State v. Hudnall

480 So. 2d 933, 1985 La. App. LEXIS 10455
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 4, 1985
DocketNo. 17436-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 480 So. 2d 933 (State v. Hudnall) 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. Hudnall, 480 So. 2d 933, 1985 La. App. LEXIS 10455 (La. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

HALL, Chief Judge.

Defendant, Troy A. Hudnall, was charged by bill of information with the crime of theft of livestock in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:67.1. The defendant pled nolo contendere to the charge, reserving the right as authorized by State v. Crosby, 338 So.2d 584 (La.1976) to appeal the trial court’s denial of a motion to quash. The trial court sentenced the defendant to a term of imprisonment of two years at hard labor and a fine of $250.00. The court suspended imposition of the term of imprisonment and placed the defendant on supervised probation.

On appeal, defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to quash which was grounded on the basis that LSA-R.S. 14:67.1 does not provide a definition of “domesticated deer” and is therefore unconstitutionally vague and overbroad. The defendant also contends that the trial court erred in imposing an unconstitutionally excessive sentence. Finding no error, the conviction and sentence are affirmed.

FACTS

Sometime between sunset on November 27,-1984 and sunrise the next morning the defendant and another person, Randy W. Duck, killed and removed a deer which Richard Reeves of Claiborne Parish had kept in a pen behind his residence as a pet for approximately ten years. Several days after the deer was found missing from the Reeves’ residence, the defendant’s mother took the deer head to a taxidermy shop and stated that she wanted Troy Hudnall’s name put on the mount of the deer head and also wanted the tag to read “killed 11-27-84, first deer.” On December 13, 1984 the defendant was arrested by officers of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and gave a written statement admitting his involvement in the present offense.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER 1— MOTION TO QUASH

By this assignment, the defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to quash which was grounded on the basis that LSA-R.S. 14:67.1 is unconstitutionally vague and overbroad as it pertains to “domesticated deer.”

Defendant contends that “domesticated deer” as set forth in subsection B of LSA-R.S. 14:67.1 is vague and ambiguous such that persons of ordinary intelligence cannot determine what conduct is criminal under the statute. Specifically, defendant contends that one cannot determine, under the Criminal Code, when a wild animal belonging to no one becomes susceptible to private ownership and susceptible to theft. In support of defendant’s argument defendant points out that the Louisiana Civil Code has set forth a scheme of distinguishing between wild animals, tamed wild animals, and domestic animals under LSA-C.C. Arts. 3413-3417; however, the Louisiana Criminal Code fails to set forth such a scheme which would put persons on notice of when a wild animal becomes subject to private ownership.

The crime of theft of livestock is set forth in LSA-R.S. 14:67.1 which provides in pertinent part:

A. Theft of livestock is the misappropriation or taking of livestock belonging to another, either without the consent of the other to the misappropriation or taking, or by means of fraudulent conduct, practices, or representations. An intent to deprive the other permanently of the livestock is essential. It shall not be necessary to prove defendants killed the animal; the mere taking of meat from the animal shall constitute theft hereunder. Transportation of livestock to a slaughterhouse or an auction sale barn and assignment in a record book in a name other than that of the owner shall also be theft of livestock. An intent to deprive the owner permanently of funds derived from sale is essential.
B. “Livestock” means any animal, hybrid, mixture, or mutation of the species [936]*936of horses, mules, donkeys, asses, cattle, swine, sheep, goats, domesticated deer, buffalo, bison, beefalo, or oxen. (Emphasis added)

The due process clauses of the United States Constitution and the Louisiana Constitution of 1974 require that a penal statute define a criminal offense with sufficient definiteness that ordinary people can understand what conduct is prohibited. U.S.Const.Amend. 14; LSA Const. Art. 1, § 2; Kolender v. Lawson, 461 U.S. 352, 103 S.Ct. 1855, 75 L.Ed.2d 903 (1983); Papaschristou v. City of Jacksonville, 405 U.S. 156, 92 S.Ct. 839, 31 L.Ed.2d 110 (1972); State v. Dousay, 378 So.2d 414 (La.1979); State v. Lindsey, 310 So.2d 89 (La.1975). Similarly, the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and LSA Const. Art. 1, § 13 require that an accused person be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against him. In sum, the state and federal constitutions require that a criminal enactment first give individual citizens adequate notice of what conduct is criminal and secondly require that accused persons be informed of the “nature and cause” of an offense charged.

Every statute is presumed constitutional, and the burden of clearly establishing its unconstitutionality rests upon the party attacking it. State v. Skinner, 358 So.2d 280 (La.1978); State v. Robertson, 464 So.2d 760 (La.App. 1st Cir.1984). A statute should be given a genuine construction in accordance with a fair import of the words taken in their usual sense in connection with the context. State v. Heck, 307 So.2d 332 (La.1975). A detailed specification of the various ways in which the crime can be committed is not required to sustain the constitutionality of a penal statute; it suffices that the phraseology has a well known or commonly understood meaning. State v. Dousay, supra. State v. Gisclair, 363 So.2d 696 (La.1978).

The term “domesticated deer” as used in subsection B of LSA-R.S. 14:67.1 is not vague, overbroad, or ambiguous. A penal statute need only define a criminal offense with sufficient definiteness that persons of ordinary intelligence may understand what act is criminal and accused persons are on notice of the nature and cause of the offense charged.

LSA-R.S. 14:67.1 prohibits the taking of livestock belonging to another without consent. Under LSA-C.C. Arts. 3415 and 3416 wild animals in enclosures and tamed wild animals are privately owned. A domesticated deer constitutes “livestock” under the statute. The word “domesticate” has been defined as “to adapt to life in intimate association with or to the advantage of man,” Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, (1971), and to “tame,” The Random House Dictionary, (1966). A person of ordinary intelligence would understand that a “domesticated deer” includes a tamed deer raised as a pet in a pen behind someone’s home, such as in the present case.

This assignment of error is without merit.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NUMBER 2

By this assignment, defendant contends that the trial court erred in imposing an unconstitutionally excessive sentence. Under LSA-R.S. 14:67.1 C, whoever commits the crime of theft of livestock may be fined not more than $5,000.00 and/or imprisoned with or without hard labor for not more than ten years. In the present case, the court sentenced the defendant to a term of imprisonment of two years at hard labor and a fine of $250.00.

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Bluebook (online)
480 So. 2d 933, 1985 La. App. LEXIS 10455, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hudnall-lactapp-1985.