State v. Oliphant

93 So. 3d 603, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 360, 2012 WL 951935
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 21, 2012
DocketNo. 46,927-KA
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 93 So. 3d 603 (State v. Oliphant) 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. Oliphant, 93 So. 3d 603, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 360, 2012 WL 951935 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinions

WILLIAMS, J.

liThe defendant, Craig Oliphant, was charged by bill of information with vehicular homicide, a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:32.1, and hit-and-run driving, a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:100. Pursuant to a plea agreement with the state, the defendant pled guilty to the vehicular homicide charge, and the state agreed to dismiss the hit-and-run driving charge. Following a sentencing hearing and a motion to reconsider sentence, the district court sentenced the defendant to serve 25 years at hard labor, with credit for time served. The first 15 years of the defendant’s sentence was ordered to be served without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence. The district court also imposed a fine of $10,000, or, in default of payment thereof, imposed a sentence of one year in prison. The court ordered the default time to run consecutively to the hard labor sentence. The defendant was ordered to participate in court-approved substance abuse and driver improvement programs. The district court designated the offense of conviction, vehicular homicide, as a crime of violence, as defined by LSA-R.S. 14:2. The defendant now appeals.

After reviewing the record and the applicable laws, we reverse that portion of the sentence which designated vehicular homicide as a crime of violence. We also vacate the defendant’s 25-year sentence and $10,000 fine, and we remand this matter to the trial court for resentencing, with instructions to impose a sentence of not more than 15 years at hard labor.

FACTS

On February 8, 2009, at approximately 10:30 p.m., the defendant was traveling along U.S. Highway 165, from Bastrop, Louisiana towards Bonita, | ¡Louisiana. Cravis M. Scott and Frederick Matthews were standing on the shoulder of the highway in front of the home of Scott’s mother. The defendant veered onto the shoulder of the road and hit Scott with his vehicle, knocking him into Matthews; both men landed in a nearby ditch. Matthews was injured as a result of the accident; however, Scott was pronounced dead at the scene.

After the impact, the defendant continued driving. He later stated that he believed he had struck a garbage can or a mailbox. Subsequently, he was stopped by a Morehouse Parish Sheriffs deputy, who ordered him to return to the scene. When the defendant returned to the scene, he was advised of his Miranda rights and questioned about the incident. The defen[606]*606dant denied consuming any alcoholic beverages; however, he performed poorly on a field sobriety test. The defendant was later transported to the Morehouse Parish jail, where his blood alcohol content was measured at .247g%. The defendant was charged with vehicular homicide, a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:32.1, and hit-and-run driving, a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:100. While incarcerated, the defendant was released from jail, on his own recognizance, to attend a substance abuse program at the Rayville Recovery Center. He completed the program and was returned to the Morehouse Parish jail.

As stated above, on July 19, 2010, the defendant pled guilty to vehicular homicide. As a part of the plea bargain, the state agreed to dismiss the charge of hit- and-run driving. Following a very lengthy sentencing hearing, the defendant was sentenced to serve 25 years in prison at hard labor, with credit for time served. The court also imposed a fine in lathe amount of $10,000, or, in default of payment thereof, the defendant would serve one year in jail. The default time was ordered to run consecutively to the hard labor sentence. The defendant was ordered to participate in court-approved substance abuse and driver improvement programs. Pursuant to LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 890.1, the district court designated the offense of conviction as a crime of violence as defined by LSA-R.S. 14:2.

The defendant filed a motion to reconsider sentence, which was granted. The court amended the defendant’s sentence to provide that the first 15 years of the 25-year sentence would be served without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. No other previously imposed conditions were amended.

The defendant now appeals.

DISCUSSION

The defendant contends the district court erred in designating the offense of vehicular homicide as a “crime of violence.” He argues that the offense is not enumerated in LSA-R.S. 14:2, and the designation of the offense as a crime of violence will affect his accrual of good-time credit for time served.

On the other hand, the state contends the court correctly designated the offense as a crime of -violence. The state argues that the very definition of vehicular homicide includes the use of physical force against the person of another.1

|4LSA-C.Cr.P. art. 890.1 provides:

A. When the court imposes a sentence, the court shall designate whether the crime involved is a crime of violence or an attempted crime of violence as defined or enumerated in R.S. 14:2(B).
B. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, if a person is convicted of or pleads guilty to a crime of violence as defined or enumerated in R.S. 14:2(B) and is sentenced to imprisonment for a stated number of years or months, the sentencing court may deny or place conditions on eligibility for diminution of sentence for good behavior unless diminution of sentence is prohibited by R.S. 15:571.3(C) or (D).[2]

[607]*6071BLSA-R.S. 14:2(B) provides, in pertinent part:

In this Code, “crime of violence” means an offense that has, as an element, the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another, and that, by its very nature, involves a substantial risk that physical force against the person or property of another may be used in the course of committing the offense or an offense that involves the possession or use of a dangerous weapon[.]

A number of offenses, and attempted offenses, are included in the statute as crimes of violence. However, the list of offenses enumerated in the statute is illustrative, not exclusive. State v. Smith, 45, 430 (La.App.2d Cir.8/11/10), 47 So.3d 553, writ denied, 2010-2384 (La.3/4/11), 58 So.3d 474; State v. Hinton, 2008-1849 (La.App. 1st Cir.2/13/09), 6 So.3d 242.

LSA-R.S. 14:29 provides:

Homicide is the killing of a human being by the act, procurement, or culpable omission of another. Criminal homicide is of five grades:
(1) First degree murder.
(2) Second degree murder.
(3) Manslaughter.
(4) Negligent homicide.
(5) Vehicular homicide.

The definition of vehicular homicide is set forth in LSA-R.S. 14:32.1. This statute provides, in pertinent part:

IrA- Vehicular homicide is the killing of a human being caused proximately or caused directly by an offender engaged in the operation of, or in actual physical control of, any motor vehicle, aircraft, watercraft, or other means of conveyance, whether or not the offender had the intent to cause death or great bodily harm, whenever any of the following conditions exist and such condition was a contributing factor to the killing:

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Related

State v. Oliphant
137 So. 3d 142 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2014)
State v. Oliphant
113 So. 3d 165 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2013)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
93 So. 3d 603, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 360, 2012 WL 951935, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-oliphant-lactapp-2012.