Title: State v. Little

State: louisiana

Issuer: Louisiana Supreme Court

Document:

377 So. 2d 332 (1979) STATE of Louisiana v. Henry B. LITTLE, Robert Young and James Edwards. No. 64862. Supreme Court of Louisiana. November 12, 1979. Claude R. Sledge, Public Defender, for defendants-appellants. William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., James Lynn Davis, Dist. Atty., Herman L. Lawson, Asst. Dist. Atty., for plaintiff-appellee. *333 MARCUS, Justice.[*] Henry B. Little, Robert Young and James Edwards were charged in the same information with the crime of theft in violation of La.R.S. 14:67. Defendants withdrew their former pleas of not guilty and entered pleas of guilty to theft of a thing (copper wire) amounting to a value of one hundred dollars or more, but less than a value of five hundred dollars. After determining the pleas were made voluntarily with understanding of the nature of the charge, the trial judge accepted the pleas of guilty. Presentence investigations were ordered on each defendant. Subsequently, each defendant was sentenced to serve sixteen months at hard labor. On appeal, defendants rely on three assignments of error for reversal of their sentences. Finding reversible error in one of the assigned errors, we need not consider the others. Defendants contend the trial court erred in failing to comply with the sentencing guidelines set forth in La.Code Crim.P. art. 894.1 because the court did not state for the record the considerations taken into account and the factual basis for imposing sentences. Article 894.1 provides: [Emphasis added.] The trial court sentenced all three defendants on the same day to identical terms of imprisonment. Except for the defendants' names and ages, the minutes (there is no transcript of the sentencing hearing) reflecting the court's reasons for imposing sentences are also identical: Article 894.1 requires each sentence to be individualized; the sentence should be adapted to the offender as well as to the offense. State v. Jackson, 360 So. 2d 842 (La.1978). Article 894.1 lists three factors supporting imprisonment. The statute also enumerates eleven factors favoring suspension of sentence or probation, though it provides that these factors do not control the discretion of the court which is entitled to great weight. However, the trial court must state for the record the considerations taken into account and the factual basis therefor in imposing sentence. As stated in State v. Jackson, supra, at 844: In the instant case, the trial judge merely recited the three factors listed in art. 894.1(A) supporting imprisonment without stating the considerations taken into account and the factual basis therefor in imposing sentences of imprisonment. Presentence investigations had been ordered on each defendant. Although the judge stated that the past records of the defendants entered into his decision, he did not disclose what parts of their records were considered. Nor did he refer to the degree of involvement of each defendant in this particular case. If past criminal records or degree of involvement in the crime of each defendant varied, it is difficult to understand why each defendant was given the same sentence. Additionally, the trial judge stated that the circumstances surrounding the crime indicated that defendants did not believe the copper wire was abandoned. This determination supports defendants' pleas of guilty but does not disclose what mitigating factors enumerated in art. 894.1(B) were not present in this case. Unless the record discloses the questions taken into account and the factual basis therefor in imposing sentence, we are unable to review the excessiveness of the sentences imposed upon these defendants. See State v. Sepulvado, 367 So. 2d 762 (La.1979). Because the record does not reveal that the court complied with art. 894.1, we must set aside the sentences and remand for resentencing. For the reasons assigned, the convictions are affirmed; the sentences are vacated and set aside and the case is remanded to the district court for resentencing of defendants according to law and consistent with the views herein expressed. SUMMERS, J., dissents. [*] Chief Judge Paul B. Landry, Retired, is sitting by assignment as Associate Justice Ad Hoc in place of Tate, J. upon this case.