Opinion ID: 1920622
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Legal Error

Text: The Commission concluded that Judge Elloie's conduct in granting expungement motions without conducting a contradictory hearing, in violation of La. R.S. 44:9, and by expunging records in cases where sentencing had not been deferred under La.C.Cr.P. art. 893(D), was legal error. In 2001, when the motions to expunge were presented to Judge Elloie, La. R.S. 44:9 provided in pertinent part:    B. (1) Any person who has been arrested for the violation of a felony offense or who has been arrested for a violation of R.S. 14:34.2, R.S. 14:34.3, or R.S. 14:37 may make a written motion to the district court for the parish in which he was arrested for the expungement of the arrest record if: (a) The district attorney declines to prosecute, or the prosecution has been instituted, and such proceedings have been finally disposed of by acquittal, dismissal or sustaining a motion to quash; and (b) The record of arrest and prosecution for the offense is without substantial probative value as a prior act for any subsequent prosecution. (2) If, after a contradictory hearing with the district attorney and the arresting law enforcement agency, the court finds that the mover is entitled to the relief sought for the above reasons, it shall order all law enforcement agencies to expunge the record of the same in accordance herewith. However, nothing in this Paragraph shall limit or impede the authority under law to consider prior arrests or convictions in pursuing prosecution under multiple offender provisions or impede the investigation of any law enforcement official seeking to ascertain or confirm the qualifications of any person for any privilege or license authorized by law. C. (1) Any person who has been arrested for the violation of a state statute which is classified as a felony may make a written motion to the district court for the parish in which he was arrested for expungement of the arrest record if the time limitation for the institution of prosecution on the offense has expired, and no prosecution has been instituted. (2) If, after a contradictory hearing with the arresting agency, the court finds that the mover is entitled to the relief sought for any of the above reasons, it shall order all law enforcement agencies to expunge same in accordance herewith. However, the arresting agency may preserve the name and address of the person arrested and the facts of the case for investigative purposes only.    E. (1)(a) No court shall order the destruction of any record of the arrest and prosecution of any person convicted of a felony, including a conviction dismissed pursuant to Article 893 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. (b) After a contradictory hearing with the district attorney and the arresting law enforcement agency, the court may order expungement of the record of a felony conviction dismissed pursuant to Article 893 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Upon the entry of such an order of expungement, all rights which were lost or suspended by virtue of the conviction shall be restored to the person against whom the conviction has been entered, and such person shall be treated in all respects as not having been arrested or convicted unless otherwise provided in this Section or otherwise provided in the Code of Criminal Procedure Articles 893 and 894.    G. Expungement means removal of a record from public access but does not mean destruction of the record. An expunged record is confidential, but remains available for use by law enforcement agencies, criminal justice agencies, the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners, the Louisiana State Board of Nursing, the Louisiana State Board of Dentistry or the Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists. (Emphasis added) The applicable provisions of La. R.S. 44:9 clearly provided that, prior to expungement of a felony arrest or conviction, a contradictory hearing must be held. A contradictory hearing must be held pursuant to La. R.S. 44:9(B)(2) when expungement is sought for a felony arrest that did not result in prosecution and/or conviction if the district attorney declines to prosecute, La. R.S. 44:9(B)(1)(a), or for a felony arrest where the prosecution was instituted, but the proceedings were finally disposed of by acquittal, dismissal, or the sustaining of a motion to quash, La. R.S. 44:9(B)(1)(a). A contradictory hearing must be held pursuant to La. R.S. 44:9(C)(2) for a felony arrest where the time limit for prosecution has expired pursuant to La. R.S. 44:9(C)(1). Specifically pertinent to our present discussion, a contradictory hearing must be held with the district attorney and the arresting law enforcement agency pursuant to La. R.S. 44:9(E)(1)(b) prior to the expungement of the record of a felony conviction dismissed pursuant to Article 893 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Further, no court has the authority to order the destruction of any record of the arrest and prosecution of any person convicted of a felony, including a conviction dismissed pursuant to Article 893 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. La. R.S. 44:9(E)(1)(a). In both the Brown and Reeves expungement matters, Judge Elloie did not convene contradictory hearings before he ordered the expungement of the defendants' felony convictions, in violation of the clear and unambiguous language of La. R.S. 44:9. Judge Elloie stipulated that no contradictory hearings were held in these matters prior to the granting of the expungements. At the hearing, Judge Elloie conceded that his actions were contrary to the provisions of La. R.S. 44:9. Thus, Judge Elloie has admitted to committing legal error with regard to the provisions of La. R.S. 44:9. Whether Judge Elloie committed legal error regarding the eligibility of either Brown and/or Reeves for dismissal of their prosecutions and eligibility for expungement of their felony conviction and arrest records under Article 893 or any other provision is more problematic. La. C. Cr.P. art. 893 is entitled Suspension and deferral of sentence and probation in felony cases and presently provides: A. When it appears that the best interest of the public and of the defendant will be served, the court, after a first or second conviction of a noncapital felony, may suspend, in whole or in part, the imposition or execution of either or both sentences, where suspension is allowed under the law, and in either or both cases place the defendant on probation under the supervision of the division of probation and parole. The court shall not suspend the sentence of a conviction for a crime of violence as defined in R.S. 14:2(13)(a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (i), (j), (k), ( l ), (m), (n), ( o ), (p), (q), (r), (t), (v), (w), (x), (bb), (cc), or (dd), or of a second conviction if the second conviction is for a violation of R.S. 14:73.5, R.S. 14:81.1, or R.S. 14:81.2. The period of probation shall be specified and shall not be less than one year nor more than five years. The suspended sentence shall be regarded as a sentence for the purpose of granting or denying a new trial or appeal. B. If the sentence consists of both a fine and imprisonment, the court may impose the fine and suspend the sentence or place the defendant on probation as to the imprisonment. C. Except as otherwise provided by law, the court shall not suspend a felony sentence after the defendant has begun to serve the sentence. D. (1)(a) When it appears that the best interest of the public and of the defendant will be served, the court may defer, in whole or in part, the imposition of a sentence after conviction of a first offense noncapital felony under the conditions set forth in this Paragraph. When a conviction is entered under this Paragraph, the court may defer the imposition of sentence and place the defendant on probation under the supervision of the division of probation and parole. (b) The court shall not defer a sentence under this provision for an offense or an attempted offense which is defined or enumerated as a crime of violence under R.S. 14:2(13) or a sex offense as defined by R.S. 15:541(14.1), involving a child under the age of seventeen years or for a violation of the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Law punishable by a term of imprisonment of more than five years or for a violation of R.S. 40:966(A), 967(A), 968(A), 969(A), or 970(A). (2) Upon motion of the defendant, if the court finds at the conclusion of the probationary period that the probation of the defendant has been satisfactory, the court may set the conviction aside and dismiss the prosecution. The dismissal of the prosecution shall have the same effect as acquittal, except that the conviction may be considered as a first offense and provide the basis for subsequent prosecution of the party as a multiple offender, and further shall be considered as a first offense for purposes of any other law or laws relating to cumulation of offenses. Dismissal under this Paragraph shall occur only once with respect to any person. E. Nothing contained herein shall be construed as being a basis for destruction of records of the arrest and prosecution of any person convicted of a felony. Article 893 in its present form makes a distinction between suspension of the imposition or execution of sentence and the deferment of the imposition of sentence. Paragraphs A-C relate to a court's ability to suspend a criminal sentence, in whole or in part. Paragraph D relates to a court's ability to defer a criminal sentence and the conditions under which such a deferred sentence may serve as the basis for a motion to dismiss the prosecution. The Office of Special Counsel argues, and the Commission finds, that the felony convictions of Brown and Reeves were not eligible for an Art. 893 dismissal because their sentences were imposed and suspended, but not deferred under Paragraph D. [14] Office of Special Counsel argues that Art. 893(D), in effect as written since 1996, and which has retroactive effect back to August 15, 1995, applies only to those defendants whose sentences are deferred. Consequently, the Office of Special Counsel argues that under the clear language of the statute, a dismissal can occur only in those cases in which the sentence was deferred. The determination of whether either Brown or Reeves was eligible for a dismissal of their prosecutions under Art. 893 cannot be made upon the recitation of those few facts, which only underscores why a contradictory hearing with the District Attorney's office and the law enforcement agencies was so necessary. While the argument of the Office of Special Counsel may be correct when applied to criminal defendants whose crimes were committed subsequent to August 15, 1995, the Office of Special Counsel, and the Commission, failed to consider the fact that both Brown and Reeves committed their crimes prior to August 15, 1995. Brown was charged with committing the offense of second degree murder, later amended to negligent homicide, on January 3, 1993. Brown pleaded guilty to negligent homicide on June 14, 1993, and was ultimately sentenced on March 20, 1995. Harden Reeves was charged with committing the offense of possession of cocaine on November 14, 1991. Reeves pleaded guilty as charged on January 31, 1992, and was sentenced that same date. At the time of the commission of the offenses committed by Brown and Reeves, Art. 893 did not provide for the deferment of the imposition of sentence, the subject of the current Paragraph D and the basis for the argument of the Office of Special Counsel. Instead, the law authorized a judge to set aside a criminal conviction and dismiss the prosecution of a first offense felony after the successful completion of a probationary period. Effective September 6, 1991, former Art. 893(E) provided: When the imposition of sentence has been suspended by the court for the first conviction only, as authorized by this Article, and the court finds at the conclusion of the probationary period that the probation of the defendant has been satisfactory, the court may set the conviction aside and dismiss the prosecution and the dismissal of the prosecution shall have the same effect as acquittal, except that said conviction may be considered as a first offense and provide the basis for subsequent prosecution of the party as a multiple offender, and further shall be considered as a first offense for purposes of any other law or laws relation to cumulation of offenses. Dismissal under this Paragraph shall occur only once with respect to any person. [15] Paragraph E was later re-designated as Paragraph D. [16] The legislature subsequently excluded from the benefits of this provision those persons convicted of a sex offense as defined by La. R.S. 15:542(E) involving a child under the age of seventeen years. [17] Finally, in 1995, the legislature repealed former Paragraph D, effective August 15, 1995. [18] In 1996, the legislature amended Art. 893 to enact a new Paragraph D, introducing the concept of deferment of imposition of sentence after conviction of a first offense noncapital felony. The amendment, retroactively effective to August 15, 1995, also rewrote the article heading, which had previously read Suspension of sentence and probation in felony cases, to include the concept of deferment newly added to the article. [19] Considering the general principle that the law in effect at the time of the commission of the offense is determinative of the penalty which is to be imposed upon the convicted accused, the question which should have been determined by Judge Elloie at the contradictory hearing mandated by La. R.S. 44:9 was whether the current version of Art. 893 applied to determine the eligibility of Brown or Reeves for dismissal of their convictions, and ultimately for expungement of their criminal records, or whether an earlier version of Art. 893 applied. See State v. Parker, XXXX-XXXX p. 9-10 (La.4/14/04), 871 So.2d 317, 322; State v. Sugasti, XXXX-XXXX p. 4 (La.6/21/02), 820 So.2d 518, 520; State v. Narcisse, 426 So.2d 118, 130-131 (La. 1983), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 865, 104 S.Ct. 202, 78 L.Ed.2d 176 (1983). This court has previously rejected the argument that the general principle applies only to a sentence for a particular offense and has held this principle applicable to sentencing enhancement provisions. See Parker, XXXX-XXXX p. 15, 871 So.2d at 325. However, this court has not squarely addressed the issue presented here. Since this court has already found that Judge Elloie violated the law with regard to La. R.S. 44:9, it is unnecessary for us to additionally determine whether he violated La.C.Cr.P. art. 893, as well. The fact that Judge Elloie failed to consider the above-described factual and legal issues which were presented by the Brown and Reeves expungement and dismissal motions emphasizes the acute need for the contradictory hearing mandated by La. R.S. 44:9 in order to determine whether dismissal and expungement are authorized under the law for each individual criminal defendant. These challenging legal issues presented here demanded more than an off-the-record bench conference or a passing exchange in a hallway. Due to the posture of this case as a judicial disciplinary matter, we decline to decide the applicability of pre- or post-August 15, 1995 provisions of Art. 893(D) to individual criminal defendants when that issue is squarely presented to this court. [20] We note parenthetically, however, that the criminal record in Reeves shows that Harden Reeves was ineligible for dismissal of his prosecution under either version of Art. 893(D), since his probationary period was not satisfactorily completed, but instead was subsequently revoked. We also note that the motions signed in Brown show that Judge Elloie did not grant Brown's dismissal motion and subsequent expungement under the authority of Art. 893, but instead under the provisions of La.C.Cr.P. art. 894. Since La.C.Cr.P. art. 894 is applicable only to misdemeanor offenses, it cannot serve as authority for a motion to dismiss the prosecution of a felony such as negligent homicide. Additional legal errors are found in the motions signed by Judge Elloie in the Brown matter. The Motion for Expungement moves for the destruction of any and all records relating to [Brown's] arrest and conviction. The applicable provision of La. R.S. 44:9(E)(1)(a) prohibits the destruction of any felony record. Further, the Order attached to the Motion to Dismiss Prosecution and Set Aside Conviction orders that the conviction be set aside and the prosecution be dismissed in accordance with L.S.A.-R.S. 40:984. La. R.S. 40:984 relates to the powers of enforcement personnel with regard to controlled dangerous substances and is entirely inapplicable to the order to dismiss the prosecution and set aside the conviction. These additional legal errors show, at the least, that Judge Elloie did not carefully review the motions or orders presented to him. In addition, by acting upon motions in cases assigned to other sections of Orleans Parish Criminal District Court without verifying or obtaining the consent of the assigned judges, Judge Elloie violated the rules regarding the random allotment of cases [21] and the local rules of court regarding the transfer of cases. Although Judge Elloie testified he believed the Brown matter had been transferred to him, but the Reeves matter had not been, the record is clear that the proper procedures were not followed in either case. Consequently, no transfer of the cases ever occurred, as proved by the fact that the judges in the sections where the cases were assigned subsequently reversed Judge Elloie's actions. Finally, a local rule of the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, of which Judge Elloie was aware, required that a minute entry be made reflecting any motion made in open court. By failing to act on these motions in open court, Judge Elloie prevented and/or delayed [22] the timely creation of minute entries which memorialized his actions.