State v. Neville

572 So. 2d 1161, 1990 WL 211402
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 18, 1990
DocketKA 90 0307, KA 90 0308 and KA 90 0309
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 572 So. 2d 1161 (State v. Neville) 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. Neville, 572 So. 2d 1161, 1990 WL 211402 (La. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

572 So.2d 1161 (1990)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Daniel J. NEVILLE.

Nos. KA 90 0307, KA 90 0308 and KA 90 0309.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

December 18, 1990.
Writ Denied March 8, 1991.

*1162 Mark D. Rhodes, Asst. Dist. Atty., Houma, for plaintiff and appellee—State of La.

Anthony P. Champagne, Office of Indigent Defenders, Houma, for defendant and appellant—Daniel J. Neville.

Before SAVOIE, CRAIN and FOIL, JJ.

CRAIN, Judge.

Daniel J. Neville was charged by bill of information with armed robbery and attempted first degree murder. After initially pleading not guilty, he changed his plea and pled guilty as charged. The trial court then sentenced defendant to twenty years imprisonment at hard labor on the attempted first degree murder count and fifteen *1163 years at hard labor on the armed robbery count, to be served consecutively. Defendant did not appeal his convictions. Eventually, he filed an application for a writ of habeas corpus in federal court, alleging his prosecution in state court for both armed robbery and attempted first degree murder violated the principles governing double jeopardy.

The federal court found merit in defendant's claim and ordered that the writ be issued unless the state vacated one of the convictions and resentenced defendant. Neville v. Butler, 867 F.2d 886, 890-91 (5th Cir.1989). In response to the federal court ruling, the state dismissed the armed robbery count.[1] The court resentenced defendant to thirty-four years imprisonment in the state penitentiary on the attempted first degree murder count. Defendant has appealed, urging in a single assignment of error that the trial court erred in increasing defendant's sentence on the attempted first degree murder charge from twenty to thirty-four years.

The facts of the offense defendant committed were not fully developed because defendant pled guilty. The record reveals that, on the morning of July 4, 1981, defendant entered Mack's Lounge on Howard Avenue in Houma. Using a gun which he had stolen from his mother, defendant robbed two of the bar's employees, Joyce Bourg and Helen Capitano. After stealing money from the women, defendant shot Ms. Capitano in the leg; and she returned fire. In count 1, the state charged defendant with the armed robbery of Joyce Bourg and Helen Capitano. In count 2, the state charged defendant with the attempted first degree murder of Ms. Capitano.

RESENTENCING

Defendant argues that when the trial court resentenced him on the attempted first degree murder count, it erred in increasing defendant's sentence from the original sentence of twenty years to a new sentence of thirty-four years. Defendant points to specific language used by the trial court and contends this language shows the trial court was vindictive when it resentenced defendant. The state responds that there are no constitutional problems with the sentence because defendant's final sentence was one year less than the total original sentence for all the charges defendant was convicted of initially.

When the federal Fifth Circuit ordered that the writ of habeas corpus be granted, it instructed the state court to resentence defendant in conformity with the requirements of North Carolina v. Pearce, 395 U.S. 711, 89 S.Ct. 2072, 23 L.Ed.2d 656 (1969). In Pearce, the United States Supreme Court held that if a state provides for the right of appeal in a criminal case, "[d]ue process of law, then, requires that vindictiveness against a defendant for having *1164 successfully attacked his first conviction must play no part in the sentence he receives after a new trial.... [It also] requires that a defendant be freed of apprehension of such a retaliatory motivation on the part of the sentencing judge." Id. at 725, 89 S.Ct. at 2080 (footnote omitted). In Pearce, the defendant was successful in securing the reversal of his conviction after his first trial. After a conviction on retrial, the defendant was sentenced to an amount longer than that originally imposed. The Court concluded that because no reasons were given for the increase, due process was violated. Id. at 726, 89 S.Ct. at 2081. The Court held that in order to ensure the sentencing court does not have a vindictive motivation when it imposes a more severe sentence after a new trial, the court's reasons for the increased sentence must appear in the record. "Otherwise, a presumption arises that a greater sentence has been imposed for a vindictive purpose—a presumption that must be rebutted by `objective information ... justifying the increased sentence.'" Alabama v. Smith, 490 U.S. 794, 109 S.Ct. 2201, 2204, 104 L.Ed.2d 865 (1989) (quoting Texas v. McCullough, 475 U.S. 134, 142, 106 S.Ct. 976, 981, 89 L.Ed.2d 104 (1986)).[2] The Louisiana Supreme Court has not been hesitant to remand for resentencing when a Pearce violation has occurred. See, State v. Rutledge, 259 La. 543, 250 So.2d 734 (1971).

While Pearce provides guidance in the instant case, it does not resolve the issue before this Court, which is whether or not a presumption of vindictiveness occurs when a judge resentences a defendant to the same or similar total amount of time after one of two counts has been dismissed because of a double jeopardy violation. Recently, the Louisiana Supreme Court, in dictum, provided some indication of the direction it would take if faced with this issue. In State ex rel. Adams v. Butler, 558 So.2d 552 (La.1990), the Court resolved the issue of the proper remedy for a double jeopardy violation. The Court reiterated that the general rule for resolving double jeopardy violations which occur in the same or related bills of information is to vacate the conviction and sentence of the less severely punishable offense and to affirm the conviction and sentence of the more severely punishable offense. Id. at 553 (citing State v. Doughty, 379 So.2d 1088 (La. 1980)). If resentencing is an option under Pearce, then the sentence for the affirmed conviction should be vacated and the case remanded for resentencing. Id. (citing State v. Dubaz, 468 So.2d 554 (La.1985)).[3] Of relevance to the instant case is the Court's explanation of how the trial court should resentence the defendant when the general rule is followed:

In a case involving multiple convictions, a trial judge often imposes interdependent sentences according to a scheme of punishment for a defendant's conduct as a whole. When raising a double jeopardy claim, a defendant is effectively contesting the entire scheme of punishment. A finding that the convictions violate double jeopardy disrupts the carefully crafted, interdependent sentences imposed by the trial judge. Moreover, the United States Ninth Circuit has noted that "[t]he vacating of both sentences is particularly appropriate when ... there is not one legal and one illegal sentence. Rather, it is the coexistence of the two sentences which causes the illegality." United States v. Andersson, 813 F.2d *1165 1450, 1462 (9th Cir.1987). The general rule, based on both Doughty and Dubaz,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
572 So. 2d 1161, 1990 WL 211402, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-neville-lactapp-1990.