State v. Mouton

129 So. 3d 49, 2013 WL 690835
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 27, 2013
DocketNo. 12-836
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 129 So. 3d 49 (State v. Mouton) 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. Mouton, 129 So. 3d 49, 2013 WL 690835 (La. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

KEATY, Judge.

| T Defendant, Willis J. Mouton, also known as Willis James Mouton, was charged by bill of information filed on August 24, 2010, with simple burglary of an automobile, a violation of La.R.S. 14:62, and public intimidation, a violation of La. R.S. 14:122. Defendant entered a plea of not guilty on August 30, 2010. Defendant waived his right to trial by jury on November 8, 2011, and the matter proceeded to trial before the bench. Defendant was subsequently found guilty as charged. On December 12, 2011, Defendant was sentenced to twelve years for simple burglary and to five years at hard labor for public intimidation. The sentences were to be served concurrently.

Defendant filed a motion for appeal on December 20, 2011, asserting two assignments of error. Therein, he contends the evidence was insufficient to support his [51]*51convictions for simple burglary and public intimidation, and his sentences are excessive.

FACTS

Defendant was convicted of the simple burglary of a car belonging to Vergie Clay (Clay) and of the public intimidation of Officer Calvin Parker (Officer Parker).

ERRORS PATENT

In accordance with La.Code Crim.P. art. 920, all appeals are reviewed by this court for errors patent on the face of the record. After reviewing the record, there is an error patent regarding Defendant’s simple burglary sentence. Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:62 carries a term of imprisonment for not more than twelve years with or without hard labor. The trial court imposed a twelve-year sentence for simple burglary without specifying whether it was to be served with or without hard labor.

| ¡.Although the court minutes and the commitment order indicate the simple burglary sentence was imposed at hard labor, the transcript does not reflect this. “[W]hen the minutes and the transcript conflict, the transcript prevails.” State v. Wommack, 00-137, p. 4 (La.App. 3 Cir. 6/7/00), 770 So.2d 365, 369, writ denied, 00-2051 (La.9/21/01), 797 So.2d 62. The trial court’s failure to specify whether the sentence for simple burglary was to be served with or without hard labor rendered the sentence indeterminate, requiring the sentence be vacated and the case remanded for resentencing with the trial court being instructed to specify whether the sentence is to be served with or without hard labor. See State v. Matthew, 07-1326 (La.App. 3 Cir. 5/28/08), 983 So.2d 994, writ denied, 08-1664 (La.4/24/09), 7 So.3d 1193. Accordingly, Defendant’s sentence for simple burglary is vacated, and the case is remanded for resentencing. At the resentencing, the trial court is ordered to specify whether the sentence is to be served with or without hard labor.

Additionally, there is an error patent regarding the trial court’s advisement of the prescriptive period of La.Code Crim.P. art. 930.8. Following sentencing, at a separate proceeding in which Defendant was not present, the trial court in open court set forth the prescriptive period for filing post-conviction relief pursuant to La.Code Crim.P. art. 930.8. Defendant’s attorney was present at the proceeding.

Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 930.8(C) provides:

At the time of sentencing, the trial court shall inform the defendant of the prescriptive period for post-conviction relief either verbally or in writing. If a written waiver of rights form is used during the acceptance of a guilty plea, the notice required by this Paragraph may be included in the written waiver of rights.

The record before this court does not indicate that the notice of the prescriptive period was given to Defendant. Thus, the trial court is ordered to inform Defendant of the provisions of Article 930.8 at resen-tencing.

la ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 1

In his first assignment of error, Defendant contends the trial court erred in finding him guilty of simple burglary of an automobile and public intimidation.

The standard of review in a sufficiency of the evidence claim is “whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found proof beyond a reasonable doubt of each of the essential elements of the crime charged.” State v. Leger, 05-11, p. 91 (La.7/10/06), 936 So.2d 108, 170, cert. denied, 549 U.S. [52]*521221, 127 S.Ct. 1279, 167 L.Ed.2d 100 (2007) (citing Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); State v. Captville, 448 So.2d 676, 678 (La.1984)). The Jackson standard of review is now legislatively embodied in La.Code Crim.P. art. 821. It does not allow the appellate court “to substitute its own appreciation of the evidence for that of the fact-finder.” State v. Pigford, 05-477, p. 6 (La.2/22/06), 922 So.2d 517, 521 (citing State v. Robertson, 96-1048 (La.10/4/96), 680 So.2d 1165). The appellate court’s function is not to assess the credibility of witnesses or reweigh the evidence. State v. Smith, 94-3116 (La.10/16/95), 661 So.2d 442.
The factfinder’s role is to weigh the credibility of witnesses. State v. Ryan, 07-504 (La.App. 3 Cir. 11/7/07), 969 So.2d 1268. Thus, other than insuring the sufficiency evaluation standard of Jackson, “the appellate court should not second-guess the credibility determination of the trier of fact,” but rather, it should defer to the rational credibility and evidentiary determinations of the jury. Id. at 1270 (quoting State v. Lambert, 97-64, pp. 4-5 (La.App. 3 Cir. 9/30/98), 720 So.2d 724, 726-27).
However, an appellate court may impinge on the fact finder’s discretion and its role in determining the credibility of witnesses “only to the extent necessary to guarantee the fundamental due process of law.” State v. Mussall, 523 So.2d 1305, 1310 (La.1988). In determining the sufficiency of the evidence supporting a conviction, an appellate court must preserve “ ‘the factfinder’s role as weigher of the evidence’ by reviewing ‘all of the evidence ... in the light most favorable to the prosecution.’ ” McDaniel v. Brown, 558 U.S. 120, 130 S.Ct. 665, 674, 175 L.Ed.2d 582 [ (2010) ] (quoting Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979)). When so viewed by an appellate court, the relevant question is whether, on the evidence presented at trial, “any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” Jackson, 443 U.S. at 319, 99 S.Ct. at 2789. Applied in cases relying on |4 circumstantial evidence, ... this fundamental principle of review means that when a jury “reasonably rejects the hypothesis of innocence presented by the defendant[], that hypothesis falls, and the defendant is guilty unless there is another hypothesis which raises a reasonable doubt.” State v. Captville, 448 So.2d 676, 680 (La.1984).
State v. Strother, 09-2357, pp. 10-11 (La.10/22/10), 49 So.3d 372, 378.

State v. McKithern, 11-1402, pp. 6-7 (La.App. 3 Cir. 5/2/12), 93 So.3d 684, 691.

Defendant was convicted of simple burglary of an automobile.

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Bluebook (online)
129 So. 3d 49, 2013 WL 690835, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mouton-lactapp-2013.