State v. Lawson

885 So. 2d 618, 2004 WL 2170257
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 28, 2004
Docket04-KA-334
StatusPublished
Cited by121 cases

This text of 885 So. 2d 618 (State v. Lawson) 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. Lawson, 885 So. 2d 618, 2004 WL 2170257 (La. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

885 So.2d 618 (2004)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Nick LAWSON.

No. 04-KA-334.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

September 28, 2004.

*620 Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Terry M. Boudreaux, Assistant District Attorney, Gretna, LA, for Plaintiff/Appellee.

Bruce G. Whittaker, Louisiana Appellate Project, New Orleans, LA, for Defendant/Appellant.

Panel composed of Judges EDWARD A. DUFRESNE, JR., SOL GOTHARD, and THOMAS F. DALEY.

THOMAS F. DALEY, Judge.

The defendant has appealed his six-year sentence as a second felony offender for his conviction of one count of battery on a correctional facility employee and two counts of simple battery. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the sentence and remand this matter to the trial court with instructions.

FACTS:

The defendant, Nick Lawson, was charged with three counts of battery upon three different correctional facility employees while detained in jail, violations of LSA-R.S. 14:34.5. He proceeded to trial before a six-person jury.

At approximately 6:15 or 6:30 a.m. on April 7, 2002, defendant was in a temporary holding cell in the intake booking area of the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center. Deputy Louis Ancar testified that the defendant was belligerent and yelling when he was first brought into the jail. Defendant was not yet processed for booking when he requested to use the restroom. Deputy Mark Layrisson, the processing officer, testified that he told the defendant that he needed to wait until he had been processed because the restroom was located in an area of the jail where certain items could not be taken. Deputy Layrisson testified that when he told defendant he would need to wait, defendant urinated through the mesh siding of the temporary cell onto the floor.

Deputy Ancar, who was nearby, testified that he saw defendant urinating on the floor. Deputies Ancar and Layrisson decided to remove defendant from the cell. After Deputy Ancar opened the door, both he and Deputy Layrisson requested defendant to exit the cell. According to Deputy Ancar, defendant said that if they wanted him to come out, they would have to drag him out. Deputy Joaquin Campoy testified that he was approximately eight to ten feet away from defendant's cell, heard the commotion, and went to investigate. As Deputy Campoy approached, defendant threw his shoes into the puddle of urine, which splashed on all three officers.

According to Deputy Campoy, defendant was aggressive and cursing while in the back of the holding cell. Deputy Campoy entered the cell and told the defendant that he needed to exit the cell, but defendant raised his fists and told the officer that he would have to "come in and get me." Thereafter, defendant struck Deputy Campoy in the left jaw. Deputy Campoy *621 and Deputy Ancar were able to remove defendant from the cell. As the officers and defendant exited the cell, they were shoved into Deputy Layrisson, who was standing outside of the cell.

The scuffle continued on the floor and defendant was ultimately subdued and handcuffed. Defendant was processed and placed in an isolation cell. Defendant subsequently filed a complaint against the officers for battery.

Deputy Campoy sustained a cut on his arm during the incident and Deputy Ancar sustained "[m]inor scrapes and bruises." Deputy Layrisson said that he was shoved against the wall when the officers and defendant exited the cell and that defendant's "swinging hands ... brushed" against him.

At the conclusion of trial, the jury found defendant guilty as charged to count one, which involved correctional employee, Deputy Joaquin Campoy. The jury returned responsive verdicts of guilty of simple battery on counts two and three, which involved correctional employees, Deputies Mark Layrisson and Louis Ancar, respectively.

After denying defendant's Motion for New Trial, the trial judge sentenced defendant on April 10, 2003 to five years of imprisonment with the "Department of Corrections" on count one. The trial judge also imposed sentences of six months each on counts two and three to be served with the "Department of Corrections," with all three of the sentences to be served concurrently with each other.[1] That same day, the State filed a multiple offender Bill of Information seeking to enhance defendant's sentence for battery on a correctional facility employee. The multiple bill was based on two prior convictions of distribution of cocaine (1991 and 1990), and the crime of "federal bank robbery" (1979). Defendant denied the allegations therein.

At the February 2, 2004 multiple offender hearing, the trial judge found defendant to be a second felony offender and sentenced defendant to six years "with the Department of Corrections."[2]

LAW AND DISCUSSION:

In his sole specific Assignment of Error, the defendant argues that the trial court imposed an excessive sentence. He contends that his five-year sentence for "battery of a police officer" is unconstitutionally excessive. Defendant also asserts that a "six[-]year sentence as a second offender, with a predicate conviction for the non-violent offense of distribution of cocaine, is likewise extreme and unwarranted." Defendant does not contest the validity of his conviction for battery of a correctional facility employee.

The State does not address defendant's original five-year sentence, but responds that his enhanced sentence was not excessive.

Initially, it is noted that defendant was convicted of violating LSA-R.S. 14:34.5, battery of a correctional facility employee, not LSA-R.S. 14:34.2, battery of *622 a police officer.[3] Additionally, the five-year sentence imposed by the trial court on April 10, 2003 for battery of a correctional facility employee was vacated on February 2, 2004 after a multiple offender hearing, at which time a six-year enhanced sentence was imposed. The defendant's argument relating to his original sentence is moot, since that sentence no longer exists. See, State v. Hanson, 00-1168 (La.App. 5 Cir. 12/13/00), 778 So.2d 43, 45.

Next, it is noted that defendant did not object in the trial court to the enhanced sentence as excessive nor did he make or file a Motion to Reconsider the Sentence. According to LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 881.1(B), a motion for reconsideration "shall be oral at the time of sentence or shall be in writing thereafter and shall set forth the specific grounds on which the motion is based." According to LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 881.1(E),

Failure to make or file a motion to reconsider sentence or to include a specific ground upon which a motion to reconsider sentence may be based, including a claim of excessiveness, shall preclude the State or the defendant from raising an objection to the sentence or from urging any ground not raised in the motion on appeal or review.

Nevertheless, this Court has reviewed a defendant's constitutional challenge of a sentence even in the absence of a Motion to Reconsider Sentence. State v. Pendelton, 00-1211 (La.App. 5 Cir. 3/14/01), 783 So.2d 459, 465, writ denied, 01-1242 (La.1/25/02), 807 So.2d 243. The failure to file a Motion to Reconsider Sentence, or to state specific grounds upon which the motion is based, merely limits a defendant to a bare review of the sentence for constitutional excessiveness. Id.

In accordance with our prior jurisprudence, the defendant's claim of constitutional excessiveness regarding his enhanced sentence is addressed.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
885 So. 2d 618, 2004 WL 2170257, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-lawson-lactapp-2004.