Opinion ID: 1863418
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: State Ex Post Facto Clause

Text: Although the United States Supreme Court limited the federal Ex Post Facto Clause in Collins, this court, with respect to the Louisiana Ex Post Facto Clause, stated in State ex rel. Glover, 93-2330 (La.9/5/95), 660 So.2d 1189, 1200, that an ex post facto law is one passed after the commission of an offense which in relation to that offense or its punishment alters the situation of a party to his disadvantage. [3] Therefore, to qualify under Glover as an ex post facto law, the suspect legislation: (1) must be passed after the date of the offense, (2) must relate to the offense or its punishment, and (3) must alter the situation of the accused to his disadvantage. Id. Moreover, while the States are free to provide greater protections in their criminal justice system than the Federal Constitution, this court has not yet addressed the question of whether, in light of Collins, the Ex Post Facto Clause of the Louisiana Constitution will be interpreted to provide broader protection than that of the federal constitution. Id. at 1201 n. 15. However, we do not need to decide that issue in this case because the commutation statute does not relate to the offense or its punishment. This court's examination of another facet of penalty phase jury instructions is helpful. In State v. Jordan, 440 So.2d 716 (La.1983), while the defendant was awaiting his penalty phase retrial, the legislature added another aggravating circumstance to La.C.Cr.P. art. 905.4(c), which provided that the jury was to consider whether the defendant had a significant prior history of criminal activity. Because the presence of aggravating factors determines whether a defendant can be sentenced to death, the Jordan court found that the application of the new aggravating factor would constitute an ex post facto law. The court explained: By the addition of this aggravating factor, this defendant is now exposed to the death penalty whereas, factually, prior to the commission of this murder, he was not so exposed. This change is ex post facto. Jordan, 440 So.2d at 718. Even though the addition of an aggravating factor and the commutation instruction both arguably make the rendering of a death verdict more likely, these two measures are actually quite different. To reach a verdict of death, the jury must find the presence of at least one statutorily enumerated aggravating factor. La.C.Cr.P. art 905.3. The addition of another aggravating circumstance is the functional equivalent, with respect to the penalty, of adding an additional element to the offense. Therefore, under the Louisiana formulation of the ex post facto test, an aggravating factor clearly relates to the punishment of the offense. However, the connection between the commutation instruction and punishment is not so direct. Even if it can be said that the instruction influences the jury to vote for death, it does not relate to the punishment of the offense in the manner set forth in case law. The addition of an aggravating factor clearly relates to the punishment of the offense because it provides another ground for the jury to return a death verdict. However, La.C.Cr.P. art. 905.2(B) adds nothing to the substantive definition of the crime and does not increase the prescribed penalty. The commutation instruction is simply a statement of law which does not change the elements of the offense or the amount of its punishment. Therefore, the retroactive application of La. C.Cr.P. art. 905.2(B) is not considered ex post facto, as was the new law in Jordan. See also, State v. Bodenheimer, 95-861 (La. App. 5th Cir. 11/28/95), 665 So.2d 608, 611, writ denied, 95-3011 (La.2/9/96), 667 So.2d 539 (change in law concerning the dismissal of misdemeanor prosecutions did not offend the Ex Post Facto Clauses of either the federal or state constitutions where the article was not part of the penalty provision of any criminal statute, but formed part of the provisions governing the suspensions of sentences in misdemeanor cases). Notwithstanding the statistical surveys and common sense arguments which purport to show that the commutation instruction makes juries more likely to return a death verdict, the defendant fails to demonstrate conclusively that the application of La. C.Cr.P. art. 905.2(B) actually places him at a disadvantage with regard to the offense or its punishment. Like the provision in Glover, the commutation instruction only has a speculative or attenuated risk of affecting a prisoner's actual term of confinement, and is not an increase in punishment. 660 So.2d 1189, 1201 n. 14. Therefore, La.C.Cr.P. art. 905.2(B) does not relate to the punishment for the offense, and the retroactive application of the law does not offend the Louisiana Ex Post Facto Clause. Defendant further maintains that this court can decide the issue of the retroactive application of La.C.Cr.P. art. 905.2(B) on the well-settled principles of statutory interpretation, pretermitting the need for constitutional analysis. He initially observes that La.R.S. 1:2 provides that [n]o section of the Revised Statutes is retroactive unless it is expressly so stated. In support of this rule, he notes that the United States Supreme Court has held that there is a presumption against retroactivity, unless legislative intent is clearly expressed otherwise. Landgraf v. USI Film Products, 511 U.S. 244, 272, 114 S.Ct. 1483, 1501, 128 L.Ed.2d 229 (1994). Because there is no express retroactivity provision within La.C.Cr.P. art. 905.2(B), he maintains that the article should not be applied to offenses committed before its enactment. However, the Court's conclusions in Landgraf are not squarely on point since that opinion primarily concerns civil matters. While the jurisprudence treating the retrospective application of civil and criminal laws has developed along the same general lines, the retroactivity of penal legislation is more appropriately addressed under an ex post facto analysis. U.S. Const. art. I, § 10, Landgraf, 511 U.S. at 265-66, 114 S.Ct. at 1497. Because 905.2(B) concerns criminal matters only, the question of its retrospective operation hinges on whether the article is a prohibited ex post facto law. In any event, notwithstanding the presumption against retroactivity, the Landgraf court stated that in civil cases, changes in procedural rules may often be applied in suits arising before their enactment without raising concerns about their retroactivity. Id., 511 U.S. at 274, 114 S.Ct. at 1502. In the criminal context, the Court noted specifically that while it has strictly construed the Ex Post Facto Clause to prohibit application of new statutes creating or increasing punishments after the fact, [it has] upheld intervening procedural changes even if application of the new rule operated to a defendant's disadvantage in the particular case. Landgraf, 511 U.S. at 274 n. 28, 114 S.Ct. at 1502 n. 28. When dealing with criminal (as well as civil) procedural rules, the Court applies the common-sense notion that the applicability of procedural changes depends on the posture of the case. Id., 511 U.S. at 275 n. 29, 114 S.Ct. at 1502 n. 29. For example, a new rule governing the filing of complaints would not govern an action in which a complaint had already been filed. Id. Therefore, because La.C.Cr.P. art. 905.2(B) does not run afoul of the Ex Post Facto Clause, the measure may be properly utilized in defendant's trial, assuming it is constitutional in all other respects. See State v. Sepulvado, 342 So.2d 630 (La.1977) (change in procedural rules made after the commission of the offense, but before trial commenced, may be employed at trial as long as it is not an ex post facto law).