Source: http://www.leagle.com/decision/19831156440So2d716_11094/STATE%20v.%20JORDAN
Timestamp: 2017-06-27 03:41:16
Document Index: 479416263

Matched Legal Cases: ['art. 905', 'art. 905', 'art. 905', 'art. 905', 'art. 905', '§ 1202', 'art. 905', 'art. 905']

STATE v. JORDAN | 440 So.2d 716 (1983) | Leagle.com
440 So.2d
440 So.2d 716 (1983)
Citing Case 440 So.2d 716 (1983)
Dwight Doskey, John M. Lawrence, Orleans Indigent Defender Program, New Orleans, for Don Jordan.
BAILES, Justice Pro Tem.*
The defendant was convicted of first degree murder for which the jury recommended the death sentence on its finding the aggravating circumstance in La.Code Crim.P. art. 905.4(a), i.e., that defendant committed the murder while engaged in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of an armed robbery or aggravated burglary. On appeal, this court affirmed the defendant's conviction, however, the death penalty was set aside on the ground that an arbitrary factor had been injected into the jury's deliberations during the sentencing hearing. See State v. Jordan, 420 So.2d 420 (La.1982).
To apply this enhancing amendment to the aggravating circumstances to the sentencing procedure of this defendant for this crime is an ex post facto application of the law. Such is proscribed by the constitution. See State v. English, 367 So.2d 815 (La. 1979) and State v. Collins, 370 So.2d 533 (La.1979).
The sentencing hearing shall focus on the circumstances of the offense and the character and propensities of the offender. The hearing shall be conducted according to the rules of evidence. Evidence relative to aggravating or mitigating circumstances shall be relevant irrespective of whether the defendant places his character at issue. Insofar as applicable, the procedure shall be the same as that provided for trial in the Code of Criminal Procedure. The jury may consider any evidence offered at the trial on the issue of guilt. The defendant may testify in his own behalf. In the event of retrial the defendant's testimony shall not be admissible except for purposes of impeachment.
The first sentence of art. 905.2 puts at issue the defendant's character and his propensities. It is the law which initiates the inquiry into the facts relating to the character of the defendant. With the defendant's character at issue, along with whatever else is germane to the determination of sentence, this article then mandates that the (sentencing) hearing shall be conducted according to the rules of evidence. Because of the gravity of this sentencing hearing, as distinguished from a penalty-determining process in a lesser offense conviction initiated and conducted by a judge as the sentences the safeguard is statutorily provided that this entire hearing shall be conducted according to the rules of evidence. These rules include the general rules on relevancy, documentary evidence, competency of witnesses, character evidence, impeaching and corroborative evidence.1
If the law were otherwise, there would not be a sure way for the sentencing jury to fulfill the mandates of this article of the code in the event the defendant elected not to testify or offer any witness who put his (the offender's) character at issue as to the mitigating circumstances or through other testimony. Not all of the mitigating circumstances are such that put at issue the defendant's character.2 To construe art. 905.2 in the manner urged by the defendant would be tantamount to holding that the convicted offender shall have the right to determine whether his character should be considered. Such a holding would fly right in the teeth of the clear and unequivocal first sentence which states: "The sentencing hearing shall focus on the circumstances of the offense and the character and propensities of the offender." (Emphasis added.)
From the relator's (Jordan) application for writs, it appears that the trial judge ruled the state could anticipatorily introduce evidence of defendant's prior convictions. We hold that the state may introduce prior convictions in its case-in-chief in the penalty phase of the case. See State v. Sawyer, 422 So.2d 95 (La.1982).
The defendant further argues that the state is prohibited from using prior convictions as evidence of his character for the reason those convictions are not based on proper Boykinized pleas. This issue is settled by our ruling in State v. Mattheson, 407 So.2d 1150 (La.1982), wherein we stated:
Nor do we find any merit in defendant's related argument that the trial judge erred in permitting introduction of the prior convictions without a showing by the state that defendant was represented by counsel or had waived same. In Lewis v. United States, 445 U.S. 55, 100 S.Ct. 915, 63 L.Ed.2d 198 (1980), the United States Supreme Court recognized that while uncounseled felony convictions could not be used for certain purposes, the Court stated that it had "never suggested that an uncounseled conviction was invalid for all purposes." In the instant case, the prior convictions were used in the sentencing phase of the trial. The convictions were not being used to enhance punishment; rather, defendant's past criminal history was merely a part of the total picture of his "character and propensities." It did not of itself trigger added penalties. Hence, we do not consider the sentencing hearing to be one of those instances where the state is required to affirmatively show that defendant was represented by counsel or had waived same before a prior conviction may be used to show the character and propensities of the defendant.
WATSON, J., subscribes to the opinion and assigns additional reasons.
As the United States Supreme Court has recently held, there is a fundamental difference between the guilt/innocence determination at issue in the first phase of a bifurcated trial and the life/death choice at the penalty phase of trial. In sentencing, a jury must have before it all relevant information "regarding the individual characteristics of the defendant and his offense, including the nature and circumstances of the crime and the defendant's character, background, history, mental condition, and physical condition." California v. Ramos, ___ U.S. ___ at ___, 103 S.Ct. 3446 at 3455, 77 L.Ed.2d 1171 at 1184 (1983).
The "record" of the offender is a constitutionally indispensable consideration in inflicting the death penalty. Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U.S. 280 at 304, 96 S.Ct. 2978 at 2991, 49 L.Ed.2d 944 at 961 (1976). See Zant v. Stephens, ___ U.S. ___, 103 S.Ct. 2733, 77 L.Ed.2d 235 (1983) and Barclay v. Florida, ___ U.S. ___, 103 S.Ct. 3418, 77 L.Ed.2d 1134 (1983). Nothing is more factually or legally relevant to a defendant's sentence than his criminal record.
At the outset, it is important to note that there is absolutely no constitutional prohibition against introduction of competent evidence of prior convictions during the prosecution's case-in-chief in the penalty phase of a bifurcated capital sentence proceeding. Zant v. Stephens, ___ U.S. ___, 103 S.Ct. 2733, 77 L.Ed.2d 235 (1983). Therefore, the decision turns on our determination of whether the statute clearly prohibits such evidence or, if the statute is unclear, whether the Legislature intended the prohibition of such evidence.
As the first sentence of Article 905.2 notes, the focus of the sentencing hearing is on the circumstances of the crime and the character and propensities of the defendant. Since the evidence as to the circumstances of the crime has already been introduced at the guilt phase of the trial, it is obvious that the primary purpose of the hearing in the sentencing phase is the introduction of additional evidence relating to the character and propensities of the defendant, which will enable the jury to determine which murderers should receive the death penalty and which should not. See Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, 96 S.Ct. 2909, 49 L.Ed. 859 (1976). It is therefore highly doubtful that the Legislature intended for the defendant to control the decision on which evidence of his character and propensities will be introduced at the penalty hearing. Yet this is exactly what the adoption of defendant's argument would permit.
The second sentence of Article 905.2 provides that the sentencing hearing shall be conducted according to the rules of evidence. While this provision could be interpreted narrowly to mean all rules of evidence, it is much more likely that the intent of the provision was to conduct the hearing under the rules of evidence applicable to the determination of sentence, rather than to the determination of guilt. Thus, the rules designed to insure that evidence is competent and reliable, such as the rules of authenticity, competency, and other such rules, are clearly applicable to the capital sentencing hearing. However, the very purpose of the rule of evidence prohibiting character evidence in a normal trial before the defendant puts his character at issue is designed to prevent the jury from determining guilt on the basis of character, rather than on the basis of evidence of the particular crime. In the usual trial, the character of the defendant is usually irrelevant, or only marginally relevant, to the issue of guilt. But in a sentencing hearing, capital or otherwise, the character of the defendant is perhaps the most relevant issue for which evidence (in addition to the evidence introduced at the guilt trial) should be introduced. Furthermore, in a normal trial, the probative value of character evidence is almost always outweighed by its prejudicial effect. But in the sentencing phase of a trial, capital or otherwise, the probative value of character evidence is extremely high, since the character and propensities of the defendant is the principal inquiry, and the unquestionably devastating prejudicial effect does not outweigh such high probative value.
I concur in the majority opinion insofar as it holds that the amendment to La.C. Cr.P. art. 905.4(c) cannot be applied retroactively to crimes committed before its effective date and insofar as it holds that the state may introduce, under La.C.Cr.P. art. 905.2, prior convictions of the defendant in its case-in-chief in the penalty phase of the trial. Not the least of my reasons is that the issue has been settled by a majority of this Court. State v. Sawyer, 422 So.2d 95 (La.1982); State v. Mattheson, 407 So.2d 1150 (La.1982).
Furthermore, in my view there is strong reason to believe that the federal courts will disagree with our Court on this issue, whether uncounseled convictions can be used in the sentencing phase of a defendant's trial. The Court's reliance in Mattheson, on Lewis v. United States, 445 U.S. 55, 100 S.Ct. 915, 63 L.Ed.2d 198 (1980) was misplaced. Lewis involved a prosecution for possession of a specified firearm by a convicted felon in violation of 18 U.S.C.A. § 1202(a)(1). Although the Court therein permitted the use of uncounseled convictions in such prosecution, it expressly referred to two other cases: United States v. Tucker, 404 U.S. 443, 92 S.Ct. 589, 30 L.Ed.2d 592 (1972), "where it was held that such a conviction [invalid under Gideon] could not be considered by a court in sentencing a defendant after a subsequent conviction;" and Loper v. Beto, 405 U.S. 473, 92 S.Ct. 1014, 31 L.Ed.2d 374 (1972), "where the Court disallowed the use of the conviction to impeach the general credibility of the defendant." In my view, the question of whether uncounseled guilty pleas can be used in the penalty phase of a capital case in determining the appropriate sentence is much more closely related to these latter two cases than it is to the issue in Lewis. Accordingly, I think the use of prior convictions that were uncounseled is prohibited under the United States Constitution. I likewise think the same result would obtain in the case of a prior conviction which would be invalid under Boykin. Therefore, I dissent from that portion of the majority opinion which advises the trial court that such prior convictions can be utilized in the penalty phase of defendant's trial.
In a dissent in State of Louisiana v. Antonio James, 431 So.2d 399, this writer wrote that although C.Cr.P. art. 905.2 directs that the sentencing hearing focus on the "character propensities of the offender" that it also required that the formal hearing on that matter be "conducted according to the rules of evidence". C.Cr.P. art. 905.2. The rules of evidence would not permit the introduction of other crimes committed by the defendant unless he took the witness stand and put his character at issue.
As Justice Watson noted in his concurrence, the jury must have before it the individual characteristics and his offenses, including the nature and circumstances of the crime and the defendant's character, background, history, mental condition and physical condition. California v. Ramos, ___ U.S. ___ at ___, 103 S.Ct. 3446 at 3455, 77 L.Ed.2d 1171 at 1184 (1983). Should the court have followed this writer's dissent in Antonio James, Justice Lemmon's remark in his concurrence, that the defendant would be able to control a decision on which evidence of his character and propensities could be introduced at the penalty hearing would have become fact. As noted in the majority opinion, "it is axiomatic that the conviction per se puts the convicted offender's character at issue".
FootNotes * Bailes, J. sitting for Justice Marcus.
1. In the absence of a codification of the law of evidence, the principal source of statutory evidence law is found in La.R.S. Title 15, Criminal Procedure, Chapter 2.
2. Article 905.5 provides: