State v. Schwehm

754 So. 2d 264, 1999 WL 743959
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 24, 1999
Docket97 KA 1544R
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 754 So. 2d 264 (State v. Schwehm) 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. Schwehm, 754 So. 2d 264, 1999 WL 743959 (La. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

754 So.2d 264 (1999)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Jerry SCHWEHM.

No. 97 KA 1544R.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

September 24, 1999.
Writ Denied March 31, 2000.

*265 Terry M. Boudreaux, Gretna, for Appellee, State of Louisiana.

Paul Baier, Baton Rouge, Lloyd Raner Walters, Slidell, for Defendant/Appellant, Jerry Schwehm.

Before: CARTER, C.J., LeBLANC, and PETTIGREW, JJ.

CARTER, C.J.

Defendant, Jerry Schwehm, was convicted of two counts of malfeasance in office, violations of LSA-R.S. 14:134. On a prior appeal, this Court affirmed one conviction and sentence, but reversed the remaining conviction and sentence for malfeasance in office. See State v. Schwehm, 97-1544 (La.App. 1st Cir.5/15/98); 713 So.2d 697. The Louisiana Supreme Court granted the state's writ application and reinstated the conviction and sentence which this Court had reversed. Additionally, the case was remanded to us for consideration of the assignments of error pretermitted on original appeal with respect to that conviction and sentence. See State v. Schwehm, 98-1599 (La.3/19/99); 729 So.2d 548.

FACTS

On December 13, 1990, defendant, a practicing attorney, was sworn in as the Justice of the Peace for Ward 8 of St. Tammany Parish. In January of 1994, the office of the legislative auditor conducted an audit of defendant's office. The investigation revealed that, as of the time of the investigation, defendant had not remitted to St. Tammany Parish any portion of the litter fines he had imposed and collected. Subsequently, defendant was indicted for two counts of malfeasance in office alleged to have occurred between January 1, 1991 and December 31, 1993. Count one charged that defendant failed to remit to St. Tammany Parish litter fines he collected as required by statute and parish ordinance. Count three charged that he illegally collected fees and charged persons for the lodging and filing of peace bonds with the Justice of the Peace's Court.[1]

On original appeal, this Court affirmed defendant's conviction and sentence on count three (peace bonds), but reversed his *266 conviction and sentence on count one (litter fines). Most of the assignments of error and arguments raised by defendant applied to both of his convictions equally and, therefore, were considered and disposed of in our original opinion. However, defendant raised several allegations in connection with a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel raised in his motion for new trial which related claim of ineffective assistance of counsel raised in his motion for new trial which related solely to his litter fine conviction. Because we reversed that conviction and sentence, consideration of those allegations was pretermitted. For the same reasons, we did not consider defendant's claim that the sentence imposed for his litter fine conviction was excessive. In accordance with the order of the Louisiana Supreme Court, we now consider these issues, which were the only ones pretermitted on original appeal.

INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL

The United States Supreme Court has established a two-part test for review of a convicted defendant's claim that his counsel's assistance was so defective as to require reversal of a conviction. In order to prevail on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, a defendant must show both that counsel's performance was deficient, meaning that counsel made errors so serious that he was not functioning as the `counsel' guaranteed the defendant by the Sixth Amendment, and that counsel's errors prejudiced the defense. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 2064, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984); State v. Sanders, 93-0001, p. 25 (La.App. 1st Cir.11/30/94); 648 So.2d 1272, 1291, cert. denied, 517 U.S. 1246, 116 S.Ct. 2504, 135 L.Ed.2d 194 (1996). In evaluating the performance of counsel, the "inquiry must be whether counsel's assistance was reasonable considering all the circumstances." Strickland, 466 U.S. at 688, 104 S.Ct. at 2065. "The defendant must show that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. A reasonable probability is a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome." Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. at 2068.

In the present case, defendant raises several allegations of deficient performance by his two trial attorneys which relate solely to the malfeasance conviction arising from litter fine collections. As noted by the supreme court in its per curiam, defendant's primary defense at trial with respect to the litter fine charge was the claim that there was a "[l]ack under state and local law of any time period for remittance of the litter fines by justice of the peace courts, together with the confusion interjected into the law by the conflicting 1992 enactments regarding LSA-R.S. 25:1112(A)...." Schwehm, 729 So.2d at 550. With respect to this defense, defendant argues on appeal that his attorneys were ineffective in failing to present evidence that he tendered a check in the amount of $4,220.00, dated April 15, 1994, to the St. Tammany Parish Police Jury (Police Jury) as payment of litter fines collected in 1991-92. Additionally, he argues several witnesses should have been called who would have testified as to the confusion in the law regarding litter fines collections, as well as his attempts to seek clarification on this issue.

Our review reveals no error in the trial court's conclusion that defendant presented insufficient evidence at the motion hearing to establish his attorneys' trial performance was deficient. Defendant argues strenuously that his attorneys should have presented evidence at trial as to the fact that he sent a check to the Police Jury in the amount of $4,220.00, dated April 15, 1994, as a remittance for litter fines collected in 1991 and 1992. However, the fact that defendant attempted to make this remittance would appear to be of little probative value on the issue of guilt or innocence, since the remittance was not attempted until well after defendant was *267 under investigation for possible improprieties regarding litter fine collections. Thus, we believe there is little probability that evidence of the 1994 remittance would have affected the outcome of the trial, particularly when such evidence is considered in light of the evidence presented at trial indicating that defendant intentionally used money collected from litter fines for his own benefit. In its per curiam opinion reinstating defendant's conviction and sentence, the supreme court outlined this evidence as follows:

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

Related

Schwehm v. Jones
872 So. 2d 1140 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2004)
In re Schwehm
860 So. 2d 1108 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2003)
State v. Lam
837 So. 2d 749 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
754 So. 2d 264, 1999 WL 743959, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-schwehm-lactapp-1999.