State v. Hudnall

522 So. 2d 616, 1988 WL 17180
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 3, 1988
DocketKA-7838
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 522 So. 2d 616 (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, 522 So. 2d 616, 1988 WL 17180 (La. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

522 So.2d 616 (1988)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Jerry D. HUDNALL.

No. KA-7838.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

March 3, 1988.

*618 William Guste, Atty. Gen., Darryl W. Bubrig, Sr., Dist. Atty., Pointe-A-La-Hache, Gilbert V. Andry, III, Asst. Dist. Atty., New Orleans, for plaintiff.

Nelson L. Burchfield, Metairie, for defendant.

Before BARRY, ARMSTRONG and PLOTKIN, JJ.

BARRY, Judge.

The defendant was charged with six counts of malfeasance in office. La.R.S. 14:134(2) and (3). He was convicted on all counts and sentenced to concurrent five year terms at hard labor on each count. The sentence was suspended and he was placed on five years active probation pursuant to specified conditions.

The defendant appeals arguing eight assignments of error: (1) and (2) sustaining the State's answer to Paragraph 1 of his application for bill of particulars and denying his motion to quash on vagueness; (3) denial of his motion to quash on grounds of lack of specificity and misjoinder of offenses; (4) permitting Walter Bono, Jr. to testify as to alleged payroll padding which is not within the scope of the information as amplified by the bill of particulars; (5) and (6) denial of his motion for a mistrial based on the State's failure to disclose exculpatory material; (7) denial of his motion for mistrial based on the State's closing argument; (8) imposition of an unusually harsh sentence. The assignments of error (purportedly 12) filed in the district court are not in the record. The defendant listed only the above eight in his brief. Those assignments not briefed or argued are deemed abandoned. Uniform Rules of Courts of Appeal Rule 2-12.4.

FACTS

The defendant was Superintendent of the Plaquemines Parish Belle Chasse ferry. During 1982-1984 he allegedly instructed several parish employees on various occasions to siphon diesel fuel and motor oil from the ferry and transport it in a parish vehicle to his privately owned shrimp boat, and to do repair and maintenance work on his boat during working hours. The defendant did not pay the employees for those services nor was their parish pay reduced by the hours spent on the boat. Six Parish employees who worked under the defendant's supervision in 1982-84, Carrol Freeney, Walter Bono, Vincent DiCarlo, Perry DiCarlo, Wirt Bergeron, and Ben Mistich, testified to the activities. The relief ferry boat captain in 1982-84, Wayne Blair, testified that he made six entries in his log book of incidents of siphoning from the ferry boat's fuel for the defendant's use from July, 1982 to November, 1983 by members of the maintenance crew. Robert Fontenelle, Parish Purchasing Agent, stated the defendant did not reimburse the Parish for the materials or services.

The defense witness, Chad Klees, an employee named in Count 3 of the bill of information, testified that he did work on the defendant's boat, but not during regular working hours. He stated the defendant personally paid him in cash for those services. He knew nothing of others working for the defendant during working hours.

*619 ASSIGNMENTS 1 AND 2

The defendant argues the court erred by sustaining the State's answer to his application for a bill of particulars and denial of his motion to quash. Paragraph I of the particulars requests:

On what date and at what time and place did the defendant allegedly commit the offenses with which he is charged and specifically the dates, times and the particulars regarding quantity on each of the acts contained in the six count bill of information?
The State answered:
All acts occurred in the Belle Chasse area. This was an on-going offense and occurred between August, 1982 and the later part of August, 1984.

The trial court maintained the answer as sufficient and defense objected. Meanwhile, the motion to quash alleged that Counts 3 and 6 of the information were not based on the same act or transaction or part of the scheme of the other counts. Counts 3 and 6 relate to the Parish employees doing repairs and maintenance on the boat during May, 1983 (Count 3) and August, 1983 (Count 6). The other four counts referred to the defendant directing the employees to take fuel for transfer to his boat. In a supplemental motion to quash it was alleged that the bill was vague and failed to specify exact dates, times and places when the offenses occurred. The motions were denied. We denied writs. No. K-4577.

After a hearing on the bill of particulars the defendant orally moved to quash based on vagueness, then followed with a written motion which was denied. His application for writs was denied. No. K-5539. The defendant argues that the amount of fuel should be specified to determine the number of incidents involved. He claims he could not identify each transaction from the information and bill of particulars. We disagree.

Under La. Const. Art. I, § 13 the accused shall be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against him. La.C.Cr.P. Art. 484 provides for a bill of particulars to inform the defendant of the nature and scope of the offense charged. The defendant should know the scope of the criminal activity so that he can properly defend against the charges. State v. Rogers, 375 So.2d 1304 (La.1979). There is no formula regarding the information the State must make available. The extent to which particulars are granted depends on the nature and complexity of the case. State v. Miller, 319 So.2d 339 (La.1975). The court has wide discretion to determine the sufficiency of the State's answers. Reversible error occurs when there is a failure to provide information on the cause of the accusation. State v. Atkins, 360 So.2d 1341 (La.1978), cert. denied 441 U.S. 927, 99 S.Ct. 2041, 60 L.Ed.2d 402 (1979).

Counts 2, 4 and 5 refer to specific quantities of oil and fuel. Count 2 specifies "two fifty-five gallon drums of diesel fuel." Count 4 refers to diesel fuel "between 300 and 500 gallons, and the amount of motor oil was between 50 and 55 gallons." Count 5 specifies "55 gallons of diesel fuel." Count 1 refers to several occasions when Wirt J. Bergeron, Walter Bono and Carrol Freeney were "to take fifty-five gallon drums of diesel fuel" and place it in the defendant's truck along with "four to five gallons of motor oil". Counts 3 and 6 relate to repair and maintenance work by named parish employees which is discussed in assignments 4 and 5. We find the counts set forth the crime charged with specificity.

The defendant also complains of vagueness as to the date of each count, however, that is not an essential element of a malfeasance charge. The date and time of the commission of the offense need not be alleged in the information unless it is essential to the charge. La.C.Cr.P. Art. 468; State v. Glover, 304 So.2d 348 (La.1974); State v. Guin, 444 So.2d 625 (La.App. 3rd Cir.1983). The information must set forth with certainty, clarity and particularity each and every essential element in order to inform the defendant of the nature of the accusation. State v. Fontenot, 256 La. 12, 235 So.2d 75 (1970).

*620 The six count bill clearly sets forth the "who, what and where" of the events constituting malfeasance. Time ranges have been found specific enough to allow a defendant to adequately prepare a defense when he was not surprised by dates withheld by the State and introduced at trial. State v. Cramer, 358 So.2d 1277 (La.1978), writs denied 362 So.2d 581 (La.1978).

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Bluebook (online)
522 So. 2d 616, 1988 WL 17180, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hudnall-lactapp-1988.