591. The guarantee against double jeopardy includes constitutional protections against: 1) a second Lprosecution for the same offense after acquittal; 2) a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction; and 8) multiple punishments for the same offense. State v. Smith, 95-61 (La.7/2/96), 676 So.2d 1068, 1069.

The Double Jeopardy Clause clearly prevents an offender from being convicted of both the underlying offense for a 14:95(E) violation and the 14:95(E) violation itself. State v. Sandifer, 95-2226 (La.9/5/96), 679 So.2d 1324, 1329. In State in Interest of S.L., 11-883 (La.App. 5 Cir. 4/24/12), 94 So.3d 822, the juvenile was adjudicated delinquent for illegal possession of a handgun by a juvenile, LSA-R.S. 14:95.8, and possession of a firearm while in possession of a controlled dangerous substance, LSA-R.S. 14:95(E). On appeal, the juvenile argued that those adjudications violated double jeopardy. The State conceded this point on appeal and agreed that S.L.’s adjudication and disposition for illegal possession of a handgun by a juvenile should be vacated. This Court found that the prosecution of the juvenile for the illegal possession of a handgun by a juvenile required use of the same evidence presented against him under LSA-R.S. 14:95(E), specifically, possession of the same firearm. As such, this Court found that the prohibition against double jeopardy was violated. This Court reversed the adjudication and disposition imposed for illegal possession of a handgun by a juvenile, the less severely punishable offense.

In State v. Warner, 94-2649 (La.App. 4 Cir. 3/16/95), 653 So.2d 57, writ denied, 95-0943 (La.5/19/95), 654 So.2d 1089, the appellate court ruled that double jeopardy barred the prosecution for cocaine possession of a defendant who had previously been convicted under LSA-R.S. 14:95(E) of possession of a firearm while in possession of the same cocaine. Likewise, in [967]*967State v. Woods, 94-2650 (La.App. 4 Cir. 4/20/95), 654 So.2d 809, writ denied, 95-1252 (La.6/30/95), 657 So.2d 1035, the appellate court concluded that double jeopardy barred the | .¡¡prosecution of a defendant under LSA-R.S. 14:95(E) subsequent to his conviction on a charge of cocaine possession, where the cocaine possession was the basis for the violation of LSA-R.S. 14:95(E).

However, these cases are clearly distinguishable from the instant case. Herein, the defendant was not charged with a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:95(E) and the underlying offense. Rather, according to the February 24, 2011 minute entry contained in the record, the State refused the aggravated assault charge, LSA-R.S. 14:37, and accepted the illegal possession of a firearm charge, LSA-R.S. 14:95(E).

In State v. Maurice, 96-2268 (La.App. 4 Cir. 12/4/96), 686 So.2d 58, writ denied, 97-0400 (La.3/27/97), 692 So.2d 396, the defendant was charged with simple battery, a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:35, arising out of an incident which occurred on June 22, 1994. He was first charged on June 23, 1994, with battery under the New Orleans Municipal Code, and the case was allotted to the municipal court. On July 28, 1994, the municipal court dismissed the charge after the State was unable to proceed to trial. Thereafter, on August 10, 1994, two counts of simple battery were instituted against the defendant in the criminal district court. After the defendant’s motion to quash the bill of information on double jeopardy grounds was denied, the matter proceeded to bench trial at the conclusion of which the defendant was found guilty on count one and not guilty on count two. The defendant thereafter took an appeal to the appellate division of the criminal district court. That court concluded that the institution of state charges, after the case was dismissed in the municipal court, was barred by the rules of double jeopardy and collateral estoppel. The State thereafter sought review in the appellate court. On appeal, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal found that the prosecution of the defendant in the criminal district court for the same charge that was originally brought in the municipal court was not barred by double jeopardy. In so ruling, the 1 f,Fourth Circuit noted that the simple battery charge against the defendant was not adjudicated or submitted in the municipal court, no evidence was presented in the municipal court, no witnesses testified in the municipal court, and the municipal court’s decision to dismiss the charges was based on the State’s inability to go forward to trial.

Similar to the situation in State v. Maurice, supra, the defendant, in the instant case, was not subject to multiple prosecutions or punishments for the same offense.

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State v. Fisher, 105 So. 3d 964, 12 La.App. 5 Cir. 412, 2012 WL 5934418, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 1525 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

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