State v. Petitto

116 So. 3d 761, 2012 La.App. 1 Cir. 1670, 2013 WL 1786344, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 845
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 26, 2013
DocketNo. 2012 KA 1670
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 116 So. 3d 761 (State v. Petitto) 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. Petitto, 116 So. 3d 761, 2012 La.App. 1 Cir. 1670, 2013 WL 1786344, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 845 (La. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

CRAIN, J.

| ^Michael Petitto, an elected Tangipahoa Parish Councilman, was indicted on December 7, 2007 with two counts of malfeasance in office, violations of Louisiana Revised Statute 14:134. He pled not guilty and waived his right to a jury trial. After a judge trial, he was found guilty and sentenced to five years at hard labor on both counts. The prison sentences were ordered to run consecutively but were suspended. For the suspended sentences, he received concurrent five year probations and was fined $5,000.00. The defendant appeals alleging four assignments of error. For the following reasons, we affirm the convictions and sentences.

FACTS

The events leading to the defendant’s indictment occurred during the period beginning on or about March 1, 2006, and continuing through November 30, 2006. The charges resulted from the defendant’s alleged violation of the Code of Governmental Ethics, specifically Louisiana Revised Statutes 42:1112B(1) and 42:1111E(1). Whether the Code of Governmental Ethics can form the basis for a criminal charge of malfeasance in office under Louisiana Revised Statute 14:134 was answered in the affirmative by the Louisiana Supreme Court in the related matter State v. Petitto, 10-0581 (La.3/15/11), 59 So.3d 1245.

The critical events of this case centered around the sale on October 31, 2006 of eighteen acres of land near Amite, Louisiana, by Sal Petitto, the brother of the defendant, to Pine Grove Subdivision, a subsidiary of Standard Enterprises, Inc. The land was sold for an affordable housing development referred to hereinafter as “Pine Grove Subdivision.” Financing for the development was dependent upon low income housing tax credits obtained through the Louisiana Housing Finance Agency (“LHFA”).

| ^Standard Enterprises was owned by Mark and David Turrentine. Its vice president was James Freeman. In late February or early March of 2006, Sal Pet-itto contacted the Turrentines about locating an LHFA project in the Amite area. Sal, Freeman and the Turrentines were residents of Monroe, Louisiana. That initial contact led to a trip to Amite by Freeman and the Turrentines and a scheduled meeting with the defendant at Spi-tale’s Bar. The defendant showed Freeman and the Turrentines around Amite and provided them with information for determining whether Amite was an appropriate area for an LHFA development.

After the initial meeting with the defendant, Sal contacted Standard Enterprises [766]*766and advised them he had acquired an exclusive option to purchase eighteen acres of land near Amite. The land was owned by a group of investors who co-owned the property through several entities (collectively, the “Investor Group”). The option was dated March 12, 2006, and set a purchase price for the land of $21,000.00 per acre. The defendant signed the option as a witness.

On March 13, 2006, the defendant proposed a resolution to the Tangipahoa Parish Council in support of Pine Grove Subdivision. The resolution was important for Standard Enterprises to receive tax credits for the development from the LHFA. The tax credits were viewed by Standard Enterprises as critical for their financing. The defendant voted in favor of the support resolution, which passed unanimously.

On March 17, 2006, Sal granted to Standard Enterprises an exclusive option to purchase the same land on which Sal held an option. The price for the land under the option granted to Standard Enterprises was $32,000.00 per acre.

On October 30, 2006, Sal purchased the land from the Investor Group for $377,160.00, as contemplated by the March 12, 2006 option On the next day, Sal sold the property to a subsidiary of Standard Enterprises for $574,720.00, as | contemplated by the March 17, 2006 option. The gain of approximately $197,000.00 was deposited into an account belonging to Sal.

Less than two weeks later on November 11, 2006, Sal paid the outstanding balance on the defendant’s home mortgage loan in the amount of $49,207.12 and obtained cancellation of the mortgage.

The defendant signed a promissory note in favor of Sal in the amount of the home mortgage loan payment. Sal testified that the defendant made payments on that note, but no documentation of such payments was produced, and he could not remember when the last payment was made.

ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR #1 AND # 2

In his first and second assignments of error, the defendant argues that the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed either charged offense of malfeasance in office. Regarding count one, he contends that there was insufficient evidence to prove either that he had actual knowledge of his brother’s substantial economic interest in the land to be used for Pine Grove Subdivision or that he had the requisite specific criminal intent. Regarding count two, he contends that there was insufficient evidence to prove that he received any thing of economic value for assisting with passing the support resolution for Pine Grove Subdivision.

A conviction based on insufficient evidence cannot stand as it violates Due Process. See U.S. Const. Amend. XIV; La. Const, art. I, § 2. The standard of review for the sufficiency of the evidence to uphold a conviction is whether or not, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560; La. Code.Crim. Proc. art. 821B; State v. Ordodi, 06-0207 (La.11/29/06), 946 So.2d 654, 660. The Jackson standard of review, incorporated in Article 821, is an objective standard [ 5for testing the overall evidence, both direct and circumstantial, for reasonable doubt. When analyzing circumstantial evidence, Louisiana Revised Statute 15:438 provides that the fact finder must be satisfied that the overall evidence excludes every reasonable hypothesis of in[767]*767nocence. See State v. Patorno, 01-2585 (La.App. 1 Cir. 6/21/02); 822 So.2d 141, 144,

Specific intent is that state of mind which exists when the circumstances indicate that the offender actively desired the prescribed criminal consequences to follow his act or failure to act. La. R.S. 14:10(1). Specific intent need not be proven as a fact but may be inferred from the circumstances of the transaction and the actions of the defendant. State v. Graham, 420 So.2d 1126, 1127 (La.1982). Specific intent can be formed in an instant. State v. Cousan, 94-2503 (La.11/25/96), 684 So.2d 382, 390. The existence of specific intent is an ultimate legal conclusion to be resolved by the trier of fact. State v. McCue, 484 So.2d 889, 892 (La.App. 1 Cir.1986).

The defendant was charged in both counts of the indictment with violating Louisiana Revised Statute 14:134, which provides, in relevant part, that:

A. Malfeasance in office is committed when any public officer or public employee shall ...
(2) Intentionally perform [any duty lawfully required of him] in an unlawful manner.

To prove a violation of Section 134, the State must prove an affirmative duty delineated by statute or law upon the defendant as a public officer and that the defendant intentionally performed that duty in an unlawful manner. State v. Davis, 93-0599 (La.4/11/94), 634 So.2d 1168, 1170.

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Bluebook (online)
116 So. 3d 761, 2012 La.App. 1 Cir. 1670, 2013 WL 1786344, 2013 La. App. LEXIS 845, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-petitto-lactapp-2013.