State v. McGee

758 So. 2d 338, 2000 WL 320678
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided March 15, 2000·No. 98-KA-1508·Published·Cited by 10 cases

Opinion

758 So.2d 338 (2000)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Michael H. McGEE.

No. 98-KA-1508.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fourth Circuit.

March 15, 2000.

*340 Samuel P. Olive, Student Practitioner, Patrick E. Costello, Student Practitioner, Robin E. Schulberg, Supervising Attorney, Loyola Law Clinic, New Orleans, Louisiana, (Attorneys for Defendant/Appellant, Michael H. McGee).

Harry F. Connick, District Attorney, Loan "Mimi" Nguyen, Assistant District Attorney of Orleans Parish, New Orleans, Louisiana (Attorneys for Appellee, The State of Louisiana).

Court composed of Judge CHARLES R. JONES, Judge MOON LANDRIEU and Judge PATRICIA RIVET MURRAY.

MURRAY, Judge.

Michael H. McGee was convicted by a jury of simple possession of cocaine, a violation of La. R.S. § 40:967 C.[1] He was adjudicated a third offender under La. R.S. § 15:529.1 and was sentenced to serve ten years at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. Mr. McGee's subsequent pro se motion for the return of property seized at the time of arrest was denied after a hearing on August 22, 1997.

Mr. McGee now appeals, seeking reversal of both his adjudication as a multiple offender and of the denial of his motion for return of property. For the reasons that follow, we vacate the multiple offender adjudication and sentence and remand for a new hearing, but affirm the denial of Mr. McGee's motion for return of property.

THE MULTIPLE OFFENDER ADJUDICATION

After Mr. McGee's conviction for possession of cocaine, he was charged as a multiple offender based upon allegations of two prior felony convictions. The bill of information asserted that, in Orleans Parish case number 267-838, Mr. McGee had pled guilty on January 5, 1979 to illegal possession of stolen things under La. R.S. § 14:69, and that, in Orleans Parish case number 270-709, he had pled guilty on October 2, 1979 to armed robbery under La. R.S. § 14:64.

On November 21, 1995, Mr. McGee entered a plea of not guilty to the multiple offender bill of information. The following exchange then occurred:

THE COURT: LET THE NOT GUILTY PLEA BE RECORDED AS TO THE MULTIPLE BILL. SET A HEARING DATE, OR ARE YOU GOING TO HEAR IT TODAY? CAN YOU GET THE FINGERPRINT MAN HERE?
THE STATE: NOT TODAY, YOUR HONOR....
* * * *
DEFENSE: YOUR HONOR, HE IS REQUESTING THE COLLOQUY OF THE BOYKIN HEARING.
THE COURT: I'M GOING TO TAKE AND SAY, THERE'S A — THE LEGISLATURE CHANGED THE WAY THAT THESE MULTIPLE BILLS ARE PROVEN. DIDN'T THEY SHIFT THE BURDEN HERE?
THE STATE: UNDER STATE VERSUS SHELTON, YOUR HONOR, ... ALL THE STATE REALLY HAS TO PROVE IS IT'S PRIMA FACIE CASE. WE DON'T HAVE TO SHOW A COLLOQUY ANYMORE. IF THE DEFENSE WANTS TO SHOW THAT THERE WAS AN ERROR, THEN —
THE COURT: IT'S THEIR BURDEN.
*341 THE STATE: THEY HAVE THE BURDEN OF GETTING THE COLLOQUY.
THE COURT: IT'S YOUR BURDEN, MR. PINKSTON. IF YOU WANT TO HAVE THAT TRIAL, YOU CAN HAVE IT.
DEFENSE: YOUR HONOR, KEEPING IN MIND THAT MY CLIENT IS INDIGENT AND YOU APPOINTED ME TO THIS CASE—
THE COURT: COME ON BACK HERE, MR. PINKSTON.

An off-the-record bench conference was held. The proceedings then resumed to set a date for the multiple bill hearing, but with no further mention of any Boykin transcript.

After five continuances had been granted for the defense, a hearing on the multiple bill was held on March 8, 1996.[2] The State's only witness was a fingerprint expert from the New Orleans Police Department, who testified that the fingerprints taken from Mr. McGee earlier that day matched the fingerprints on his arrest records for possession of stolen property on December 3, 1978, as well as the fingerprints on Corrections Department records for Mr. McGee's incarceration for armed robbery.[3] On cross examination, defense counsel clarified the dates of Mr. McGee's prior imprisonment, but neither challenged the evidence nor presented any argument in opposition to the multiple bill.

After the court had reviewed the State's documentation, Mr. McGee was held to be a triple offender and his attorney entered an oral objection to the adjudication. After sentence was pronounced, the Orleans Indigent Defender Program was designated to represent the defendant on other, unrelated pending charges, and Mr. McGee's previously appointed trial counsel was permitted to withdraw.[4]

Mr. McGee's appellate counsel contends that the multiple offender adjudication must be reversed because the trial court erroneously denied the request for a Boykin transcript, which was needed to establish that Mr. McGee had not been fully informed of his rights before he pled guilty to the prior offenses. It is further argued that the adjudication is invalid because Mr. McGee received ineffective assistance from his trial attorney, who not only acquiesced in the denial of the request for a Boykin transcript but also failed to offer alternative evidence, as permitted under State v. Shelton, 621 So.2d 769 (La.1993), to challenge the adjudication. It is also argued that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to challenge the January 1979 conviction based upon an alleged conflict of interest, because Mr. McGee's attorney at that time also represented his co-defendant in the case.

Generally, the issue of ineffective assistance of counsel is a matter more properly addressed in an application for post-conviction relief, filed in the trial court where a full evidentiary hearing can be conducted. State v. Prudholm, 446 So.2d 729 (La.1984); State v. Hampton, 94-1943 (La.App. 4th Cir.12/27/96), 686 So.2d 1021, writ denied, 97-0166 (La.6/13/97), 695 So.2d 986. But an evidentiary hearing is not necessary where the record on appeal is sufficient to permit a determination of counsel's effectiveness at trial. State v. Seiss, 428 So.2d 444 (La.1983); State v. Holmes, 95-2249 (La. App. 4th Cir.10/29/97), 701 So.2d 752, writ denied, 98-0149 (La.6/26/98), 719 So.2d *342 490. Under such circumstances, it is in the interest of judicial economy to dispose of the issue on appeal. State v. Calhoun, 96-0786 (La.5/20/97), 694 So.2d 909; State v. Holmes, supra.

Under Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984), a defendant must show both that his counsel's performance was deficient and that the deficient performance prejudiced him. With regard to counsel's performance, the defendant must show that counsel made errors so serious that counsel was not functioning as "counsel" guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment. As to prejudice, the defendant must show that counsel's errors were so serious as to deprive him of a fair trial, i.e., a trial whose result is reliable. Thus, it must be shown to a reasonable probability that but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different.

The standards and procedures for multiple offender adjudications under R.S. § 15:529.1 D(1)(b) were set forth in State v. Shelton, supra, as follows:

If the defendant denies the allegations of the bill of infor

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State v. McGee, 758 So. 2d 338, 2000 WL 320678 (La. Ct. App. 2000).

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