State v. Perkins

811 So. 2d 997, 2002 WL 272607
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 26, 2002
Docket01-KA-1092
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 811 So. 2d 997 (State v. Perkins) 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. Perkins, 811 So. 2d 997, 2002 WL 272607 (La. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

811 So.2d 997 (2002)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Billy Ray PERKINS.

No. 01-KA-1092.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

February 26, 2002.

*998 Gwendolyn Kay Brown, Louisiana Appellate Project, Baton Rouge, LA, for Appellant, Billy Ray Perkins.

Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Mickey S. deLaup—Counsel of Record on Appeal, Terry M. Boudreaux—Appellate Counsel, Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, LA, for appellee, State of Louisiana.

Panel composed of Judges JAMES L. CANNELLA, THOMAS F. DALEY and SUSAN M. CHEHARDY.

JAMES L. CANNELLA, Judge.

The Defendant, Billy Perkins, appeals from the denial of his Motion to Quash the habitual offender bill of information.[1] We affirm in part, vacate one sentence and remand.

On June 3, 1998, the Defendant and co-defendant, William Anderson (Anderson), pled guilty to armed robbery and second degree kidnaping, violations of La.R.S. 14:64 and 14:44.1. Each man was sentenced to 30 and 15 years at hard labor, without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. The Defendant's sentences were ordered to run concurrently with each other.

On March 17, 1999, under La. R.S. 15:529.1 the Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office filed a habitual offender bill of information seeking to enhance the Defendant's armed robbery sentence as a second felony offender. The Defendant denied the bill of information. On January 6, 2000, Anderson filed a motion to quash the habitual offender bill of information, which the Defendant verbally adopted. On that day, the trial judge denied both motions to quash. Following the habitual offender hearing on July 13, 2000, the trial judge found that the State proved that the Defendant was a second felony offender, vacated his original sentence, and sentenced the Defendant to forty-nine and one-half years at hard labor, without benefit of probation or suspension of sentence.[2]

On appeal, the Defendant contends that the trial judge erred in denying the motion to quash the habitual offender bill of information.

The Defendant contends that the trial court should have granted the motion to quash the habitual offender bill of information because the State unreasonably delayed in filing it and in conducting the hearing. The Defendant claims that he was prejudiced by the delay because he did not know the full consequences of his guilty plea until he was sentenced as a second felony offender, approximately two years after his original sentence. The State responds that the Defendant was not prejudiced by the delay because he knew *999 that the State intended to file a habitual offender bill against him when he entered his guilty plea.

The habitual offender statute does not impose a prescriptive period for filing a bill of information. However, the jurisprudence holds that the State must file it "within a reasonable time after the prosecution knows that a Defendant has a prior felony record." State v. Broussard, 416 So.2d 109, 110 (La.1982). See also: State v. Conrad, 94-232 (La.App. 5th Cir.11/16/94), 646 So.2d 1062, 1063, writ denied, 94-3076 (La.4/7/95), 652 So.2d 1345. The rationale is based on the Defendant's constitutional right to a speedy trial and that, upon conviction, he is entitled to know the full consequences of the verdict within a reasonable time. Broussard, 416 So.2d at 110-111; Conrad, 646 So.2d at 1063. Any conclusion as to what constitutes a reasonable time must be determined on a case-by-case basis. Conrad, 646 So.2d at 1063. However, the proceeding to have a Defendant sentenced as a habitual offender must be completed before the Defendant serves the sentence which is to be enhanced. State ex rel. Williams v. Henderson, 289 So.2d 74, 77 (La.1974).

In Broussard, the Louisiana Supreme Court held that a thirteen-month delay between the original sentencing and the filing of the habitual offender bill of information was unreasonable because the state was aware of the defendant's prior convictions at the time of original sentencing. The court noted that by the time the state filed the habitual offender bill of information, the defendant had served approximately one year of his four-year sentence, was anticipating release on parole within a few months, and the state offered no explanation for the delay. Broussard, 416 So.2d at 110-111.

In State v. McQueen, 308 So.2d 752, 754-756 (La.1975), the Louisiana Supreme Court held that a three and one-half year delay in filing the bill of information after the defendant's sentencing was unreasonable when the state offered no explanation for the delay.

However, even lengthy delays may be found reasonable when justified by the circumstances of a particular case. In State v. Johnson, 00-1552 (La.App. 5th Cir.3/28/01), 783 So.2d 520, 529-530, this court held that the state had not unreasonably delayed in conducting the habitual offender hearing. There, the state filed the bill approximately seven months after Johnson was convicted, and the hearing was completed approximately eleven months later.[3] The court in Johnson held that the delay was justified because Johnson had failed to appear in court for the habitual offender bill hearing on numerous occasions. Id. at 530.

In the appeal by Anderson, we held that the delay in conducting the habitual offender proceedings was reasonable. State v. Anderson, 01-158 (La.App. 5th Cir.5/16/01), 788 So.2d 561. There, as in this case, the trial judge denied the motion to quash because the nineteen months delay between his conviction and the habitual offender hearing had been caused by valid continuances due to the absence of either Anderson, the Defendant or an attorney, or the inability to secure the presence of a fingerprint expert. In upholding the trial judge's ruling, we noted that Anderson knew of the state's intent to file a habitual offender bill even before he tendered his guilty plea to the underlying offense. State v. Anderson, 788 So.2d at 563.

*1000 The record reflects that both Anderson and the Defendant pled guilty and were sentenced on June 3, 1998. The habitual offender bill of information was filed against both Anderson and the Defendant on March 17, 1999, approximately nine months after they pled guilty. The habitual offender hearing began on January 6, 2000, but was continued by a defense motion. The hearing was held on July 13, 2000. On that date, the trial judge sentenced the Defendant as a second felony offender, approximately sixteen months after the habitual offender bill of information was filed.

At the hearing on the motion to quash, the State explained that it had delayed filing the habitual offender bill of information because of the difficulty in obtaining properly certified copies of the Defendant's predicate conviction and the supporting documents from another parish. Regarding the delays after the bill of information was filed, the State pointed out that the Department of Corrections had failed to transport to court either Anderson, the Defendant or both, on several occasions.

In denying the motion to quash on January 6, 2000, the trial court stated:

All right, the court is well aware of the multiple bills that were filed against Mr. Anderson and Mr. Perkins, and in fact they have been continued on a number of occasions. The court finds that on each occasion that they were continued, that the continuance was appropriate and that it was granted by the court for a valid basis. We never had all of the parties here.

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Related

State v. Eugene
871 So. 2d 584 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2004)
State v. Fisher
852 So. 2d 1075 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2003)

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Bluebook (online)
811 So. 2d 997, 2002 WL 272607, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-perkins-lactapp-2002.