State v. Winters

221 So. 3d 159, 17 La.App. 3 Cir. 48, 2017 WL 2179455, 2017 La. App. LEXIS 882
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 17, 2017
Docket17-48
StatusPublished

This text of 221 So. 3d 159 (State v. Winters) 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. Winters, 221 So. 3d 159, 17 La.App. 3 Cir. 48, 2017 WL 2179455, 2017 La. App. LEXIS 882 (La. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

CONERY, Judge.

| ¶ Defendant, Bill Eric Winters, was convicted of simple burglary, a violation of La.R.S. 14:62, and originally sentenced to serve seven years at hard labor. State v. Winters, 11-581, 12-205, 13-303 (La.App. 3 Cir. 7/24/13), 118 So.3d 104, writ denied, 13-1959 (La. 2/21/14), 133 So.3d 681. Defendant was then adjudicated a multiple felony offender based on eight prior felony convictions and sentenced to serve twelve years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. Defendant and the State appealed. This court held Defendant should have been sentenced under the habitual offender law in accordance with La.R.S. 15:529.1(A)(1)(c)(ii),1 which mandates a life sentence. Defendant’s sentence was remanded to the trial court for resentencing in accordance with that statute.

On remand, the trial court resentenced Defendant to fourteen years at hard labor. [162]*162The trial court also denied Defendant's motion to reconsider the fourteen-year sentence. Defendant has now appealed that sentence, arguing the proper sentence is the original seven-year sentence, or alternatively, the twelve-year sentence. The State has filed a brief indicating it does not oppose the'current fourteen-year sentence. For the following reasons, we affirm Defendant's fourteen-year sentence.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Defendant committed simple burglary when he entered Oncologies, Inc. in Lafayette, Louisiana without authorization on a Sunday morning while the business was closed. One of the employees testified at trial that “her desk drawer was open and ‘some Gobstoppers and some special dark chocolate’ were missing from her desk, and her calendar on her desk had been moved.” Winters, 118 So.3d at 109. An officer testified that he found Gobstopper candy in Defendant’s possession at the time of his arrest.

ERRORS PATENT

In accordance with La.Code Crim.P. art. 920, all appeals are reviewed for errors patent on the face of the record. After reviewing the record, we find that there ar¿ no errors patent.

ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR

In his sole assignment of error for this appeal, Defendant argues his fourteen-year sentence is excessive. In our previous decision in this case, this court discussed the State’s argument for a mandatory life sentence and agreed that the statute at issue does provide for a mandatory life sentence under the habitual offender law as an eighth felony offender. Winters, 118 So.3d 104. However, this court also noted that the trial court “may deviate from that statutorily mandated sentence if it determines that a particular sentence (including one mandated by the Habitual Offender Law) is excessive under Article I, Section 20 of the Louisiana Constitution.” Id. at 112. This court noted on original appeal that, the trial court had not stated extraordinary circumstances to allow deviation from the mandatory life sentence.

On remand, the trial court considered Defendant’s “record of non-violent [sic] offenses[.]” The trial court also noted Defendant “may be a victim of legislative failure to assign sentences that are meaningful or tailored to the culpability of the offender, the gravity of the offense!,] and the circumstances of the case.” Further, the trial court stated that although Defendant “continues to show some disregard for the law, [he] will not benefit nor will our tax payers benefit by subjecting him to imprisonment for the remainder of his life, without the | abenefit of parole or suspension of sentence.” Reviewing Defendant’s history, the trial court noted three of Defendant’s siblings “died prematurely!,]” and an expert witness had reported Defendant himself “was a victim of molestation ,.. when he was just eight years old, and that [Defendant] began experiencing depression as a result.” Additionally, -at the sentencing hearing on remand, Defendant filed certificates showing his accomplishments during his incarceration, According to Defendant, he received a Spiritual Growth Certificate from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary on July 13, 2016; five Certificates of Completion in Life Prep, Substance Abuse Education, and Living in Balance courses from the Rayburn Correctional Center from 2014 to 2016; a Certificate of Completion of the One Year Faith Based Certificate Program from the Providence Learning Center of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary on July 13, 2016; eight Certificates of Com[163]*163pletion- of courses of stu'dy of the Christian Growth Study Plan in 2015 and 2016; and a certificate of completion of an anger management program on November 19, 2013.

After considering all the evidence, the trial court imposed a fourteen-year hard labor sentence for reasons stated on the record on remand. Importantly, the State did not appeal the trial court’s fourteen-year hard labor sentence. Although the State’s brief argues Defendant is not exceptional and the sentence is unconstitutionally lenient, it “has decided ... not to appeal this sentence.” We find the decision by the trial court to deviate from the mandatory life sentence as set forth in the habitual offender statute in effect at the time, La.R.S. 15:1529.1(A)(1)(c)(ii), and sentence the defendant to fourteen years at hard labor was based on sufficient evidence and was within his discretion.

|4We recognize that the amount defendant took in this burglary, some small amount of candy, is minisculé, and that if the sentence was based solely on the amount stolen, the sentence imposed ‘on remand may be excessive. However, the elements of the crime of burglary were proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Considering that Defendant has seven previous felonies, albeit all nonviolent, the trial court was faced with a decision on remand of whether to impose the mandatory life sentence, or, finding that unconstitutionally excessive, impose the longest sentence it felt would be constitutionally permissible.

This court has previously discussed the standard for reviewing excessive sentence claims in general:

[Louisiana Constitution Article] I, § 20 guarantees that,- “[n]o law shall subject any person to cruel -or unusual punishment.” To constitute an excessive sentence, the reviewing court must find the penalty so grossly disproportionate to the severity of the crime as to shock our sense of justice or that the sentence makes no measurable contribution to acceptable penal goals and is, therefore, nothing more than a needless imposition of pain and suffering. The trial court has wide discretion in the imposition of sentence within the statutory limits and such sentence shall not be set aside as excessive absent a manifest abuse of discretion. The relevant question is whether the trial court' abused its broad sentencing discretion, not whether another sentence might have been more appropriate.

State v. Barling, 00-1241, 00-1591, p. 12 (La.App. 3 Cir. 1/31/01), 779 So.2d 1035, 1042, writ denied, 01-838 (La. 2/1/02), 808 So.2d 331 (second alteration in original) (citations omitted).

Even though a penalty falls within the statutory sentencing range, it may still be unconstitutionally excessive:

In deciding whether a sentence is shocking'or makes no meaningful contribution to acceptable penal goals, an appellate court may consider several factors including the nature of the offense, the circumstances of the offender, the legislative purpose behind the punishment and a comparison of the sentences imposed for similar crimes. State v. Smith,

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Bluebook (online)
221 So. 3d 159, 17 La.App. 3 Cir. 48, 2017 WL 2179455, 2017 La. App. LEXIS 882, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-winters-lactapp-2017.