State v. Girouard

615 So. 2d 29, 1993 La. App. LEXIS 987, 1993 WL 57529
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 3, 1993
DocketNo. CR92-868
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 615 So. 2d 29 (State v. Girouard) 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. Girouard, 615 So. 2d 29, 1993 La. App. LEXIS 987, 1993 WL 57529 (La. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

SAUNDERS, Judge.

Defendant, Rick Anthony Girouard, appeals his conviction and sentence for driving while intoxicated, third offense, a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:98. After reviewing the record and considering his claims, we affirm.

Although the facts leading to the arrest are not in the record, it appears from his traffic citation (issued simultaneously with the arrest) that the defendant had just missed striking a pedestrian in the vicinity of Johnston Street and University Street in Lafayette, Louisiana.

On May 23, 1990, defendant was charged by bill of information with the felony offense of driving while intoxicated, third offense. Defendant was also charged with [30]*30reckless operation of a motor vehicle in violation of Lafayette City Code of Ordinance, Section 22-26.1 This charge was prosecuted separately in Lafayette City Court. On September 4, 1990, defendant appeared in City Court and entered a plea of no contest to the reckless operation charge. He was ordered to pay $130.00 in fines and costs.

On October 15, 1990, an indigent defender was appointed to represent the defendant in the pending DWI charge. On March 14, 1991, defendant filed a motion to quash the bill of information based upon double jeopardy. Hearing was held on the motion and the trial court ruled on July 10, 1991, denying the motion to quash.

Defendant was sentenced to three (3) years at hard labor, suspended, and placed on three (3) years supervised probation subject to the condition that defendant not drive a motor vehicle unless properly licensed and also serve six (6) months in the parish jail or a halfway house.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR

The defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to quash the bill of information based on double jeopardy. LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 596 provides:

Art. 596. Requirements for double jeopardy
Double jeopardy exists in a second trial only when the charge in that trial is:
(1) Identical with or a different grade of the same offense for which the defendant was in jeopardy in the first trial, whether or not a responsive verdict could have been rendered in the first trial as to the charge in the second trial; or
(2) Based on a part of a continuous offense for which offense the defendant was in jeopardy in the first trial.

In determining whether the double jeopardy clause bars a subsequent prosecution, the Louisiana Supreme Court has utilized both the “Blockburger” test2 and the “same evidence” test. The “same evidence” test depends upon the proof required to convict, not the evidence actually introduced at trial. Thus, if the evidence necessary to support the second charge would have been sufficient to support the former charge, double jeopardy prohibits the second prosecution. State v. Miller, 571 So.2d 603 (La.1990).

This “same evidence” test was applied in a factually similar case, State v. Broussard, 532 So.2d 240 (La.App.3d Cir.1988). In that case, Broussard was arrested for driving while intoxicated, third offense, in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:98, and failure to maintain control of his vehicle, in violation of Lafayette Code of Ordinances, Section 22-1:58. Broussard entered a plea of nolo contendere to the ordinance violation on January 13, 1986, in the City Court of Lafayette. On January 16, 1986, a bill of information was filed in the 15th Judicial District Court charging Broussard with DWI, third offense. Broussard urged that the charge of DWI constituted double jeopardy. In applying the “same evidence” test, we stated:

This “same evidence” test depends upon the evidence necessary for conviction. See, State v. Steele, [387 So.2d 1175 (La.1980) ] supra. In this case, “[i]n order to convict an accused of driving while intoxicated the state need only prove that (1) defendant was operating a vehicle or other conveyance; and (2) that defendant was under the influence of alcoholic beverages or some type of drug.” State v. Fontenot, 408 So.2d 919, 921 (La.1981). This evidence, neces[31]*31sary to support a DWI conviction would not have been sufficient, without a showing of loss of control, to support a conviction for failure to maintain control of a vehicle.
“Where the gravamen of the second offense is essentially included within the offense for which first tried, the second prosecution is barred because of the former jeopardy.
[State v.] Didier, supra, [262 La. 364, 263 So.2d 322] at page 327 [ (1972) ].
Likewise, the gravamen of the second offense, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, is not essentially included within the offense of failure to maintain control of a vehicle. Accordingly, the second prosecution for DWI is not barred because of the former jeopardy. It cannot be successfully argued that DWI and failure to maintain control of a vehicle are substantially regulating the identical conduct. The issue of double jeopardy in a DWI/failure to maintain control context is res nova in Louisiana although the two have been used to convict the same defendant for one course of conduct. State v. Skeetoe, 501 So.2d 931 (La.App. 2 Cir.1987). Double jeopardy was discussed in the context of a DWI and a traffic offense, e.g., running a flashing red light, in City of Baton Rouge v. Jackson, [310 So.2d 596 (La.1975) ] supra. The defendant in Jackson, as here, argued that both charges arose out of one continuous offense which precluded prosecution of the second offense. The Jackson Court noted that Louisiana has not adopted the “same transaction” test which would prohibit multiple prosecutions out of one continuous course of criminal conduct. Double jeopardy does not protect a criminal who violates numerous statutes during a short time span on a crime spree.

In the instant case, the trial court noted the recent United States Supreme Court case of Grady v. Corbin, 495 U.S. 508, 110 S.Ct. 2084, 109 L.Ed.2d 548 (1990), which broadens the traditional analysis used in Louisiana. Under Grady,

To determine whether a subsequent prosecution is barred by the Double Jeopardy Clause, a court must first apply the traditional Blockburger [v. U.S., 284 U.S. 299, 52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306] test. If application of that test reveals that the offenses have identical statutory elements or that one is a lesser included offense of the other ... the subsequent prosecution is barred.

Supra 110 S.Ct. at 2090.

Moreover, Grady requires an additional analysis of the conduct to be proven by the State. According to Grady, if the government, in a subsequent prosecution, seeks to establish an essential element of an offense for which the defendant has already been prosecuted, then the double jeopardy clause bars the prosecution. This is not the “same evidence” test. The critical inquiry here is what conduct the State will prove, not the evidence the State will use to prove that conduct. Supra 110 S.Ct. at 2093.

In this case, the crime of driving while intoxicated is defined as operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated.

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State v. Taylor
103 So. 3d 571 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2012)
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632 So. 2d 1221 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1994)

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Bluebook (online)
615 So. 2d 29, 1993 La. App. LEXIS 987, 1993 WL 57529, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-girouard-lactapp-1993.