State v. McCurley

165 So. 3d 1232, 15 La.App. 3 Cir. 24, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 1140, 2015 WL 3536606
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 3, 2015
DocketNo. 15-24
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 165 So. 3d 1232 (State v. McCurley) 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. McCurley, 165 So. 3d 1232, 15 La.App. 3 Cir. 24, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 1140, 2015 WL 3536606 (La. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

THIBODEAUX, Chief Judge.

11 Defendant, Steffon McCurley, was indicted for several criminal law violations after assaulting his mother in her home and pointing a gun at police. Before trial, Defendant requested a sanity commission for the evaluation of his mental capacity at the time of the offense, as well as his present capacity to proceed at trial. The motion was partially granted; the trial court ordered a commission to evaluate Defendant’s capacity at the time of the offense. Prior to receiving the commission reports, Defendant entered a plea of “guilty” in exchange for a plea agreement. The plea was accepted, and a sentence of eighteen years at hard labor ordered.

Defendant appeals, alleging the trial court could not proceed and accept his plea because he alleged the lack of present mental capacity, thus requiring a contradictory hearing on the matter. We now review the trial court’s correctness in proceeding after the sanity commission request, considering the mandate established in La.Code Crim.P. art. 642.1 In accordance with the broad discretion given to the trial court in determining whether reasonable grounds exist to doubt a defendant’s present capacity, and also finding [1234]*1234that Defendant’s request to be evaluated for present capacity was unsupported, we affirm the conviction of the trial court.

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ISSUES

We shall determine whether the trial court erred in accepting Defendant’s guilty plea after requesting a sanity commission but prior to a contradictory hearing on the issue of his capacity to .proceed.

II.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On October 8, 2012, Steffon McCurley, Defendant, was charged with second degree kidnapping, a violation of La.R.S. 14:44.1; two counts of simple criminal damage to property, a violation of La.R.S. 14:56; two counts of aggravated assault upon a peace officer with a firearm, a violation of La.R.S. 14:37.2; and illegal use of weapons or dangerous instrumentalities, a violation of La.R.S. 14:94. Defendant initially entered a plea of “not guilty,” but later amended his plea to “not guilty by reason of insanity or mental condition.”

On March 19, 2014, Defendant requested a sanity commission, which the trial court appointed on March 21st, composed of Drs. Lyle LeCorgne and Catherine McDonald. In his motion for the commission, Defendant asserted he could not tell the difference between right and wrong at the time of the offense because of a mental condition or defect and then prayed that the sanity commission be appointed under La. Code Crim.P. art. 644 to determine his present mental condition. Though the trial court granted the motion, the judge crossed out the section of the Order pertaining to the examination of the present mental condition of Defendant, indicating only an evaluation of his condition at the time the offense was granted and ordered.

|oOn May 12, 2014, Defendant entered a plea of “guilty” as part of a plea agreement. The agreement provided that, in exchange for a guilty plea, the State would dismiss the simple criminal damage to property and illegal use of weapons charges, that there would be a sentencing cap of eighteen years, and that the sentences would run concurrently. The trial court accepted Defendant’s guilty plea after a Boykinization hearing.

Although Dr. LeCorgne evaluated Defendant in April, his report was dated June 2nd, after Defendant had pled guilty. Dr. LeCorgne opined that Defendant was competent to stand trial, but that he was legally insane at the time of the crime. Dr. McDonald never examined Defendant.

The trial court sentenced Defendant to eighteen years at hard labor, ten years being without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. Defendant now appeals, asserting that the trial court erred in accepting his plea of “guilty” without first determining his capacity to stand trial.

III.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

Defendant asserts the trial court acted contrary to La.Code Crim.P. art. 642, constituting legal error and a violation of his due process rights to a fair trial. However, the trial court did not order a sanity commission to evaluate Defendant’s [1235]*1235current capacity. On appeal, this. Court gives great discretion to the trial court in determining whether a defendant should be afforded a mental examination to determine capacity to stand trial. State ex rel. Seals v. State, 00-2738 (La.10/25/02), 831 So.2d 828; State v. Berry, 391 So.2d 406 (La.1980), cert. denied, 451 U.S. 1010, 101 S.Ct. 2347, 68 L.Ed.2d 863 (1981). Therefore, we will not disturb the trial |4court’s ruling absent a clear showing of abuse of discretion. Berry, 391 So.2d 506; State v. Volson, 352 So.2d 1293 (La.1977). When a trial court does not find any reasonable ground to doubt present capacity, the proceedings may continue. State ex rel. Seals, 831 So.2d 828.

IV.

LAW AND DISCUSSION

A defendant is presumed sane and competent to stand trial. State v. Rogers, 419 So.2d 840 (La.1982). Consequently, to challenge the presumption, the burden of proof is on the defense to demonstrate by a clear preponderance of the evidence that Defendant lacks the capacity to understand the proceedings against him and assist in his defense. Id.; State v. Odenbaugh, 10-268 (La.12/6/11), 82 So.3d 215, cert. denied, — U.S. -, 133 S.Ct. 410, 184 L.Ed.2d 51 (2012). When the “evidence shows that it is more probable than not that the defendant lacks the mental capacity to proceed, the criminal prosecution must be suspended.” Rogers, 419 So.2d at 843.

Under La.Code Crim.P. art. 642, a defendant may raise the issue of incapacity to proceed at any time. When he does, no further steps in the criminal prosecution shall occur until such capacity is determined. The trial court “shall order a mental examination of the defendant when it has reasonable ground to doubt the defendant’s mental capacity....” La.Code Crim.P. art. 643 (emphasis added). Thus, the ordering of a mental examination is not guaranteed; it is a matter within the sound discretion of the trial court. State v. Anderson, 06-2987 (La.9/9/08), 996 So.2d 973. The supreme court has determined that such reasonable grounds refer “to information which, objectively considered, should reasonably | Sraise a doubt about the defendant’s competency and alert the court to the possibility that the defendant can neither understand the proceedings, appreciate the proceedings’ significance, nor rationally aid his attorney in his defense.” Anderson, 996 So.2d at 992. When a sanity commission is appointed by the trial court to evaluate a defendant, it is implied that the judge found reasonable ground to doubt the defendant’s capacity. State v. Harris, 406 So.2d 128 (La.1981), on reh’g; State v. Tyler, 11-1123 (La.App. 3 Cir. 5/9/12), 89 So.3d 510.

However, it is only when a “bona fide question [is] raised regarding a defendant’s capacity, [that] the failure to observe procedures to protect a.defendant’s right not to be tried or convicted while incompetent to stand trial deprives him of his due process right to a fair trial.” State ex rel. Seals, 831 So.2d at 833; see also Rogers, 419 So.2d 840.

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Bluebook (online)
165 So. 3d 1232, 15 La.App. 3 Cir. 24, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 1140, 2015 WL 3536606, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mccurley-lactapp-2015.