State v. Guilbeau

71 So. 3d 1020, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 99, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 808, 2011 WL 2462935
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided June 22, 2011·No. 11-99·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

KEATY, Judge.

_JjOn June 16, 2008, the State filed a bill of information charging Defendant, Dustin P. Guilbeau, with second degree battery upon Burtecin Sapta, 1 in violation of La. *1022 R.S. 14:34.1. A second bill of information was filed on October 20, 2009, charging Defendant with second degree battery upon Derwin Perron. The cases were assigned docket numbers 120457 and 126276, respectively. Ultimately, Defendant pled guilty to both counts on January 11, 2010, and the trial court ordered a pre-sentence investigation (PSI) report.

On July 19, 2010, Defendant was sentenced to three years at hard labor on both counts to run concurrently. On August 16, 2010, Defendant filed a motion to reconsider sentence, which the trial court denied on the same date, without a hearing. Defendant timely filed a motion to appeal the denial of his motion to reconsider sentence; the motion included docket numbers 120457 and 126276. 2

Defendant now appeals, asserting that the trial court erred in denying his motion to reconsider sentence and in accepting his guilty plea without ascertaining whether there was a factual basis for the plea. For the following reasons, we conditionally affirm Defendant’s sentence; however, we remand for the trial court to establish that a factual basis exists for Defendant’s guilty plea.

| ¡¿FACTS

At the start of Defendant’s guilty plea hearing, defense counsel stated that there were going to be pleas in docket numbers 120457 and 126276. Nevertheless, only one set of facts was adduced at the guilty plea hearing:

BY THE COURT:
Q. Now, each of you, before the Court can accept your plea the Court has to be satisfied that there’s a factual basis for the plea. That is, that you did, in fact, commit this offense and you committed the crime here in Lafayette.
Q. Mr. Dustin Guilbeau, Second Degree Battery. Did you commit this crime?
BY MR. DUSTIN GUILBEAU:
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Tell me, what did you do and where did it happen at?
A. What’s that?
Q. Tell me, what did you do and where did it happen at?
A. Well, I—
Q. Speak loud. I need to hear you.
A. I got in a fight downtown behind the parking tower.
Q. And that’s here in Lafayette?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And that’s as a result to a Second Degree Battery charge?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. What did you do as a consequence of that fight? Did you hit somebody?
A. Yeah. I hit him with my fist after I got hit.
laQ- All right.

DISCUSSION

Eirors Patent

In accordance with La.Code Crim.P. art. 920, this court reviews all appeals for errors patent on the face of the record. After review, we find no errors patent.

*1023 Motion to Reconsider Sentence

In his first assignment of error, Defendant argues the trial court erred by denying his motion to reconsider sentence. He alleges that the trial court did not follow La.Code Crim.P. art. 894.1, in that it failed to consider any mitigating factors, and that his sentence is excessive.

The following colloquy occurred at Defendant’s sentencing hearing:

THE COURT: All right. Mr. States? Dustin Guilbeau?
MR. STUTES: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: Same as Derek, simple [sic] battery?
MR. STUTES: Yes, sir. The only difference is this Mr. Guilbeau, in addition to the matter that you previously sentenced the other Mr. Guilbeau on, he had another charge also.
MR. NEUMANN: That is correct, Your Honor.
MR. STUTES: Two counts — two separate charges of second degree battery.
MR. NEUMANN: That is correct, Your Honor.
THE COURT: They are recommending five years hard labor.
MR. NEUMANN: Yes, Your Honor, I understand that. Basically, what we would like the Court to note is in the pre-sentence investigation and I believe in all of the police reports regarding the more serious offense involving Brian and Derek, the pre-sentence investigation and the reports indicate that they were [the] main instigators. The independent witness who was identified by the police investigating the crime as well as Mr. Mark Hebert, who was an | independent witness, basically indicated that Mr. Dustin Guilbeau stayed out of the fight for the most part. His involvement was more in the latter part of the stages. He was not the main instigator as noted by the officer doing the investigation.
Additionally, the investigative report indicates that this is Mr. Guilbeau’s first felony offense. He’s not been in any type of trouble before with felony offense. Additionally, there is restitution in both cases of approximately $10,742.17. Mr. Dustin Guilbeau is able to make restitution to the victims in both cases. There’s restitution in both cases. I believe the second case it was $1,200, the restitution that was owed.
Additionally, for the Court’s information, Mr. Dustin Guilbeau had surgery for a brain tumor on February 8, 2010. He is still under the care of a physician for that particular illness. Dr. Anil Nanda in Shreveport, and there’s a possibility that he will be going back to— back to surgery on that particular illness. Given Mr. Dustin Guilbeau’s — I’m not going to say he wasn’t involved, Your Honor, but the extent of his involvement of the more serious offense, his ability to pay restitution, and the fact that he’s a first time offender, we would ask that the Court consider a probation sentence for Mr. Dustin Guilbeau.
THE COURT: He’s not a first time offender.
MR. NEUMANN: A first time felony offender, Your Honor.
THE COURT: This guy’s a fighter. I mean, he really is.
MR. NEUMANN: I understand that, Your Honor.
THE COURT: He really loves to fight.
MR. NEUMANN: He and his brothers do seem to get involved, Your Hon- or.
THE COURT: Yes.

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State v. Guilbeau, 71 So. 3d 1020, 11 La.App. 3 Cir. 99, 2011 La. App. LEXIS 808, 2011 WL 2462935 (La. Ct. App. 2011).

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