Opinion ID: 1739948
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: effect of the verdict

Text: The Third Circuit concluded the verdict of guilty of attempted aggravated battery shows that the state failed to prove the elements of the offense charged or the lesser included responsive offenses. State v. Mayeux, 485 So.2d 256 (La.App.3d Cir. 1986). In support of this conclusion the Court of Appeal cites State v. Marse, 365 So.2d 1319 (La.1978). We believe reliance on Marse is misplaced. In Marse we upheld a conviction of manslaughter returned in a trial for first degree murder. In that opinion we discussed the fact it is proper in a murder trial to instruct the jury if they find the defendant guilty of negligent homicide, they are required to acquit the defendant. In Marse, the Court instructed the jury that negligent homicide was not responsive to the crime charged. He refused to instruct that a finding of conduct amounting only to negligent homicide required an acquittal. We agree a verdict of guilty of aggravated assault would require an acquittal of Mayeux under the holding in Marse. However, a conviction of attempted aggravated battery, an unspecified crime in Louisiana, can not have the same effect as a conviction of aggravated assault. The application of the principles found in Marse to this case was inappropriate. Our research has found only one case where a jury rendered a verdict not only unresponsive but also purporting to convict of an offense not specifically designated as a crime in this state. In State v. Adams, 210 La. 782, 28 So.2d 269 (1946) the defendant was prosecuted for attempted murder. The jury returned a verdict of guilty of attempted negligent homicide. The defendant appealed his conviction. This court held the verdict was not responsive to the charge and therefore invalid insofar as it purported to convict the defendant. The court also held that attempted negligent homicide was not a crime in this state since logically a person can not attempt to be negligent. Negligent homicide specifically requires there be an absence of specific or general intent to commit a homicide. We concluded the jury's verdict, while not a valid conviction, did indicate the state had failed to establish the essential element of intent. Since intent was necessary to prove attempted murder, the court held the verdict served to acquit the defendant of the charge of attempted murder. The decision by this court in Adams was rendered more than forty years ago prior to the time our legislature chose to specifically provide responsive verdicts for the vast majority of crimes. Since the enactment of art. 814 and its predecessor, we have recognized that a non-responsive verdict is error patent on the record mandating a reversal of conviction and remand for a new trial. We are guided by our more recent opinion in State v. Thibodeaux, 380 So.2d 59 (La.1980). In Thibodeaux the trial judge, without objection from counsel, charged the jury incorrectly as to the proper responsive verdicts under 814. The jury returned a verdict not responsive to the charge. The verdict was accepted and sentence imposed. On appeal we found error patent on the record due to the non-responsive verdict. We ordered the conviction set aside and remanded for a new trial. In doing so we held the verdict was completely invalid. In the present case, we conclude the Court of Appeal should not have granted the motion for post-verdict judgment of acquittal, once patent error in the trial court was discovered, but rather should have reversed the conviction and remanded for new trial. In arguments, the defense urged that a conviction of attempted aggravated battery is equivalent to a conviction of aggravated assault. La.R.S. 14:36-37. He suggests that this verdict establishes the state failed to prove the essential elements of battery, namely the intentional use of force or violence upon the person of another. La.R.S. 14:33. Because an assault is defined as an attempt to commit a battery, (La.R.S. 14:36), the defense argues the verdict constitutes an acquittal of aggravated battery and the lesser included responsive crimes. We disagree. Article 598 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides: When a person is found guilty of a lesser degree of the offense charged, the verdict or judgment of the court is an acquittal of all greater offenses charged in the indictment and the defendant cannot thereafter be tried for those offenses on a new trial. While we must agree a conviction for aggravated assault would necessarily be an acquittal of aggravated battery, we do not agree that a conviction of attempted aggravated battery has the same effect. Article 598 presupposes a conviction of an offense designated as a crime. Since attempted aggravated battery is not a specifically designated crime, it is not a lesser degree of the offense of aggravated battery as is required for acquittal under art. 598. A cornerstone of our criminal law is stated in La.R.S. 14:3: Articles of this Code cannot be extended by analogy so as to create crimes not provided for herein.... While we acknowledge that assault is defined as an attempt to commit a battery, this court is not empowered to reform the verdict to guilty of aggravated assault. The defendant suggests that art. 821 (E) of the Code of Criminal Procedure gives this court authority to reform the jury's verdict so that it conforms to a crime designated by our Code. A careful reading of 821 (E) discloses the fallacy of this argument. La.C.Cr.P. 821 (E) provides: If the appellate court finds that the evidence, viewed in a light most favorable to the state, supports only a conviction of a lesser included responsive offense, the court, in lieu of granting a post verdict judgment of acquittal, may modify the verdict and render a judgment of conviction on the lesser included responsive offense. Clearly 821 (E) allows an appellate court an option. It may reform a jury's verdict to a lesser included responsive offense when the original verdict is not supported by the evidence, rather than grant a post-verdict judgment of acquittal. In the present case, 821 (E) does not allow us to reform the verdict to guilty of assault, because assault is not a lesser included responsive offense to the charge of aggravated battery. Such a modification is simply beyond the scope of art. 821. Based on the foregoing analysis we conclude the verdict of the jury was unresponsive to the crime charged and purported to convict of a crime not specifically designated by our legislature. Further we conclude it is beyond the scope of our appellate power to modify the illegal verdict in any fashion. Accordingly, we find the verdict to be wholly invalid and without legal effect to convict or acquit the defendant of aggravated battery or of lesser included responsive offense. Having determined the jury's verdict to be inoperative, we now consider if retrial would in any way violate the protections against double jeopardy.