Opinion ID: 1726425
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Prior Precedent from this Court

Text: Baker urges that his habitual offender adjudication and sentence must be vacated under the holdings of Sanders and Firmin. In Sanders, this court was presented with the res nova question whether the state may multiple-bill a person, who was convicted under R.S. 14:95.1 of being a convicted felon who carries a concealed weapon, by using in the multiple-bill the same felony convictions alleged as elements of the offense. Id., 337 So.2d at 1132. The defendant in that criminal matter, Clarence Sanders, had three prior felony convictions for the following crimes: an armed robbery in 1955, another armed robbery in 1961 and attempted simple burglary in 1970. He was subsequently charged with violating La. R.S. 14:95.1, which makes it a crime for a convicted felon to carry a concealed weapon. The underlying felonies used to support the firearm violation were the 1961 armed robbery and the 1970 attempted simple burglary. After conviction and sentencing, the state relied upon both armed robbery and the attempted simple burglary convictions to have Sanders adjudicated as an habitual offender so that his punishment for the firearms conviction could be increased. Sanders filed a motion to quash the multiple offender bill, which was granted by the trial court. On review, this court discussed two concepts. First, the court found that the state's attempt to further enlarge Sanders' firearms penalty was an improper attempt to use the defendant's prior convictions twice: first, to establish his status as a convicted felon so as to convict him of the crime, and, second to increase the penalty through a multiple bill. Id., 337 So.2d at 1134. In finding such a double enhancement improper, the court noted that [t]he act of possessing or concealing [a weapon under La. R.S. 14:95.1] becomes a felony only because the person has the status of convicted felon and that the legislature itself had imposed an increased penalty on a felon who was found to be the possessor or concealor of a weapon. Id. Thus, the court answered the res nova question presented by the facts of that case in the negative, i.e. the state may not use the habitual offender law to enhance a sentence for a conviction under La. R.S. 14:95.1 by using in the multiple bill the same felony convictions alleged as elements of the firearm offense. The second concept which Sanders discussed was a determination that no further enhancement, other than the penalties already described in La. R.S.14:95.1, could be made to a sentence imposed under that statute. In reaching this conclusion, the court presumed that the legislature must not have intended for the state to use the habitual offender law to further enhance a sentence for a firearms conviction under La. R.S. 14:95.1. Since the legislature in passing R.S. 14:95.1 has in that very statute provided enhanced penalties for the act of concealing a weapon when the concealor is a felon, we therefore presume that it must not have intended the multiple enhancement incident to the state's using R.S. 15:529.1 to further enhance the penalty. Sanders, 337 So.2d at 1134. To support the court's presumption, the court looked to the decisions of other state courts regarding enhancement of crimes which took into account the status of the offender and the fact that the legislature did not specifically indicate in the language of the firearms statute that a sentence imposed under La. R.S. 14:95.1 could be enhanced under the habitual offender law. Sanders, 337 So.2d at 1134-35. The court's ultimate holding in Sanders was the following statement: Consequently, we find that the penalty provisions enacted in R.S. 14:95.1 were intended by the legislature to delimit the permissible punishment for that offense because the statute itself takes into account the fact of defendant's previous felony conviction and the legislature gave no indication that it wanted the multiple-billing procedure to remain available as a vehicle for further enlargement of the penalty. Id., 337 So.2d at 1135. Despite the second, more far-reaching holding of Sanders, the decision was bound to its facts, that is, the state had attempted to use the habitual offender law to enhance a sentence for a conviction under La. R.S. 14:95.1 by using in the multiple bill the same felony convictions alleged as an element of the firearms offense. Two years later, the court subsequently removed any doubt as to the reach of the Sanders decision in Firmin. In Firmin, the defendant was charged with, and found guilty of, a violation of La. R.S. 14:95.1, in that he carried a concealed weapon having been previously convicted of possession of narcotics. Prior to sentencing, the state filed a bill of information pursuant to La. R.S. 15:529.1 charging that Firmin was a second offender, relying on the present firearm conviction and a previous felony conviction for violation of the Federal Gun Control Act of 1968. Firmin admitted the allegations of the multiple bill and was sentenced as an habitual offender. Relying on Sanders, the court in Firmin vacated the sentence and held: [a]lthough in the instant case the state relied upon one prior conviction in charging the defendant with having violated La. R.S. 14:95.1 and a different prior conviction in seeking to have his sentence enhanced under the provisions of La. R.S. 15:529.1, the rule of State v. Sanders, supra, is still applicable and the defendant should not have been sentenced as a multiple offender. Firmin, 354 So.2d at 1355. As applied in Firmin, the rule of Sanders prevents double use of a defendant's recidivist offender status, not simply the double use of any particular prior felony conviction. Although Firmin has not been cited as authority in any subsequent opinions, Sanders has continued to be cited as authority, both in situations involving La. R.S. 14:95.1 and for other crimes for the propositions: (1) that the same prior conviction cannot be used as an element in the underlying felony and as a prior conviction in a multiple offender bill seeking to enhance that felony, [3] and (2) that when a defendant's recidivist status is an element of a felony offense, the punishment for that offense cannot be further enhanced. [4]