Case Name: STATE of Louisiana v. Robert D. HICKS
Court: Louisiana Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1981-09-08
Citations: 403 So. 2d 676
Docket Number: No. 80-KA-2822
Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Robert D. HICKS.
Judges: DENNIS, J., concurs. On the record in this case the sentence is not arbitrary or excessive.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 403
Pages: 676–678

Head Matter:
STATE of Louisiana v. Robert D. HICKS.
No. 80-KA-2822.
Supreme Court of Louisiana.
Sept. 8, 1981.
William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., John M. Mam- oulides, Dist. Atty., W. C. Douglas Friederi-chsen, Abbott J. Reeves, Asst. Dist. Attys., for plaintiff-appellee.
Robert Garrity, New Orleans and Joseph Montgomery, Metairie, of Indigent Defender Board, Robert E. Lee, for defendant-appellant.

Opinion:
ELLIS, Justice Ad Hoc.
Defendant Robert D. Hicks was charged by indictment with the crime of aggravated rape. The indictment was subsequently amended by the district attorney to include a second count, that of aggravated crime against nature. The case went to trial before a jury on both counts. After the State had rested its case and the defense had presented one witness, the defendant entered into a plea bargain with the State by virtue of which he withdrew his plea of not guilty to Count No. 2, aggravated crime against nature, and the State dismissed Count No. 1, aggravated rape.
It is clear from the record that the defendant, who was at all times represented by competent counsel, was examined by the trial judge in accordance with the standards and guidelines required by State ex rel. Jackson v. Henderson, 260 La. 90, 255 So.2d 85 (1971) and Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238, 89 S.Ct. 1709, 23 L.Ed.2d 274 (1969); that he fully understood his rights; that he knowingly and intelligently waived those rights; and that his plea of guilty was freely and voluntarily made, with full knowledge of its consequences. He was specifically advised that as a part of the plea bargain he would be sentenced to serve 15 years in the State Penitentiary, which were to run concurrently with a life sentence imposed by another division of the district court.
After sentence was imposed, defendant was granted an out of time appeal by this court, in which two assignments of error are urged. First, defendant complains of the failure of the trial judge to give reasons for imposing the maximum sentence, as required by Article 894.1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Second, it is argued that the sentence imposed was excessive in violation of the Louisiana and United States Constitutions.
In the case of State v. Curry, 400 So.2d 614 (La.1981), we said:
"The sentence for the possession of meth-amphetamines (81-KA-0275) was the result of plea bargaining culminating in a plea of guilty with the sentence to be given understood and agreed to. Under these circumstances we believe there was no necessity of listing enumerated reasons and that the defendant cannot complain of excessive length."
The same circumstances pertain in this case, and we find the specifications of error to be without merit.
The conviction and sentence are therefore affirmed.
DENNIS, J., concurs. On the record in this case the sentence is not arbitrary or excessive.
LEMMON, J., concurs and assigns reasons.
Judges Ellis, Lottinger, and Ponder of the Court of Appeal, First Circuit, participated in this decision as associate justices ad hoc, joined by Associate Justices Calogero, Dennis, Watson, and Lemmon.