State v. Parker

423 So. 2d 1121
Supreme Court of Louisiana·Decided November 29, 1982·No. 82-K-1424·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinion

423 So.2d 1121 (1982)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Elice PARKER.

No. 82-K-1424.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

November 29, 1982.

*1122 Kenneth S. Womack, Baker, for relator.

Paul T. Thompson, City Prosecutor, City of Baker, for respondent.

BLANCHE, Justice.

Defendant Elice Parker was charged by affidavit with operating a vehicle while intoxicated, first offense, a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:98.[1] Pursuant to a plea bargain, the *1123 defendant withdrew his original plea of not guilty and pleaded guilty as charged. Following a pre-sentence investigation, the trial court sentenced the defendant to 60 days in the parish jail, suspended on the condition that the defendant serve two years of active probation and pay a $250.00 fine and $27.50 in court costs within 30 days. The defendant's probation was subject to the following conditions: (1) "stay out of trouble," (2) undergo blood analysis, (3) undergo hair analysis, (4) undergo Kirlean photography analysis, (5) receive counseling, (6) undergo schooling to learn to read and write, (7) "upgrade his profession," and (8) attend meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous. The defendant was to pay for the costs of the enumerated conditions by depositing into the Baker City Court "criminological fund" a sum not to exceed $200.00 per month. In order to comply with the probation and stay out of jail, the defendant would therefore be required to pay as much as $4,800.00 over the two year term. We stayed execution of the sentence pending our consideration of the defendant's application for writs to this court.

Our review of the record shows that the offense occurred under the following circumstances: during the early morning hours of December 19, 1981, the defendant's vehicle was observed proceeding in an erratic manner through Baker, Louisiana. A police officer stopped the vehicle and arrested the defendant for DWI. A photo-electric intoximeter test showed the defendant's blood alcohol level to be .2 percent.

The pre-sentence investigation shows the defendant to be 31 years of age and nearly illiterate, but hard working and cooperative. He has held the same job as a warehouseman for the past seven and one-half years and presently earns $5.00 per hour. He is the sole support of his aged mother, with whom he lives, and provides child support of $150 per month for his three minor children who live with his former wife. The defendant is in good health, is active in his religion, participates in hobbies, and has exhibited a positive community attitude. Since his arrest on this charge, the defendant has remained current in his child support payments and has regularly attended meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous. Although he has no prior felony convictions, the defendant does have several minor offenses on his record: disturbing the peace in 1968, littering in 1972, simple battery in 1977, and another DWI in 1977. The record does not reflect whether any of these charges resulted in convictions.

We exercised our supervisory jurisdiction and granted writs in this case to examine the defendant's contentions that the sentence is excessive, illegal, and an abuse of the trial court's discretion. Our primary consideration in granting writs was to assess the validity of the onerous burden created by the excessive conditions placed on the defendant's probation. We find the 60 day suspended jail term, $250 fine, and assessment of court costs of $27.50 to be valid under the law. However, we must vacate the entire sentence because the two-year probationary period and its attendant conditions are illegal.

In this case, the 60 day jail term and the $250 fine are well within the statutory limits of LSA-R.S. 14:98(B)(1), and it is well-founded in our law that court costs may be assessed against a criminal defendant. State v. Chapman, 38 La.Ann. 348 (La.1886). Also, under La.C.Cr.P. art. 894(A), the trial judge is authorized to suspend any portion of the jail term imposed. Accordingly, there is nothing wrong with this portion of the sentence. However, under art. 894(A), the term of a probationary period may not exceed one year where the jail term which has been suspended is less than 90 days.[2] Therefore, since the defendant *1124 was only sentenced to 60 days, the trial judge erred in requiring defendant to serve a two year probationary term. Accordingly, the probationary term is illegal, and we must vacate the entire sentence. On remand, as a condition of the suspension, the trial judge may place the defendant on unsupervised probation for no more than one year.[3]

Pursuant to our original purpose in granting writs in this case, we now examine the propriety of the trial judge's actions in placing such conditions on the defendant's probation. In our opinion, the trial judge abused his great discretion in so conditioning the probation for the following reasons: (1) the $200 per month payment is not reasonably related to the defendant's rehabilitation; (2) the Baker City Court "criminological fund" was created illegally; (3) neither the trial judge nor the Baker City Court "criminology department" are authorized under law to prescribe a course of treatment for the defendant.

1.

In the past, we have consistently afforded the trial judge a wide latitude in the imposition of probationary conditions, as long as the conditions are reasonably related to the rehabilitation of the individual and do not constitute excessive, cruel, or unusual punishment. La. Const. art. 1, sec. 20; La.C.Cr.P. arts. 894, 894.1; State v. Morgan, 389 So.2d 364 (La.1980); State v. Davis, 375 So.2d 69 (La.1979); State v. Credeur, 328 So.2d 59 (La.1976). This discretion is not without its bounds, however. We cannot countenance the imposition of sentences under conditions which heap an unjust burden upon the generally impecunious criminal defendant. In this case, we are of the opinion that the $200 per month payment is not reasonably related to the defendant's rehabilitation.

The trial judge, obviously motivated by good intentions, has sought to use the criminal justice process to root out the causes of criminal conduct in order that they might be eliminated. The judge has hoped that the tests which he has ordered the defendant to undergo might signal some organic reason for the defendant's behavior, allowing for proper treatment in order that he might continue to contribute as a productive member of society. While these may be laudable and worthwhile goals, the imposition of conditions upon a probation which will cost the defendant nearly $5,000 in order to stay out of jail may actually be counter-productive to the basic intention of probation—that being that the defendant can be better rehabilitated if not incarcerated.

The defendant is already burdened with fixed expenses which consume the larger part of his disposable income. He is the sole support of his aged mother. He has had some difficulty in paying the $150 per month in child support, and this was one of the stated reasons for his intoxication on the night of the offense. He felt depressed over the fact that he was having some difficulty in providing support for his loved ones. In this instance, the $200 per month *1125 requirement is not in fact reasonably related to the rehabilitation of the individual. It is readily apparent that the requirement is so burdensome that it would actually endanger Parker's rehabilitation.

2.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

State v. Parker, 423 So. 2d 1121 (La. 1982).

423 So. 2d 1121 (State v. Parker) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

State v. Shell
87 So. 3d 934 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2012)
State v. Langlinais
27 So. 3d 1011 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2009)
State of Louisiana v. Brenda Langlinais
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2009
State v. Brown
882 So. 2d 1273 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2004)
State of Louisiana v. Karen D. Brown
Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2004
(1997)
82 Op. Att'y Gen. 34 (Maryland Attorney General Reports, 1997)
State v. Williams
550 So. 2d 688 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1989)
State v. Outlaw
485 So. 2d 217 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1986)
State v. Griffon
448 So. 2d 1287 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1984)