State v. Jackson

895 So. 2d 695, 2005 La. App. LEXIS 533, 2005 WL 475386
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 2, 2005
DocketNo. 39,515-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 895 So. 2d 695 (State v. Jackson) 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. Jackson, 895 So. 2d 695, 2005 La. App. LEXIS 533, 2005 WL 475386 (La. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

JjDOLLEY, J.

This criminal appeal arises from the First Judicial District Court, Parish of Caddo, State of Louisiana. Robert Jackson, III was convicted of the illegal use of a weapon by discharging a firearm in a crime of violence, adjudicated a habitual offender, and sentenced to 17 years at hard labor. Jackson appealed. His conviction was affirmed, but his adjudication as a habitual offender and his sentence were overturned. On remand, Jackson was again adjudicated a habitual offender and again sentenced to 17 years at hard labor. He filed a pro se appeal. For the following reasons, Jackson’s adjudication as a habitual offender and his sentence are affirmed.

Facts

This appeal stems from a March 10, 1999, incident where Jackson, armed with a shotgun, shot off the front door lock of the home of Jack George, the father of Jackson’s ex-girlfriend. George’s daughter and Jackson’s child were also in the home. After shooting the door open, Jackson went into the home, and shot at the unarmed George. The wounded George was able to take the shotgun away from Jackson. Jackson, unarmed, then fled the home and was arrested a few days later. He gave a statement admitting his guilt to the offense.

Jackson was charged with the unauthorized use of a weapon by discharging a firearm while committing a crime of violence, aggravated battery, a violation of La. R.S. 14:94(F). Jackson filed numerous pro se pleadings and went through several court-appointed counsel, until a January 2002 bench trial wherein Jackson represented himself, with an appointed | ¿‘standby” counsel to assist him when needed. The trial court found Jackson guilty as charged.

After the conviction, the state filed a habitual offender bill of information, alleging Jackson to be a second felony offender. The predicate offense was a 1997 conviction for illegal use of a weapon by discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle, in violation of La. R.S. 14:94(E). Jackson filed a pro se motion for new trial and for post-verdict judgment of acquittal, together with various other pleadings in support of the two motions. During the hearing on the matters, Jackson also argued his waiver of counsel for trial was not adequate. During Jackson’s objections to the trial court’s rulings, he was found in contempt, removed from the courtroom, and the ha[698]*698bitual offender hearing was conducted in his absence. At the conclusion of the hearing, Jackson was adjudicated a second felony offender, and sentenced to 17 years at hard labor.

Jackson appealed his conviction and habitual offender sentence. In an unpublished opinion, this court affirmed the conviction, but reversed the contempt conviction, vacated the habitual offender adjudication, reversed the sentence, and remanded the matter. State v. Jackson, 37,244 (La.App.2d Cir.08/20/03)(unpublished), writ denied, 2003-2921 (La.02/13/04), 867 So.2d 687 (“Jackson I”).

On remand to the trial court, another habitual offender hearing was held, with Jackson represented by appointed counsel. Jackson’s counsel stipulated that he had a 1997 conviction for illegal use of a weapon by discharging a firearm from a vehicle. The state called Lieutenant Gary [¡¡Bass, with the Caddo Parish Sheriffs Office, who testified that he had taken Jackson’s fingerprints just prior to the hearing, and they matched the fingerprints on the bill of information in the prior conviction. The trial court adjudicated Jackson a second felony offender. He waived sentencing delays, and the trial court again sentenced him to 17 years at hard labor. This appeal followed.

Discussion

In his first two assignments of error, Jackson argues that he was not provided adequate tools to allow him to represent himself at trial, and that he was not fully advised of the risks prior to waiving his right to counsel at trial. The state argues these issues were fully addressed in Jackson I and cannot be raised again in this appeal.

The state is correct. In these two assignments of error, Jackson is asserting claims that were fully addressed by this court in Jackson I. In fact, these two assignments of error are virtually identical to assignments of error asserted in Jackson’s first appeal. This state’s constitution and laws do not provide for a second, direct appeal. Once an appeal court renders judgment, and that judgment becomes final, the criminal defendant no longer has a right to appeal the decision, but is limited to seeking supervisory review. La. C. Cr. P. art. 912.1(C)(1); La. C. Cr. P. art. 922. Thereafter, a defendant is limited to seeking post conviction relief. La. C. Cr. P. art. 924, et seq.; State v. Counterman, 475 So.2d 336 (La.1985).

In the present case, Jackson’s conviction became final 14 days after the supreme court denied his writ application on February 13, 2004. This |4court cannot reconsider the assignments of error relating to his trial and conviction that have already been conclusively determined by this court and the Louisiana Supreme Court. These assignments are therefore without merit.

In his third assignment of error, Jackson argues his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate flaws in his predicate offense. Specifically, Jackson argues that his trial counsel was ineffective at the habitual offender hearing for failing to investigate the facts surrounding the prior conviction. He maintains that an investigation would have revealed that he was not on his medication at the time of his guilty plea in the prior conviction. Further, Jackson argues that although he pled guilty in the prior conviction, he did not commit the crime. Instead he contends that it was his uncle, who, when in Jackson’s car, shot at the house, not him. Finally, Jackson urges that his trial counsel failed to show mitigating factors such as the fact that he was supporting an eight-year-old child, he was a certified paralegal, [699]*699and that he “continues to indulge in temporal arts of screen-writing.”

Jackson’s claims would be more appropriately asserted in a petition for post conviction relief where, if the trial court saw fit, new evidence could be taken. Ordinarily, a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel is more properly presented in an application for post conviction relief because it generally requires additional evidence for resolution of the claim, and post conviction relief allows a format for receiving such evidence. State v. Milligan, 28,-660 (La.App.2d Cir.12/11/96), 685 So.2d 1127, writ denied, |597-0379 (La.06/30/97), 696 So.2d 1005. In the interest of judicial economy, however, issues may be resolved on direct appeal if the record contains sufficient evidence pertaining to the matter. Id. The instant record does allow this court to review Jackson’s assignment.

The right of a defendant in a criminal proceeding to the effective assistance of counsel is mandated by the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. State v. Moore, 38,444 (La.App.2d Cir.06/23/04), 877 So.2d 1027. A claim of ineffectiveness of counsel is analyzed under the two-prong test developed by the United States Supreme Court in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984).

To establish that his attorney was ineffective, the defendant first must show that counsel’s performance was deficient.

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Bluebook (online)
895 So. 2d 695, 2005 La. App. LEXIS 533, 2005 WL 475386, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-jackson-lactapp-2005.