Case Name: STATE of Louisiana v. Freddie HANDY
Court: Louisiana Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1997-01-06
Citations: 686 So. 2d 36
Docket Number: No. 96-KK-2505
Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Freddie HANDY
Judges: CALOGERO, C.J., dissents with reasons.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 686
Pages: 36–38

Head Matter:
STATE of Louisiana v. Freddie HANDY
No. 96-KK-2505.
Supreme Court of Louisiana.
Jan. 6, 1997.

Opinion:
JiPER CURIAM.
Defendant was charged by bill on information with possession of cocaine, a violation of La.R.S. 40:967. He entered a plea of guilty, apparently on the understanding that the court would consider a sentence of ten years in the matter instead of the maximum sentence on that charge and his subsequent adjudication as a fourth felony offender. The trial judge sentenced defendant to ten years in the Department of Corrections, rather than the twenty year sentence mandated for a fourth offender under La.R.S. 15:529.1. The court of appeal affirmed and the state now applies to this court.
Louisiana's judiciary maintains the distinct responsibility of reviewing sentences imposed in criminal cases for constitutional excessiveness. State v. Sepulvado, 367 So.2d 762 (1979). However, in order to find the punishment mandated by La.R.S. 15:529.1 excessive, the trial judge must find that the sentence makes no measurable contribution to the acceptable goals of punishment or that the sentence amounts to nothing more than the purposeful imposition of pain and suffering and is grossly out of proportion to the severity of the crime. State v. Dorthey, 623 So.2d 1276 (La.1993).
Although the trial judge gave reasons for his sentence, it does not appear that he made a proper finding that imposition of the statutorily mandated minimum sentence would be constitutionally excessive under these facts. State v. Lombard, 662 So.2d 1039 (La.1995). Accordingly, the judgment of the trial court is vacated and the case remanded to the trial court to justify its deviation from the statutorily-mandated minimum sentence in this case. In the event the court concludes that it should increase the sentence previously imposed, it should give defendant an opportunity to|2withdraw his guilty plea if it determines that the defendant entered into the plea in reliance on the expectation that he would receive a sentence of no more than ten years.
CALOGERO, C.J., dissents with reasons.
LEMMON, J., would grant and docket.
JOHNSON, J., not on panel.