State v. Theriot

782 So. 2d 1078, 2001 WL 80175
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 30, 2001
Docket00-KA-870
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 782 So. 2d 1078 (State v. Theriot) 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. Theriot, 782 So. 2d 1078, 2001 WL 80175 (La. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

782 So.2d 1078 (2001)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Robert L. THERIOT.

No. 00-KA-870.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

January 30, 2001.

*1079 Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Ellen S. Fantaci, Terry Boudreaux, Jim Scott, Spiro Latsis, Assistant District Attorneys, 24th Judicial District, Courthouse Annex, Gretna, LA, Counsel for the State of Louisiana.

Kevin V. Boshea, Williams Boshea & Ehle, New Orleans, LA, Counsel for defendant-appellant.

Court composed of Judges CHEHARDY, McMANUS and GAUDIN, Pro Tempore.

CLARENCE E. McMANUS, Judge.

This Crosby[1] appeal on behalf of Robert L. Theriot, Defendant, arises from a guilty plea for third offense, driving while intoxicated (DWI 3), following the denial of a motion to quash one of the two predicate guilty pleas. We affirm Defendant's conviction, vacate the sentence in part, and remand the matter for re-sentencing.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

A bill of information was filed in the instant matter on July 8, 1997, charging Defendant with a violation of LSA-R.S. 14:98.3. Defendant's motion to quash the information was filed on October 21, 1999; the motion was denied on November 29, 1999. On December 7, 1999, Defendant executed a waiver of rights form, was advised of his constitutional rights, and pled guilty as charged in accordance with Crosby, reserving his rights to appeal the trial judge's ruling. The trial judge then sentenced Defendant to serve three years at hard labor, the first six months of which are to be served without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. The judge also imposed a fine of $2,000.00 and ordered the sentence to run concurrently with the sentence imposed in district court case number 97-4584, reckless operation of a vehicle. Defendant assigns as errors the denial of the motion to quash and the sufficiency of the predicate offenses.

DISCUSSION OF ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR 1 AND 2

The bill of information filed in this case charges Defendant with DWI-3, the offense having been committed on August 30, 1996, and following two previous DWI convictions. According to the bill of information, Defendant was first convicted of DWI on June 23, 1993, in case number 255287 in the Parish of St. Charles, and again on February 8, 1995, in case number [F]1010478 in the First Parish Court for the Parish of Jefferson.

Defendant contends that the trial judge improperly denied his motion to quash both the 1993 and 1995 predicate guilty pleas. Specifically, Defendant asserts that his predicate guilty pleas cannot be used for enhancement purposes because he was not represented by counsel and did *1080 not knowingly and intelligently waive his right to counsel when he entered the prior guilty pleas. Before we address the merits of Defendant's argument, however, we must note that only one of these two earlier offenses is properly before us.

We are without authority to review what was not ruled on below, and we cannot say, based on the record, that sufficiency of the 1993 conviction was adjudicated by the trial court. In the written motion to quash, as well as the amended motion, Defendant referred to two predicate guilty pleas. However, defense counsel limited his argument on the motion to quash to the 1995 conviction (docket number F1010478). Defense counsel informed the trial judge at the hearing that "[t]he basis for my motion to quash is that his second guilty plea, ... docket No. [F]1010478 ... is insufficient under the guidelines, as set forth by the Fifth Circuit under State v. Garrity." Defense counsel concluded his argument by stating, "I would move this Court to quash the second First Parish Court conviction case, No. [F]1010478, which would leave Mr. Theriot as ... a second offender in the new case." No reference was made to the other predicate guilty plea. Additionally, the exhibits introduced by Defendant and the State pertain exclusively to the 1995 conviction. We further note that the trial court's written judgment likewise does not specify whether the judgment was based on reviewing the 1993 or the 1995 conviction. However, since the evidence and argument at the hearing related only to the 1995 conviction, it is clear that the judgment was based on the later conviction.[2] Accord, State v. Garrity, 97-958 (La.App.5 Cir.1/27/98), 708 So.2d 1096, 1097 (wherein we concluded that defendant could challenge on appeal only the predicate guilty plea that was the subject of the trial court's denial of the motion to quash). Therefore, we will consider only arguments raised in regard to Defendant's 1995 conviction.

Regarding the 1995 conviction, Defendant claims he was unrepresented when he entered his guilty plea and that he did not knowingly and intelligently waive his right to counsel. The State responds that the totality of the record demonstrates a valid waiver .

In State v. Carlos, 98-1366 (La.7/7/99), 738 So.2d 556, the Louisiana Supreme Court extended the burden-shifting principles for habitual offender proceedings announced in State v. Shelton, 621 So.2d 769 (La.1993) to the recidivist provisions of the DWI statute. We recognized the Carlos burden-shifting scheme in State v. Pickett, 99-532 (La.App.5 Cir.10/26/99), 746 So.2d 185. Based on Carlos, when a defendant challenges the constitutional validity of a predicate DWI conviction resulting from a guilty plea, the State bears the initial burden of proving, 1) the existence of the guilty plea and 2) that an attorney represented defendant at the plea. Carlos, 738 So.2d at 559. Carlos neither involved nor addressed the State's initial burden when the challenged guilty plea was taken without representation by counsel.

Before Carlos, Louisiana jurisprudence held that an uncounselled misdemeanor DWI guilty plea could be used to enhance a subsequent DWI offense if the State established that defendant knowingly and *1081 intelligently waived his right to counsel when the prior guilty plea was entered. State v. Stevison, 97-3122 (La.10/30/98), 721 So.2d 843; State v. Strain, 585 So.2d 540 (La.1991); Garrity, 708 So.2d at 1097.

In State v. Boudreaux, 99-1017 (La.App. 5 Cir.2/16/00), 756 So.2d 505, we recognized that the existing jurisprudence on the issue of uncounselled predicate DWI pleas remained valid in the wake of Carlos. Id. at 508. In Boudreaux we concluded that when a defendant challenges a predicate DWI guilty plea entered into without counsel, the State must prove as part of its initial burden under Carlos that defendant knowingly and intelligently waived the right to counsel before entering the guilty plea. Id.

In Strain, the Louisiana Supreme Court established guidelines that the trial judge should follow when a defendant pleads guilty to a misdemeanor. According to Strain, the trial judge should expressly advise defendant of his right to counsel and to appointed counsel if he is indigent. The judge should further determine on the record that the waiver of counsel is made knowingly and intelligently under the circumstances. Factors bearing on the validity of this determination include the age, education, experience, background, competency and conduct of the accused, as well as the nature, complexity and seriousness of the charge facing defendant. Strain at 543-544.

In Stevison, the Louisiana Supreme Court explained that Strain did not establish inflexible criteria or a magic word formula for determining the voluntariness of a waiver.

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Bluebook (online)
782 So. 2d 1078, 2001 WL 80175, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-theriot-lactapp-2001.