State v. Hargrove

522 So. 2d 1369, 1988 La. App. LEXIS 389, 1988 WL 26911
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 30, 1988
DocketNo. 19521-KA
StatusPublished

This text of 522 So. 2d 1369 (State v. Hargrove) 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. Hargrove, 522 So. 2d 1369, 1988 La. App. LEXIS 389, 1988 WL 26911 (La. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

SEXTON, Judge.

The defendant, Cedric D. Hargrove, pled guilty to misdemeanor concealment of a weapon and was sentenced to thirty days in jail. The state subsequently filed a bill of information charging Hargrove with illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:95.1 as the defendant had been convicted of aggravated rape in 1974. The defendant filed a motion to quash on the grounds of double jeopardy but was denied relief. The defendant pled guilty to attempted possession of a firearm by a convicted felon but reserved his right to appeal pursuant to State v. Crosby, 338 So.2d 584 (La.1976). He was sentenced to fifty-four months at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence and fined $500. Defendant appeals the denial of the motion to quash based on the claim of double jeopardy. We affirm the conviction.

FACTS

Defendant, Cedric D. Hargrove, was convicted by jury trial on December 5,1974 for aggravated rape. His original death sentence was vacated, and on January 7, 1977, he was sentenced to twenty years in prison. He was released iron Angola after receiving a good time discharge on January 12, 1986. On February 26, 1987, defendant was arrested by an officer of the West Monroe Police Department on a warrant for contempt of court. At that time, defendant was found to be concealing on his person a .22 caliber pistol with eight live rounds and one spent round. The defendant, charged with carrying a concealed weapon, pled guilty to this misdemeanor offense in Ouachita Parish district court. The state subsequently discovered the aggravated rape conviction and filed the instant bill of information for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon on March 23, 1987 in the same court. The defendant filed a motion to quash, and he subsequently pled guilty reserving his right to appeal. The sole issue on appeal is the propriety of the denial of the motion to quash based upon defendant’s claim of double jeopardy.

No person shall twice be placed in jeopardy of life or liberty for the same offense. U.S. Constitutional Amendment Y; LSA-Const. Art. 1, § 15 (1974). 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.

As can be seen from only a slight glance at the exhaustive official revision comment to this article, the question of the definition of double jeopardy has long troubled American jurisprudence. The comment, too exhaustive to quote here, discusses at length the “same evidence” test and the “same transaction” test which were apparently thought to be the two premiere theories at the time of the adoption of the Code of Criminal Procedure in 1966. As the comment further notes, both tests had been severely criticized. The comment further notes that the redactors specifically declined to adopt or specify either test as the appropriate standard.

Difficulty determining which is the correct standard and the application thereof has also plagued Louisiana jurisprudence. As the Chief Justice pointed out in State v. Knowles, 392 So.2d 651 (La.1980), Louisi[1371]*1371ana was then applying both the “same evidence” test and the Blockburger test. The “same evidence” test was stated as:

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 indictment would have been sufficient to support the former indictment, double jeopardy prohibits the second prosecution.

State v. Knowles, supra, at 654 (citation omitted).

The Chief Justice seems to have then favored the Blockburger test, however, because he explained that test as follows:

Whether two offenses are the same for the purposes of double jeopardy is determined by the test established in Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 304, 52 S.Ct. 180, 182, 76 L.Ed. 306, 309 (1932):
“... The applicable rule is that where the same act or transaction constitutes a violation of two distinct statutory provisions, the test to be applied to determine whether there are two offenses or only one, is whether each provision requires proof of an additional fact which the other does not....”

State v. Knowles, supra, at 654.

Justice Watson has suggested that the “same evidence” test is broader in concept than Blockburger because “the central idea [is] that one should not be punished (or put in jeopardy) twice for the same course of conduct.” State v. Steele, 387 So.2d 1175, 1177 (La.1980). Knowles, however, of slightly later vintage than Steele, did not resolve the conflict as the Chief Justice incisively resolved the issue there in favor of the defendant based on the concept of collateral estoppel set forth in Ashe v. Swenson, 397 U.S. 436, 90 S.Ct. 1189, 25 L.Ed.2d 469 (1970).1 However, he later discussed the Blockburger test in favorable terms in his concurrence to State v. Fontenot, 408 So.2d 919 (La.1982), Dixon, C.J. concurring at 921. It should be noted that Fontenot, authored by Judge-Justice Ad Hoc Garrison with two other court of appeal judges serving ad hoc, resolved the question of double jeopardy against the defendant on the basis of Blockburger. As Justices Calogero and Lemmon, who were not on the original panel, concurred in the denial of the rehearing on the basis of the concurrence of the Chief Justice, it would appear that they also favored the Blockburger test.

Judge-Justice Ad Hoc Lobrano observed in State v. Vaughn, 431 So.2d 763 (La.1983), that both the Blockburger test and the “same evidence” test were still viable at that time. However, the case was resolved in the favor of the defendant in a plurality opinion using the “same evidence” test. Justice Watson likewise resolved State v. Holmes, 475 So.2d 1057 (La.1985), also a purality opinion, in favor of the defendant on the basis of the “same evidence” test. However, Justice Dennis earlier that year used the Blockburger test to find double jeopardy in State v. Dubaz, 468 So.2d 554 (La.1985).

To our knowledge, Dubaz and Holmes, the 1985 pair, are the only Supreme Court opinions subsequent to the 1983 Vaughn (which had a panel that included three ad hoc court of appeal judges) which have dealt with double jeopardy.

The language of Holmes was subscribed to by three justices, Justice Watson (the author), the Chief Justice and Justice Calogero. Justice Blanche concurred without reasons.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Blockburger v. United States
284 U.S. 299 (Supreme Court, 1931)
Ashe v. Swenson
397 U.S. 436 (Supreme Court, 1970)
State v. Crosby
338 So. 2d 584 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1976)
State v. Vaughn
431 So. 2d 763 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1983)
State v. Knowles
392 So. 2d 651 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1980)
State v. Didier
263 So. 2d 322 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1972)
State v. Steele
387 So. 2d 1175 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1980)
State v. Holmes
475 So. 2d 1057 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1985)
State v. Dubaz
468 So. 2d 554 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1985)
State v. Fontenot
408 So. 2d 919 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1981)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
522 So. 2d 1369, 1988 La. App. LEXIS 389, 1988 WL 26911, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hargrove-lactapp-1988.