Case Name: STATE of Louisiana v. Gremel HARRIS
Court: Louisiana Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1981-06-22
Citations: 406 So. 2d 128
Docket Number: No. 80-KA-2720
Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Gremel HARRIS.
Judges: MARCUS, J., dissents and assigns reasons.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 406
Pages: 128–135

Head Matter:
STATE of Louisiana v. Gremel HARRIS.
No. 80-KA-2720.
Supreme Court of Louisiana.
June 22, 1981.
On Rehearing Nov. 16, 1981.
William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., Ossie B. Brown, Dist. Atty., Jeffery Hollingsworth, Kay Kirkpatrick, Asst. Dist. Attys., Baton Rouge, for plaintiff-appellee.
Richard V. Burnes, Alexandria, for defendant-appellant.

Opinion:
LOTTINGER, Justice Ad Hoc.
Defendant Gremel Harris was arrested in February 1979 and eventually charged by a bill of indictment with four counts of armed robbery, in violation of La.R.S. 14:64. During the interim between arrest and indictment, the defendant's retained counsel filed a motion requesting appointment of a sanity commission to examine the accused. A district court judge granted counsel's request, appointing a two-member sanity commission and scheduling a contradictory hearing with the state for April 16, 1979. This hearing was later continued without date when, on April 16, the sanity commission members reported that they had not yet had an opportunity to examine the accused.
On May 25, 1979, defendant, now represented by another retained attorney, filed a motion for reduction of bond, which was granted. Defendant apparently gained his release shortly thereafter, only to be arrested on October 9 for unauthorized use of a movable, on October 26 for additional armed robberies, and again on October 30 for simple escape. Before any further action was taken on these charges, the trial court granted the then attorney's request to withdraw as counsel of record and appointed the East Baton Rouge Parish Public Defender's Office to handle the accused's defense. That office entered into plea bargain negotiations with the prosecution, which culminated in the acceptance of the accused's pleas of guilty to four counts of armed robbery in exchange for dismissal of the other pending charges.
Prior to sentencing both the public defender and defendant's newly retained counsel renewed the earlier request for appointment of a sanity commission. These requests were denied, as was the defendant's motion to withdraw his guilty pleas. On August 4, 1980, the Honorable Doug Moreau sentenced the defendant to serve 50 years' imprisonment on each count, said sentences to run consecutively with each other. On appeal, defendant urges ten assignments of error as grounds for reversal of his conviction and sentence. Three of the assignments of error have been abandoned, either expressly or by not arguing same.
ASSIGNMENTS OP ERROR NOS. 1, 2, 3 AND 7
By these assignments, the defense contends that the trial court erred in allowing the defendant to enter guilty pleas without first resolving the issue of capacity to proceed. Defendant further argues that the trial court erred in denying his second motion for appointment of a sanity commission.
Mental incapacity to proceed exists when, as a result of mental disease or defect, a defendant presently lacks the capacity to understand the proceedings against him or to assist in his defense. La.C.Cr.P. art. 641. The issue of present sanity or mental incapacity to proceed may be raised at any stage of the proceedings, La.C.Cr.P. art. 642, even after conviction. State v. Henson, 351 So.2d 1169 (La.1977); State v. Gunter, 208 La. 694, 23 So.2d 305 (1945). When the issue is raised, "there shall be no further steps in the criminal prosecution, except the institution of prosecution, until the defendant is found to have the mental capacity to proceed." La.C.Cr.P. art. 642. Once the issue is raised, if the trial judge has reasonable ground to doubt the defendant's mental capacity to proceed, he shall order a mental examination. La.C.Cr.P. art. 643.
ORIGINAL SANITY COMMISSION REQUEST. In the instant case, the trial court found reasonable doubt as to the accused's capacity to proceed and, accordingly ordered the appointment of a sanity commission to inquire into the mental condition of the accused. However, as a result of the confusion engendered by shifts in the District Court's personnel and defendant's repeated changes of counsel, this commission never reported its findings to the trial court. Yet, despite the absence of any hearing on this competency issue, the defendant was permitted to enter a plea of guilty as to each of the four armed robbery counts lodged against him. The defendant's pleas were entered on February 20, 1980, nearly one full year after the original request for appointment of a sanity commission.
This procedure violated both the accused's right to a contradictory hearing under La.C.Cr.P. art. 647 and the express mandate of La.C.Cr.P. art. 642 that "no further steps in the criminal prosecution" shall be taken until the defendant is found to have the mental capacity to proceed. As noted in State v. Bennett, 345 So.2d 1129, 1139 (La.1977), defendant "has a right to demand that the [court-ordered sanity] hearing be thorough and cannot be held responsible for the commission's failure to complete its task." This finding is a function of the due process requirement that a defendant be competent to stand trial. Pate v. Robinson, 383 U.S. 375, 86 S.Ct. 836, 15 L.Ed.2d 815 (1966); Drope v. Missouri, 420 U.S. 162, 95 S.Ct. 896, 43 L.Ed.2d 103 (1975). It cannot be argued that the subsequent guilty pleas amounted to an implied withdrawal of the earlier request for mental examination because it is contradictory to say that where there is reasonable ground to doubt the defendant's mental capacity to proceed, he could intelligently waive his right to have his capacity to stand trial determined. Pate v. Robinson, supra. For this reason, the trial court's action constituted reversible error.
SECOND REQUESTED SANITY HEARING. Defendant further argues that the trial court abused its discretion in denying his second request for appointment of a sanity commission, filed shortly prior to sentencing. In support of this request, counsel presented an affidavit in which defendant's mother, Marilyn Harris, described defendant's recurring mental problems and traced their origin to a gun shot wound which he received at the age of 15. More specifically, Ms. Harris stated that she had recently been advised by Parish Coroner Hypolite Landry (one of the original appointees for defendant's sanity commission) that her son had attempted to commit suicide while in jail. According to Ms. Harris, Dr. Landry suggested that she request a sanity commission hearing for her son.
Factually, this setting is closely analogous to that presented in State v. Henson, supra. In Henson, defense counsel bolstered his motion for appointment of a sanity commission by presenting a psychiatrist's affidavit expressing the opinion that defendant was not presently able to understand the proceedings against him. Additionally, the defense introduced a week-old order signed by another district judge appointing a sanity commission to examine defendant with reference to his mental capacity to proceed with respect to other charges pending against him. Finding this evidence to present clear cause for doubt as to defendant's mental capacity to proceed, this court ruled that the lower court had abused its discretion in failing to order a mental examination.
In the present case, defendant's alleged attempted suicide suggested a serious deterioration of his mental condition since the time of his guilty plea hearing. Coupled with the earlier, and as yet unfilled, order for examination of the accused's mental condition, as well as Dr. Landry's apparent conclusion that such examination was to be recommended, this evidence appeared sufficient under Henson to arouse reasonable doubts as to defendant's continued capacity to proceed. It was therefore error for the trial judge to deny this second requested sanity commission.
Though we find that the trial court clearly committed error in proceeding in this case once the initial sanity commission was appointed without resolving the issue of sanity, and in failing to appoint a sanity commission at the second request, we find it unnecessary to set aside the guilty pleas and the sentence inasmuch as the issue of capacity may be clarified on remand. State v. Knox, 370 So.2d 886 (La.1979); State v. Bennett, 345 So.2d 1129 (La.1977); State v. Simmons, 328 So.2d 149 (La.1976). We will therefore remand the case to the trial court for a reappointment of the original sanity commission which shall consider both requests for a determination of capacity, and for a contradictory hearing on the defendant's capacity at the time of his plea, reserving to the trial judge the right to set aside the guilty plea and sentence should he find that the defendant lacked the mental capacity to proceed. If, on the other hand, the trial judge determines that the defendant was competent to plead guilty, the right to appeal from the ruling is reserved to the defendant. In the absence of such an appeal, the conviction and sentence will be affirmed.
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR NO. 4
By this assignment, defendant contends that the trial court erred in accepting his guilty pleas when no factual basis was established for the pleas.
This contention lacks substance. The trial court carefully examined defendant as to the details of each count before asking the prosecution to confirm the defendant's version. In instances where the prosecutor stated additional facts not mentioned by the defendant, the trial court asked the accused to confirm the state's allegations before proceeding further. It is sufficient for purposes of this assignment to note that defendant's admissions provided an ade quate basis for his pleas. On those few occasions in which the defendant was unable to recall the names of his cohorts or the type of weapon used, the accused's confusion appeared more readily attributable to the large number of armed robberies in which he had participated rather than a genuine inability to recall the incident in question.
ASSIGNMENTS OF ERROR NOS. 9 AND 10
By these assignments, defendant contends that the lower court's imposition of consecutive prison sentences totaling 200 years was both unrealistic and excessive, in violation of Article 1, Section 20 of the Louisiana Constitution (1974).
In connection with his convictions for four counts of armed robbery, the defendant was sentenced to serve 50 years at hard labor on each count, said sentences to run consecutively. These sentences fall within the statutory range provided for the offense of armed robbery. La.R.S. 14:64.
This court has frequently noted that offenders without prior felony records ordinarily should receive concurrent rather than consecutive sentences, especially where the convictions arise out of the same course of conduct within a relatively short period. La.C.Cr.P. art. 883; State v. Cain, 382 So.2d 936 (La.1980); State v. Ortego, 382 So.2d 921 (La.1980). However, consecutive sentences may be justified when, due to his past conduct or repeated criminality over an extended period, the offender poses an unusual risk to the safety of the public, similar to that posed by habitual or dangerous offenders. State v. Watson, 372 So.2d 1205 (La.1979); State v. Cox, 369 So.2d 118 (La.1979).
In the case at bar the trial judge considered the defendant's past criminality as a juvenile. From November of 1972 to February of 1976 the defendant committed the crimes of negligent injury, burglary, theft, receiving stolen things, unauthorized use of an immovable, criminal damage to property, and simple robbery. One month after his release from the Louisiana Training Institute, where he was confined until his seventeenth birthday, the defendant resumed his criminal pattern, begun as an adult by adding the convictions of possession of marijuana, contempt of court, simple battery, theft, DWI, resisting arrest, and possession of gambling paraphernalia. The present four counts of armed robbery occurred over a three week period between January 13, 1979 and February 6, 1979. Of the four counts of armed robbery, two were committed at different convenience stores, one at an automobile dealership, and another at a self-service gas station. In two of the robberies a shotgun was involved, and in the others a pistol was involved. Even during the pendency of his trial on the instant charges, the defendant was responsible for additional offenses including armed robberies. The defendant's offenses did not arise out of a single course of conduct.
The trial judge was cognizant of the factors to be considered in imposing sentence as required by La.C.Cr.P. art. 894.1. The trial judge searched the record for some evidence of mitigation. Noting the absence of any mitigating factors and the serious harm threatened by defendant's actions, the court, before sentencing, offered to listen to any mitigating factors which the defendant cared to relate. The defendant had no response. Though this sentence amounts to 200 years, the severity of the defendant's criminal record convinces this court that the trial judge was well within his discretion in imposing the sentence which he did.
For the reasons assigned, the case is remanded to the district court for further proceedings in accordance with law and the views herein expressed.
REMANDED.
MARCUS, J., dissents and assigns reasons.
Judges Lottinger, Edwards, and Ponder of the Court of Appeal, First Circuit, participated in this decision as associate justices ad hoc, joined by Chief Justice Dixon and Associate Justices Marcus, Blanche, and Watson.
. The attorney claimed that defendant had "failed or refused" to cooperate in the preparation of an adequate defense and that the attorney's fee due under his contractual employment had not been paid.
. La.R.S. 14:64 B provides:
"Whoever commits the crime of armed robbery shall be imprisoned at hard labor for not less than five years and for not more than 99 years, without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence."