State v. Stiller

225 So. 3d 1154, 16 La.App. 5 Cir. 659, 2017 WL 3167102, 2017 La. App. LEXIS 1380
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 26, 2017
DocketNO. 16-KA-659
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 225 So. 3d 1154 (State v. Stiller) 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. Stiller, 225 So. 3d 1154, 16 La.App. 5 Cir. 659, 2017 WL 3167102, 2017 La. App. LEXIS 1380 (La. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinions

CHEHARDY, C.J.

| defendant, Marilyn S. Stiller, appeals her conviction of and sentence for exploitation of an infirmed person. For the reasons that follow, we affirm defendant’s conviction and sentence.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On .September 3, 2013, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney filed a bill of information charging defendant, Marilyn S. Stiller, with theft of the assets of a person who is aged, a .violation of La. R.S. 14:67.21(0(1). Defendant was arraigned arid pled not guilty. On March 17,2014, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney filed a superseding bill of information charging defendant with exploitation of an “infirmed person” in violation of La. R.S. 14:93.4. Defendant was arraigned on this charge and pled not guilty.

[1156]*1156On May 14, 2014, defendant withdrew her not guilty plea and pleaded guilty under La. C.Cr.P. art. 893 and North Carolina v. Alford1 to exploitation of an “elderly person” in violation of La. R.S. 14:93.4. That same date, the court deferred imposition of sentence and placed defendant on two years of active probation, followed by three years of inactive probation. Following a restitution hearing on June 23, 2014, the court ordered defendant to pay restitution in the amount of $52,710.20.

On May 13, 2016, defendant filed a pro se application for post-conviction relief (APCR) raising claims of ineffective assistance of counsel, newly discovered evidence, and perjury. On June 1, 2016, the court dismissed defendant’s APCR without prejudice and permitted defendant to file an APCR requesting an out-of-time appeal within thirty days. On June 30, 2016, defendant, through counsel, | ¿filed an APCR seeking an out-of-time appeal that the court granted on July 20, 2016.

FACTS

Because defendant pled guilty, the underlying facts were not developed at trial. Yet, during defendant’s plea colloquy, the State provided the following factual basis:

Between the dates of December 3, 2009, and July 31, 2011, defendant exploited an infirmed and aged person, Creóla McCants, DOB: 4/16/1928, by using a power of attorney wherein defendant was the agent for the principal, Mrs. McCants, and that power of attorney was used, not for the principal, but for defendant’s own profit or advantage by means of fraudulent conduct, practice, or representation, that being submitting those two powers of attorney executed within the Parish of Jefferson to both the VA, Veterans Affairs, and to the Road Home Program to obtain funds that were payable to Mrs. McCants.

DISCUSSION

In her first assignment of error on appeal, defendant argues that her guilty plea was involuntary and unknowing because her trial counsel was ineffective in failing to investigate facts and defenses before she pleaded guilty. She contends that she informed her counsel that she was innocent, but that he did not inspect the evidence she provided to prove her innocence, nor did he present that evidence to the prosecutors and their investigators.

She also alleges that her counsel did not give her adequate information in advance of the potential plea bargain so she could intelligently consider her options and make a reasonable and informed decision. Defendant claims that her counsel falsely indicated that her case could be resolved through the diversion program and that her counsel did not inform her until the day she pled guilty that the program was not available to her. Defendant also claims that she was not aware that a plea bargain was offered until the morning of her guilty plea and that she did not have sufficient time to consider it.

13As a general proposition, the validity of a guilty plea turns on whether the defendant was informed of three fundamental constitutional rights—his privilege against compulsory self-incrimination, his right to trial by jury, and his right to confront his accusers—and whether, having been informed of those rights, the defendant knowingly and voluntarily waived them. State v. Lee, 15-108 (La. App. 5 Cir. 6/30/15), 171 So.3d 1214, 1217. Here, defendant argues that her plea was not knowing or voluntary on account of counsel’s ineffective assistance.

A defendant is entitled to effective assistance of counsel under the Sixth Amend-[1157]*1157merit to the United States Constitution and Article I, § 13 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974. State v. Francois, 13-616 (La. App. 5 Cir. 01/31/14), 134 So.3d 42, 58, writ denied, 14-431 (La. 9/26/14), 149 So.3d 261. Under the standard for ineffective assistance of counsel set forth in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984), a conviction must be reversed if the defendant proves: (1) that counsel’s performance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness under prevailing professional norms; and (2) counsel’s inadequate performance prejudiced defendant to the extent that the trial was rendered unfair and the verdict suspect. State v. Lyons, 15-2197 (La. 9/23/16), 199 So.3d 1140, 1141.

For claims like defendant’s that counsel’s ineffective assistance rendered a guilty plea invalid, the Strickland analysis under the first deficiency prong remains unchanged, whereas under the second prejudice prong, “the defendant must show that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s errors, he would not have pleaded guilty and would have insisted on going to trial.” Hill v. Lockhart, 474 U.S. 52, 58-59, 106 S.Ct. 366, 370, 88 L.Ed.2d 203 (1985).

Generally, an ineffective assistance of counsel claim is most appropriately addressed through an application for post-conviction relief filed in the district court, where a full evidentiary hearing can be conducted, if necessary, rather than |4by direct appeal. State v. Ferrera, 16-243 (La. App. 5 Cir. 12/14/16), 208 So.3d 1060, 1066-67. But when the record contains sufficient evidence to rule on the merits of the claim and the issue is properly raised in an assignment of error on appeal, it may be addressed in the interest of judicial economy. Id. at 1067. If, on the other hand, the record does not contain sufficient evidence to fully explore a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, the claim should be relegated to post-conviction proceedings. Id.

Here, the record is insufficient to fully consider defendant’s claim that counsel’s ineffective assistance rendered her guilty plea unknowing and involuntary. Based on the limited record here, defendant’s allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel would be more appropriately raised in an application for post-conviction relief in the trial court, where a full evidentiary hearing can be conducted, if necessary, and defendant can present evidence to support her allegations. Accordingly, we decline to consider the merits of defendant’s first assignment of error.

In defendant’s second assignment of error, she argues that the district court erred in its June 1, 2016 dismissal of her APCR. She contends that the court should have considered her APCR as a motion to withdraw her guilty plea. ■

In its June 1, 2016 ruling, the court dismissed defendant’s APCR pursuant to La. C.Cr.P. art.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
225 So. 3d 1154, 16 La.App. 5 Cir. 659, 2017 WL 3167102, 2017 La. App. LEXIS 1380, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-stiller-lactapp-2017.