Opinion ID: 1866200
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: fourth felony adjudication and excessive sentence of life imprisonment

Text: By Assignment of Error No. 39 counsel for defendant Simmons contends that the trial court erred in adjudging Simmons a fourth felony offender; by Assignment of Error No. 44 he argues that the resultant sentence of life imprisonment was excessive and illegal. According to testimony and documents introduced at the habitual offender hearing, the state asserted that Simmons had three convictions which could be used for enhancement, excluding the instant offense: (1) February 12, 1954, guilty plea for manslaughter committed on October 31, 1953; (2) February 14, 1966, guilty plea for attempted simple burglary committed on August 8, 1965; (3) July 1, 1966, guilty plea in federal court for bank robbery, committed on February 11, 1966. The scheme of R.S. 15:529.1 B which governs determination of the offender's multiple status (second, third or fourth offender) entails enhancing the status for the commission of a given felony if the commission follows the conviction of an earlier felony which caused him to be an offender of a lesser status. For example, to become a second felony offender he must commit the felony after having been convicted for the commission of his first felony offense, and so forth. [3] This Court in State ex rel Jackson v. Henderson, 283 So.2d 210, 212 (La.1973), stated: The plain meaning of the statute as it now stands requires that in order for one to be considered a second offender, the second offense must have been committed after the first conviction. To be a third offender the third offense must have been committed after the conviction which caused him to be a second offender, and the fourth offender is one who commits a felony after the conviction which caused him to be a third offender. Bennett [Criminal Law and Procedure, 17 La. L.Rev. 60-61 (1956)]. The severity of the Habitual Offender Law requires that it be strictly construed. State v. Duncan, 219 La. 1030, 55 So.2d 234 (1951); State v. Bailey, 165 La. 341, 115 So. 613 (1928); State v. Kierson, 140 La. 31, 72 So. 799 (1916). We also stated in State v. Taylor, 347 So.2d 172, 184 (La.1977): Under our holding in Schamburge, both theft offenses must be treated as one offense in applying the multiple offender statute because the defendant had not been convicted of the first theft prior to the commission of the second. LSA R.S. 15:529.1 B; State ex rel Jackson v. Henderson, La., 283 So.2d 210 (1973). See also State v. Schamburge, 344 So.2d 997 (La.1977); State v. Chapman, 367 So.2d 808 (La.1979). In State v. Wimberly, 414 So.2d 666, 673 (La.1982) Justice Dennis, writing for the Court, stated: The consistent application of our multiple offender statute and our repeated offense statutes over the years has been that prior convictions, in order to be available for imposition of a greater punishment as a subsequent offender, must precede the commission of the principal offense, that is, the latest prosecution in point of time.       In fact, the multiple offender statute was amended in 1956 to avoid a contrary interpretation by this court. See State v. Williams, 226 La. 862, 77 So.2d 515 (1955); Act No. 312 of 1956. The multiple offender statute has ever since provided `that the offender shall be deemed a second offender only if the crime resulting in the second conviction shall have been committed after his first conviction.' La.R.S. 15:529.1(B). The only deviation from the general rule seems to be our DWI statute which was amended in 1978 to provide that `[o]n a second conviction, regardless of whether the second offense occurred before or after the first conviction, the offender shall be' given enhanced punishment. La.R.S. 14:98. The exception proves the general rule that, unless otherwise expressly provided, the offender shall be deemed a second offender only if the crime resulting in the second conviction shall have been committed after his first conviction. Since defendant's third listed felony above (bank robbery) was committed on February 11, 1966, three days before he was convicted on February 14, 1966, for the second listed felony (attempted simple burglary), that third crime, bank robbery, does not make defendant eligible to be charged as a fourth felony offender for the commission in 1978 of the present crime. [4] A contrary interpretation of the statute is not impossible. The statutory language which in fact caused him to be a third offender [5] perhaps could be interpreted to mean the crime which caused him to be the perpetrator of three felonies. However, that interpretation is neither logical nor consistent with the scheme of the Habitual Offender Law. The language should be interpreted as it was obviously intended, i.e., which caused him to be a third offender in the legal sense, and as set forth in the statute. The obvious intent of La.R.S. 15:529.1 is to set up a sequential requirement; the third felony must be committed after the conviction responsible for the second offender status. This construction is consistent with the jurisprudence of Louisiana and the case law of other states. [6] The A.L.R. Annotation on Habitual Criminal Statutes, 24 A.L.R.2d 1248-80 (1952), and its Later Case Service cites a number of Louisiana cases in its placing Louisiana with the majority of states which requires that the prior conviction or convictions precede the commission of the principal offense in order to enhance the punishment under habitual criminal statutes. 24 A.L. R.2d at 1249. The Annotation lists several of the cases already cited in this opinion as well as State v. Neal, 347 So.2d 1139 (La. 1977), a decision citing the Annotation, which involves La.R.S. 14:98 before its clarifying amendment in 1978. Justice Tate for the majority in State v. Neal utilizes La. R.S. 15:529.1 by analogy, traces the history of enhanced penalty statutes, and concludes: Consonant with the general purpose of enhanced punishment statutes, the most reasonable legislative intent to ascribe to the more serious punishment accorded for a subsequent `conviction' by La.R.S. 14:98 is that, if following conviction of the offense, the offender repeats the prohibited conduct, he is then subject to enhanced penaltybut not if, after the first conviction has put him on notice of the possibility of more severe punishment, the offender takes heed and reforms. 347 So.2d at 1142. Even more supportive of this interpretation in Louisiana is the dissent by Justice Summers in Neal. Justice Summers did not agree with Justice Tate's analogy. However he clearly enunciated the obvious requirements of the Habitual Offender Law: The defense contention that Article 98 should be considered in the light of the Habitual Offender Law because they are statutes in pari materia is also untenable. If this argument were adopted, the second offense under Article 98 would also have to occur after conviction of the first as the Habitual Offender Law requires.       If the legislature had intended that the second offender statute should be based upon offenses and convictions which occurred in chronological sequence as relator contends, such a limitation would have been stated as it was in the Habitual Offender Statute. 347 So.2d at 1144-45. The defendant Simmons thus could only have properly been convicted of being a third felony offender. The state agrees with the foregoing, but contends that as a third felony offender Simmons should still receive a mandatory life sentence under La.R.S. 15:529.1 A(2)(b), which states: (b) If the third felony and each of the two prior felonies involved a violation of R.S. 14:34 [aggravated battery], R.S. 14:62.1 [simple burglary of a pharmacy], R.S. 14:65 [simple robbery], R.S. 14:110(B) [aggravated escape], or any crime punishable by imprisonment for more than twelve years, the person shall be imprisoned for the remainder of his natural life, without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. The state argues that attempted simple burglary of a pharmacy involved a violation of ... R.S. 14:62.1 (simple burglary of a pharmacy), for the facts clearly showed that the actual burglary, rather than simply an attempt, had been committed. The argument is not meritorious. The language of the Habitual Offender Law must be strictly construed. State ex rel Jackson v. Henderson, 283 So.2d 210 (La. 1973); State v. Duncan, 219 La. 1030, 55 So.2d 234 (1951). When the statute speaks of a felony which involved a violation of La.R.S. 14:62.1, it means that the conviction must be that of simple burglary of a pharmacy, not the lesser crime of attempted simple burglary of a pharmacy. Thus as a third felony offender the defendant is punishable not under 15:529.1 A(2)(b) but rather under 15:529.1 A(2)(a). [7] He should therefore not receive more than twice the longest possible sentence prescribed for a first conviction of attempted simple burglary of a pharmacy. Applying 15:529.1 A(2)(a) (not more than twice) in conjunction with La.R.S. 14:62.1 (nine years maximum) and R.S. 14:27 D(3), (one-half for attempt, 4.5 in this case), [8] the maximum possible sentence would then have been nine years (2 X 4.5). The defendant's sentence to life imprisonment is therefore in excess of that provided by law. The case will be remanded for the sentencing of defendant Simmons as a third felony offender.