Case Name: STATE ex rel. Cleveland MITCHELL v. STATE of Louisiana
Court: Louisiana Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1991-05-06
Citations: 580 So. 2d 906
Docket Number: No. 89-KH-2532
Parties: STATE ex rel. Cleveland MITCHELL v. STATE of Louisiana.
Judges: LEMMON, J., dissents and assigns reasons.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 580
Pages: 906–910

Head Matter:
STATE ex rel. Cleveland MITCHELL v. STATE of Louisiana.
No. 89-KH-2532.
Supreme Court of Louisiana.
May 6, 1991.
Rehearing Denied June 13, 1991.
Dissenting Opinion of Justice Lemmon June 21, 1991.
James E. Boren, Baton Rouge, for Cleveland Mitchell, relator.
Harry Connick, Jack Peebles, Char-magne Padua, New Orleans, for State of La., defendant-respondent.

Opinion:
HALL, Justice.
After conviction of armed robbery, defendant was sentenced in December 1980 to 35 years at hard labor without mention of parole ineligibility as required by LSA-R.S. 14:64. Defendant was later adjudicated a habitual offender and was again sentenced to 35 years without mention of parole ineligibility. His conviction and sentence were affirmed on appeal. State v. Mitchell, 420 So.2d 686 (La.1982).
In 1986, the habitual offender adjudication and sentence were set aside by a successor judge pursuant to defendant's application for post-conviction relief, and the habitual offender bill was not pursued. After ordering a pre-sentence report, the successor judge sentenced defendant to 33 years at hard labor without benefit of parole. On defendant's appeal from this sentence, the court of appeal held that the 33-year sentence without parole eligibility was harsher than the 35-year sentence with parole eligibility, and that defendant could not be given a harsher sentence upon resentencing. The court reinstated the original sentence of 35 years at hard labor "with parole eligibility." State v. Mitchell, 547 So.2d 1136 (La.App. 4th Cir.1989).
Not satisfied with this relief, defendant applied for writs, which were granted, 568 So.2d 1047 (La.1990), primarily to consider the recurring problems arising out of sentences in cases where the sentencing judge does not state that the sentence is to be served without benefit of parole although the statute prescribing the penalty provides that the sentence shall be served without benefit of parole, so-called "illegally lenient" sentences.
Because the state did not apply for writs, however, the scope of our review is limited to consideration of the defendant's claim for further relief; other issues raised in the state's brief and which we may have anticipated addressing must await a proper case. We conclude that defendant is not entitled to further relief and recall the writ as improvidently granted.
In the court of appeal, the defendant argued that the 33-year sentence without benefit of parole is harsher than the original 35-year sentence with parole eligibility, and that the trial judge could not sentence him to a harsher sentence upon resentenc-ing after his successful post-conviction relief petition because of the chilling effect on asserting constitutional rights by post-conviction relief. Noting that he would have been eligible for parole under his original sentence in 11 years, 8 months (one-third of the sentence) and would not be eligible for parole under the new sentence for the full 33-year term thereof, defendant specifically asked that his sentence be reduced to 11 years, 8 months without eligibility for parole, the procedure followed by the Fourth Circuit in State v. Soco, 508 So.2d 915 (La.App. 4th Cir.1987), a similar case. The Fourth Circuit distinguished Soco, and reinstated the original sentence of 35 years with parole eligibility. One judge dissented, believing that the court of appeal could not increase the term of years imposed by the trial court and that the sentence should be reduced to 33 years with parole eligibility.
Now, in this court, defendant urges that the reinstatement of his original sentence by the court of appeal results in a harsher sentence than the sentence imposed by the trial court because it is longer in years and, primarily, because of an alleged policy of the parole board of not granting parole to persons serving sentences who are statutorily ineligible for parole even though the sentence imposed by the sentencing judge does not prohibit parole eligibility.
Specifically, the relief sought by defendant in this court is to (1) reduce the sentence to 11 years, 8 months without parole eligibility, or, alternatively, (2) remand the case to the trial court for an evidentiary hearing to establish the policy of the parole board and for resentencing to a sentence no harsher in any respect than the one originally imposed, which would have allowed parole eligibility in 11 years, 8 months.
The basic premise of defendant's appeal from the resentencing is that the second sentence could not be harsher than the original sentence under the principle of North Carolina v. Pearce, 395 U.S. 711, 89 S.Ct. 2072, 23 L.Ed.2d 656 (1969), followed by this court in State v. Franks, 391 So.2d 1133 (La.1980) and other eases. These cases stand for the proposition that the imposition of a harsher sentence upon re-sentencing after a successful appeal or post-conviction relief petition would have a chilling effect on a defendant's due process rights of review and is not permissible absent articulated justification.
Thus, the starting point or linchpin of defendant's appeal from the resentenc-ing is a comparison of the second sentence with the original sentence. The court of appeal reinstated the original sentence, which is the ultimate relief to which defendant could possibly be entitled on his appeal. Defendant cannot now be heard to turn his argument around and urge that the original sentence which was reinstated by the court of appeal is harsher than the second sentence imposed by the trial court on resentencing, which he urged was harsher than the original sentence as the basis for relief in the court of appeal.
Defendant is not entitled to the form of relief fashioned by the Fourth Circuit in State v. Soco, supra. In Soco, the defendant was sentenced for armed robbery to 99 years at hard labor, without mention of parole eligibility. The sentence was vacated on appeal due to failure of the trial court to comply with the sentencing guidelines of LSA-C.Cr.P. Art. 894.1. On remand, defendant was sentenced to 35 years at hard labor without benefit of parole. On appeal from the resentencing, the Fourth Circuit found the second sentence harsher than the original sentence because under the original sentence defendant would have become eligible for parole in 33 years, whereas the new sentence required defendant to serve the entire 35-year term without parole eligibility. The court amended and reduced the sentence to 33 years at hard labor without benefit of parole.
Defendant urges that he is entitled to the same sort of relief here, reduction of his sentence to the number of years, 11 years, 8 months, he would have had to serve to reach parole eligibility. There is no legal basis for the Soco approach or applying it in this case. To reduce defendant's sentence to 11 years, 8 months would require his release and discharge at the end of that term, a much more favorable sentence than that originally imposed and reinstated by the court of appeal. The original sentence, under existing jurisprudence, would allow only parole eligibility, not automatic release, at the end of that period. Parole eligibility does not guarantee parole, even absent the alleged no parole policy of the parole board, and parole, even if granted, carries conditions that extend beyond the date parole is granted. Defendant is not entitled to a more lenient sentence than the original sentence imposed, which itself was more lenient than statutorily required.
Defendant's argument concerning parole board policy is premature. The allegation made in brief is that the parole board has a policy of denying parole to anyone convicted of a crime which, by statute, is punishable by imprisonment without benefit of parole, e.g. armed robbery, even though the sentencing court imposed sentence without mention of parole ineligibility. It is argued that this policy runs counter to the decisions in State ex rel. Almore v. Criminal District Court, 433 So.2d 712 (La.1983) and State ex rel. Pierre v. Maggio, 445 So.2d 425 (La.1984), both per cu-riam opinions which held that the custodian's obligation is to see that only the sentence imposed is the sentence served, and ordered the Department of Corrections to correct their records to show the sentence to be served as imposed without restriction as to parole eligibility.
As stated, the claim is premature in this case. The existence of such a policy of the parole board has not been established by evidence in the record,, being supported only by copies of letters attached to filings in the appellate courts which are not conclusive. Defendant is not yet eligible for parole and does not allege that he has been denied parole. Any claim relating to eligibility for parole should be brought in an appropriate proceeding in an appropriate court at such time as defendant is adversely affected by action or non-action of the parole board. See LSA-R.S. 15:571.15 and 574.2(B)(2).
For the reasons assigned, the writ previously granted is recalled as improvidently granted, and defendant's application is denied.
Writ recalled and application denied.
LEMMON, J., dissents and assigns reasons.
. Other issues arising out of "illegally lenient" sentences which might be addressed or reexamined in an appropriate case or cases are:
(1) Whether a sentence for a crime punishable by imprisonment without benefit of parole imposed without mention of ineligibility for parole is nevertheless subject to the statutory requirement of ineligibility.
(2) When and by what court and through what procedure may an "illegally lenient" sentence be corrected in accordance with LSA-C. Cr.P. Art. 882.
(3) The present status of the North Carolina v. Pearce rule in light of later United States Supreme Court cases, as applied to resentencing where the original sentence was "illegally lenient" and subject to correction.
(4) How to compare in terms of harshness a sentence to a term of imprisonment with benefit of parole to a sentence to a shorter term of imprisonment without benefit of parole.
(5) The authority of the parole board to adopt a no parole policy for prisoners who have received an "illegally lenient" sentence.