State v. KENNISTON

976 So. 2d 226, 2008 WL 239953
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 16, 2008
Docket2007-KA-0849
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 976 So. 2d 226 (State v. KENNISTON) 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. KENNISTON, 976 So. 2d 226, 2008 WL 239953 (La. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

976 So.2d 226 (2008)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Shawn KENNISTON.

No. 2007-KA-0849.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

January 16, 2008.

Eddie J. Jordan, Jr., District Attorney, Graham L. Bosworth, Assistant District Attorney, New Orleans, LA, for State of Louisiana, Appellee.

Christopher A. Aberle, Louisiana Appellate Project, Mandeville, LA, for Shawn Kenniston, Appellant.

(Court composed of Judge JAMES F. McKAY, III, Judge MICHAEL E. KIRBY, Judge MAX N. TOBIAS, JR.)

MAX N. TOBIAS, JR., Judge.

On 1 July 2004, the state filed a bill of information charging the defendant/ appellant, Shawn Kenniston ("Kenniston"), with one count of violating La. R.S. 14:202 relative to misapplication of funds received by *227 a contractor and intended for payment of materials and labor. He was arraigned and entered a not guilty plea on,30 July 2004. The court set a diversion review hearing for 26 Augusit 2004. At the diversion hearing, Kenniston appeared and changed his plea to guilty as charged. He waived sentencing delays, and the court sentenced him to four years at hard labor. The court then suspended that sentence and placed him on probation for four years. The court imposed specific conditions, including that Kenniston pay restitution to the victim in the amount of $20,000.00 and fines and fees of $750.00 to the Judicial Expense Fund at Criminal District Court, $100.00 to the Indigent Defender Program, and court costs of $190.50. A payment status hearing was set for 20 September 2004.

When Kenniston appeared, the court granted an extension until 15 October 2004, but he failed to appear on the 15th. The court issued an alias capias for his arrest. Kenniston subsequently appeared on 4 February 2005 at which time the court recalled the capias. He paid $600.00, but failed to appear at the next payment status hearing, set for 18 March 2005. The court issued another capias for his arrest.

In September 2006 the state filed a motion and order to revoke Kenniston's probation. The court set a hearing on the motion for 13 October 2006, directing further that notices be given to the defendant both in person and by U.S. mail. On October 13, Kenniston appeared for a hearing on the rule to show cause. The court revoked his probation and ordered that the original four-year sentence be made executory. On 17 November 2006, Kenniston through counsel filed a written motion to reconsider the sentence, which the court set for hearing on 19 January 2007. The hearing was subsequently reset, and on 23 January 2007 the state filed a written response to the motion. On 5 March 2007, the court denied the motion to reconsider sentence. On 9 March 2007 Kenniston filed a motion for an appeal, which the court granted.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

Because the defendant entered a guilty plea, no trial transcript exists from which the facts can be gleaned. Furthermore, because this appeal is from the denial of the motion to reconsider the sentence, the facts are not critical to a review of the issue presented. We note that the record contains a copy of the arrest warrant issued for Kenniston in which the underlying facts are recited.

Kenniston was hired in April 2003 to perform repairs to a home owned by Ms. Cora Shy. He began the job, although little progress was evident. He requested money from Ms. Shy to purchase materials and to reimburse him for materials he allegedly had already purchased. Over time, Kenniston presented Ms. Shy with several invoices purportedly issued by Home Depot; she gave him money to pay the invoices, which were later discovered in the police investigation to be quotes for materials, not invoices. When Ms. Shy inquired about where the purchased materials were, Kenniston told her that he was storing the materials at his residence in Mississippi. Overall, Ms. Shy gave Kenniston a total of twelve checks amounting to $20,600.00.

In August 2003, Kenniston failed to return to Ms. Shy's house to perform work as scheduled. When she contacted him, he claimed that he had been ill. Thereafter, all of her attempts to contact him were unsuccessful, and he never returned to Ms. Shy's property. Ms. Shy notified the police, and the investigation by Detective Martin resulted in the warrant for Kenniston's arrest being issued on 28 April 2004.

*228 DISCUSSION

Before addressing the merits of the assignment of error raised by the appellant, we note procedural issues. The first issue is whether the judgment at issue is appealable. In its caption, the pleading which the court denied was identified as a motion to reconsider the sentence. The sentence that Kenniston wished reconsidered was the sentence which was made executory upon the revocation of his probation. However, Louisiana courts have consistently held that no appeal lies from the revocation of probation; instead direct review is only by the court's supervisory jurisdiction. See State ex rel. Clavelle, 02-1244 (La.12/12/03), 861 So.2d 186[1]; State v. Allen, 00-1859, p. 13 (La.App. 4 Cir. 5/9/01), 794 So.2d 25, 32; State v. Oswald, 41,737 (La.App. 2 Cir. 8/31/05), 936 So.2d 319; State v. Franks, 04-1208 (LaApp. 5 Cir. 4/26/05), 902 So.2d 450. When a defendant seeks relief from a probation revocation by an appeal, this court has treated the appeal as an application for supervisory review. State v. Allen, supra. However, the Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal has decided not to convert an improperly filed appeal into a supervisory writ. State v. Franks, p. 3, 902 So.2d at 451. In Franks the state was the appellant and was seeking reversal of the trial court's decision to reduce the defendant's term of imprisonment at the time of the probation revocation. The state argued that the trial court lacked authority to amend the original sentence imposed but suspended. The court dismissed the state's appeal, but ordered that the state be granted thirty days in which to file an application for a supervisory writ of review.

In contrast to the policy of the Fifth Circuit, this court as a matter of judicial efficiency converts an appeal from a probation revocation to a supervisory writ. See Allen and Dorset. Converting this appeal to a supervisory writ does not end the inquiry into procedural issues in this case, however. The next issue is whether the motion to reconsider the sentence that Kenniston filed was timely filed.

The record establishes that the written motion to reconsider was filed on 27 November 2006. The minute entries fail to show that an oral motion to reconsider was made. Instead, the 13 October 2006 minute entry states that, after the court revoked Kenniston's probation and made the original sentence executory, a "motion to correct illegal sent [sic] in this matter is set for 10/27/06." The record next reflects that on 27 October 2006 defense counsel appeared without the defendant, "for motion to correct illegal sent [sic];" the court then continued the matter without date. Thus, as of 27 October 2006, we find neither a motion to reconsider sentence nor a motion to correct an illegal sentence had been filed or made, either orally or in writing. If one or both had been filed or made, it would have been inappropriate for the court to have continued the matter without date. It appears therefore that, instead of orally making any motions at the time of the probation revocation, defense counsel merely indicated that he intended to file a motion to correct an illegal sentence at a future date. However, no motion to correct an illegal sentence was ever filed into the record. *229

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Bluebook (online)
976 So. 2d 226, 2008 WL 239953, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-kenniston-lactapp-2008.