State v. Pierre

192 So. 3d 140, 2015 La.App. 4 Cir. 0293, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 575, 2016 WL 1163382
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided March 23, 2016·No. No. 2015-KA-0293·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

JOY COSSICH LOBRANO, Judge.

| defendant, Vanessa 0. Pierre (“Defendant”) was arrested on February 7, 2005 on an outstanding warrant relative to: (1) two counts of theft of merchandise valued between one hundred and five hundred dollars; (2) two counts of forgery; and (3) one count of identity theft. On the same date, she was released from custody on a Return on Recognizance bond (“ROR bond”)1 in the amount of seventeen thousand dollars ($17,000.00). The address provided by Defendant and listed on the bond was 2412 Lamanche Street, New Orleans, LA 7011L

On April 15, 2005; the State of Louisiana (“State”) charged Defendant by bill of information with two counts of theft of merchandise valued in the amount in excess of five hundred dollars in violation of La. R.S. 14:67(B), in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Case 458-362.2

| ¡Arraignment was set for May 13, 2005.3 On that date, Defendant appeared and entered a plea of not guilty. A status hearing was initially set for May 16, 2005, but due to the court closing, it was reset for June 2, 2005. On June 2, 2005, Defendant appeared for a status hearing with counsel. On'that,date,, a motions hearing was set for July 5, 2005 and Defendant was notified of the hearing date in court. Service with notice of the July 5, 2005 appearance date was also unsuccessfully attempted on June 7, 2005 but the process server noted on the return that the “Subject Moved.” The . State filed a motion to continue trial, which was also set for July 5, 2005. On July 5, 2005, Defendant failed to appear for, the motions hearing, and the district court issued an alias capias for Defendant’s arrest without bond. The district court continued the case without a date. Defendant was subsequently arrested on the alias capias on July 8, 2005. On July 11, 2005, defense counsel appeared without Defendant for filings, and the motions hearing was set for July 14, 2005. On July 14, 2005, Defendant appeared with counsel, waived motions, and Defendant was noti[143] fied in open court that the trial date was set for September 7, 2005. Defense counsel appeared for filings on July 29, 2005 and the district court ordered that Defendant be released on the original bond, again noting that the next court date was September 7, 2005. , Hurricane Katrina and the levee breaks impacted the area on August 29, 2005, thus trial was not held on September 7,2005.

On May 30, 2006, a status hearing was set for June 28; 2006. According to the 'docket' master and the minute entry dated May 30, 2006, notice was sent to Defendant through certified mail to the address which was listed on the bond or as | ^updated by Defendant. ■ Defendant failed to appear in court for the June 28, 2006 status hearing because she was not served.4 The district court reset the hearing for August 7, 2006. However, on August 8, 2006, a new status hearing was set for September 7, 2006. Because Defendant failed to appear in court on that date, however, on September.8, 2006, the district court issued an alias capias for Defendant’s arrest without bond, and the matter was continued without date.

According to records from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Defendant was convicted of aggravated assault in Texas and sentenced on March 22, 2008 to serve a term of five years. She was received into the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s custody on June 3⅜ 2008 and released on March 22,2013.

On November 12, 2014, defense counsel appeared in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court on behalf of Defendant and reported that Defendant was in state custody in Jefferson Parish at that time. On that daté, the State filed a motion and order for writ of habeas corpus ad prose-quendum, and a pre-trial conference was set for November 18, 2014. Defense counsel filed a motion to quash the bill of information on November 13, 2014, which was set for hearing on November 18, 2014. The district court also recalled the alias capias on that date because Defendant was ■in the- custody of the sheriff and was not brought to court. On November 18, 2014, defense counsel waived Defendant’s presence. After hearing argument, the district court granted the Defendant’s motion to quash the bill of information based on untimeliness of the commencement of trial in violation of Defendant’s right to a 'speedy trial.

I ¿The State timely appeals the district court’s ruling granting Defendant’s motion to quash the ‘bill of information. After a thorough review of the record and the relevant jurisprudence, we agree with the State’s position that the statute of limitations to commence trial was interrupted, as we discuss fully below. For the reasons that follow, we find no-statutory or constitutional violation of Defendant’s right to a speedy trial. We therefore reverse the district court’s judgment and remand this matter for further proceedings.

DISCUSSION

In its sole assignment of error, the State contends that the district court abused its discretion in granting Defendant’s motion to quash. The State argues that Defendant failed to notify the district court that she had moved from the address listed on her bond, in violation of La.C.Cr.P. art. 322. The State thus argues, through no fault of its own, it was unable to obtain the presence of Defendant through legal process. The State claims that the time limitation for prosecuting Defendant set forth in La.C.Cr.P. art’. 578 should be found [144] interrupted as of the date Defendant failed to appear for the September 8, 2006 hearing and that interruption continued until, at the earliest, November 12, 2014, when defense counsel appeared in the district court and notified the court that Defendant was incarcerated in Jefferson Parish.

Defendant contends that the two year time limitation for prosecuting Defendant has clearly run. Specifically, Defendant asserts that she sent a letter to the Clerk of Court for Orleans Parish on or about May 6, 2010 in which she provided her location, date of birth and social security number, putting her in compliance with La.C.Cr.P. art. 322. Defendant contends that the limitations period would have commenced to run, therefore, as of May 6, 2010 and expired | ntwo years later on May 6, 2012. Defendant also claims that the State failed to exercise due diligence in attempting to locate her because “a simple search on NCIC5 would have revealed her location in Texas.” Defendant appears to accept that the limitations period would have been interrupted by the effects of Hurricane Katrina, the destruction of her Ninth Ward home and her relocation to Texas.

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State v. Pierre, 192 So. 3d 140, 2015 La.App. 4 Cir. 0293, 2016 La. App. LEXIS 575, 2016 WL 1163382 (La. Ct. App. 2016).

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