State v. LeBlanc

367 So. 2d 335
CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana
DecidedJanuary 29, 1979
Docket62770
StatusPublished
Cited by34 cases

This text of 367 So. 2d 335 (State v. LeBlanc) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. LeBlanc, 367 So. 2d 335 (La. 1979).

Opinion

367 So.2d 335 (1979)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Jack LeBLANC, Jr.

No. 62770.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

January 29, 1979.

*336 Richard J. Bertrand, Lafayette, for defendant-relator.

William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., J. Nathan Stansbury, Dist. Atty., Ronald D. Cox, Asst. Dist. Atty., for the State.

DIXON, Justice.[*]

Petitioner, Jack LeBlanc, Jr., was charged by bill of information with willfully and intentionally resisting arrest by officers of the Lafayette Parish sheriff's office, in violation of R.S. 14:108. The petitioner was tried before a judge ad hoc, found guilty and sentenced to pay a fine of $25 plus costs and to serve thirty days in the parish jail. The jail term was suspended and petitioner was placed on one year unsupervised probation. This court granted writs to review petitioner's two assignments of error.

Assignment of Error No. 1

After the state rested its case, the defense moved for a judgment of acquittal which was denied and after the judge ad hoc ruled against the defendant, the defense made a motion for a new trial that was denied. When defense gave notice of intention to apply for writs, the judge ad hoc stayed the sentence pending the determination of the writs and prepared a narrative account of witnesses' testimony from notes he made during the trial because there was no recording of testimony at trial.

The defense contends that the judge ad hoc erred in denying his motion for a new trial when there was no evidence to support the finding of guilty. Defense argues that a recording and transcript should be available for judicial review rather than a narrative account. Defense contends that under Art. 1, § 19 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974 and subsequent legislative acts the entire record including recorded and transcribed testimony of all witnesses must be forwarded to the court for review unless defendant intelligently waived his constitutional right to judicial review based on the complete record. The state contends in response that defense counsel did not request recording of all proceedings pursuant to C.Cr.P. 843 which requires a motion from the court, state or defense before a recording will be made in misdemeanor cases.

*337 The defense contends that the requirement in C.Cr.P. 843 of a motion for recordation in a misdemeanor case conflicts with Art. 1, § 19 which grants the right of judicial review based on a complete record.

The right of judicial review based on a complete record of all the evidence is mandated by Art. 1, § 19 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974 which provides:

"No person shall be subjected to imprisonment or forfeiture of rights or property without the right of judicial review based upon a complete record of all evidence upon which the judgment is based. This right may be intelligently waived. The cost of transcribing the record shall be paid as provided by law."

However, before the adoption of the new Constitution, the Louisiana State Law Institute drafted C.Cr.P. 843 as part of a package to amend the Code of Criminal Procedure so as to eliminate provisions relating to bills of exception and instead to provide for assignment of error. C.Cr.P. 843 as amended by Acts 1974, No. 207 provided:

"On motion of the court, the state, or the defendant in misdemeanor cases in the district court in which the possible sentence may give the defendant the right to appeal, and in felony cases, the clerk or court stenographer shall record all of the proceedings, including the examination of prospective jurors, the testimony of witnesses, statements, rulings, orders, and charges by the court, and objections, questions, statements, and arguments of counsel." (Emphasis added).

A year later C.Cr.P. 843 was amended by Acts 1975, No. 118 § 1 and now provides:

"In felony cases, and on motion of the court, the state, or the defendant in misdemeanor cases tried in a district, parish, or city court, the clerk or court stenographer shall record all of the proceedings, including the examination of prospective jurors, the testimony of witnesses, statements, rulings, orders, and charges by the court, and objections, questions, statements, and arguments of counsel." (Emphasis added).

The second amendment deleted "in the district court in which the possible sentence may give the defendant the right to appeal" and added instead "tried in a district, parish, or city court."[1]

With this 1975 amendment the Louisiana State Law Institute added the Official Revision Comment as a replacement for Revision Comment to the old C.Cr.P. 843 bill of exception provisions. The new Official Revision Comment for C.Cr.P. 843 provides in part:

"(b) In misdemeanor cases in the district court in which the possible sentence may give the defendant the right to appeal, this article requires that all of the proceedings be recorded if the defendant, the state, or the court so moves. No such motion is required for recordation of the proceedings in felony cases.
The right in this article to require that all of the proceedings be recorded by the clerk or court stenographer in misdemeanor cases is related to the right to appeal. See Art. V, Section 5, Constitution of 1974. If Art. I, Section 19, Constitution of 1974 gives broader rights, the constitution will, of course, prevail." (Emphasis added).

In the present case the issue is whether the words "on motion of the court, the state, or *338 the defendant" are unconstitutionally restrictive because Art. 1, § 19 of the 1974 Louisiana Constitution gives broader rights.[2]

The basic wording of Art. 1, § 19 was first proposed at the Constitutional Convention of 1973 by Mr. Avant, who explained that certain trials were not automatically recorded and that it was possible for a person to receive up to six months in jail without having any sort of a record available for review. Most of the debate during the constitutional convention concerned the cost of implementing Mr. Avant's proposal.[3] Mr. Kelly reasoned that the cost in these matters involved the transcription and not the actual recordation of the matter; anyone could record the testimony without real expense and the use of cassette tape records in the city courts was suggested as one low cost method of recordation.

Similar to the present situation, Mr. Kelly was concerned that if the defendant or his lawyer did not ask that a complete record be made, the record would not be made.[4] Also, one delegate thought the proposed amendment might be too broad and should only apply when a person is subject to imprisonment and not when a person is subject to forfeiture of a right or property. But another delegate reminded him that C.Cr.P. 884 provides that if a defendant is sentenced to pay a fine plus court costs that defendant is still subject to imprisonment if he defaults.[5] Throughout the debate it was clear that the amendment was intended to apply to misdemeanors tried in city court as well as felonies tried in district court.[6]

*339 After passage of the amendment which became the basic wording of Art. 1, § 19, Mr. Dennis (now Justice Dennis of this court) proposed an amendment which added "the cost of transcribing the record shall be paid as provided by law." Mr. Dennis explained that he was:

". . . attempting to clarify and do what Mr. Avant and Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
367 So. 2d 335, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-leblanc-la-1979.