State v. Norwood

802 So. 2d 721, 2001 La.App. 4 Cir. 0432, 2001 La. App. LEXIS 2420, 2001 WL 1681892
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided August 29, 2001·No. No. 2001-K-0432·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

JjTERRI F. LOVE, Judge.

In January, 1981, the defendant was convicted of one count each of armed robbery and attempted first degree murder. On February 26, 1981, the trial court sentenced him to serve seventy-five years at hard labor for the robbery conviction and fifty years at hard labor for the attempted murder conviction, the sentences to run consecutively with each other and with four armed-robbery sentences imposed in an unrelated case. On May 18, 1981, the trial court found the defendant to be a multiple offender. The trial court then re-sentenced the defendant on the robbery conviction to serve seventy-five years at hard labor as a second offender. In none of these sentences did the court prohibit parole eligibility as mandated by statute. The Supreme Court affirmed his convictions and sentences. State v. Norwood, 412 So.2d 108 (La.1982).

In 1987, the Supreme Court vacated his attempted murder conviction and sentence on double jeopardy grounds. State ex rel. Norwood v. Blackburn, 511 So.2d 1143 (La.1987). On November 12, 1991 pursuant to the defendant’s motion to correct an illegal sentence, the trial court vacated the multiple offender sentence onLthe remaining robbery conviction and imposed a sentence of seventy-five years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. In State v. Norwood, unpub. 92-0054 (La.App. 4 Cir. 2/24/92), this court remanded the case for a determination of the intent of the judge at the time the 1981 multiple offender sentence was imposed. In April, 1992 the trial court issued a per curiam to the effect that it was its intent to impose the sentence without benefits. The defendant sought review, and this court denied writs. State v. Norwood, unpub. 92-1281 (La.App. 4 Cir. 6/18/92).

On March 26, 1997, the defendant filed an application for post conviction relief based upon the trial court’s failure to vacate his original sentence prior to imposing the multiple offender sentence. On January 11, 2001, the court heard the matter and granted the application. The trial court found the multiple offender sentence was illegal because the court had failed to vacate the original sentence. The trial court then vacated the multiple offender sentence and “prior plea”, accepted the defendant’s plea to the multiple bill, and reset the matter for sentencing. In the interim, the State found a minute entry which stated the original sentence was vacated prior to the imposition of the multiple offender sentence. The State moved the court to reconsider its January 11, 2001 ruling. On February 12, 2001 the trial court denied the rehearing and sentenced the defendant to serve thirty-three years at hard labor. The State now comes before this court seeking relief from this ruling.

The State argues the trial court erred by vacating the multiple offender sentence and imposing a new, lesser sentence. The State argues the defendant was time-barred by La.C.Cr.P. art. 930.8 from rais[723] ing this claim. It further argues that because the docket master and minute entry show the original sentence was vacated, the trial court erred by vacating the multiple bill sentence. It also argues that the court could not impose a lesser sentence on resentencing.

| ¡¡The transcript of January 11, 2001 reveals the court denied the procedural objection on the ground that the amendment to La.C.Cr.P. art. 930.8 gave the defendant until October 31, 2001 to file his post conviction relief application. However, this interpretation is wrong. The 1999 amendment to art. 930.8 reduced the time period for seeking post conviction relief from three to two years after the conviction and sentence become final. Art. 930.8(A)(3) provides the exemption from the two-year limit where: “The application would already be barred by the provisions of this Article, but the application is filed on or before October 1, 2001, and the date on which the application was filed is within three years after the judgment of conviction and sentence has become final.” (Emphasis added.) Here, the adjudication the trial court vacated occurred in 1981, and the sentence it vacated was imposed in 1991. Thus, if the defendant’s claim really was an application for post conviction relief, it was barred by Art. 930.8. In addition, the claim is a sentencing claim which cannot be raised via an application for post conviction relief. See State ex rel. Melinie v. State, 93-1380 (La.1/12/96), 665 So.2d 1172.

The trial court also noted that it would consider the defendant’s claim because it concerned an “illegal” sentence, which claim may be raised at any time. See La.C.Cr.P. art. 882. The court noted that the multiple offender sentence was illegal because the court had never vacated the original sentence. The transcript of the May 18, 1981 multiple bill hearing does not reflect that the court vacated the original sentence.1 The State argues that the minute entry of May 18, 1981, reflects that the trial court vacated the original sentence prior to imposing the multiple offender sentence. It argues that this minute entry shows the court’s 1 ¿“intent” to vacate the original sentence, and it maintains that the court’s failure to use the “magic word” “vacated” should not be controlling.

Generally, where there is a discrepancy between a minute entry and a transcript, the transcript prevails. State v. Hall, 99-2887 (La.App. 4 Cir. 10/4/00), 775 So.2d 52; State v. Anderson, 99-1407 (La.App. 4 Cir. 1/26/00), 753 So.2d 321. In State v. Moffett, 572 So.2d 705 (La.App. 4 Cir.1990), this court held that a multiple offender sentence must be vacated and the case remanded for resentencing where the trial court failed to vacate the original sentence prior to imposing the multiple offender sentence. However, in State v. Mayer, 99-3124 (La.3/31/00), 760 So.2d 309, the Supreme Court reversed the Fifth Circuit when it took a similar action. In Mayer, the minute entry and commitment form reflected that the trial court vacated the original sentence, but the transcript did not so reflect. On appeal, the Fifth Circuit vacated the multiple offender sentence and remanded the case for resen-tencing. State v. Mayer, 98-1311 (La.App. 5 Cir. 9/28/99), 743 So.2d 304. The Supreme Court granted writs on this issue only, and in a per curiam opinion stated:

To the extent that the October 30, 1998 commitment/ minute entry reflects that [724] the trial judge vacated the defendant’s original sentence and thereby eliminated any possible confusion as to the terms of the defendant’s confinement, the failure of the transcript of the multiple offender hearing to show that the court did so before sentencing the defendant as a multiple offender did not affect the substantial rights of the defendant. La. C.Cr.P. art. 921; see State ex rel. Haisch v. State, 575 So.2d 816 (La.1991) (“The trial court is ordered to vacate the twenty-one year sentence it first imposed coincidentally with its imposition of the enhanced sentence. See La.R.S. 15:529.1(D).”).

Mayer, 99-3124, 760 So.2d at 310.

In State v. Jackson, 2000-0717 (La.App. 1 Cir. 2/16/01), - So.2d -, 2001 WL 133213, the First Circuit en banc interpreted Mayer to apply in cases where it was clear that the trial court meant the multiple offender sentence to [ .^replace the original sentence, not to be served in addition to the original sentence. The court stated:

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State v. Norwood, 802 So. 2d 721, 2001 La.App. 4 Cir. 0432, 2001 La. App. LEXIS 2420, 2001 WL 1681892 (La. Ct. App. 2001).

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