Opinion ID: 1726425
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Court of Appeal Analysis

Text: On appeal, Baker argued that his adjudication as a multiple offender was improper under Sanders and Firmin as an impermissible double enhancement of his firearms conviction. The state countered that no double enhancement occurred because Baker's 1996 aggravated battery conviction supported Baker's firearm violation under La. R.S. 14:95.1, while his prior 1999 conviction for possession of stolen things was used to support the habitual offender charge under La. R.S. 15:529.1. Although the Second Circuit acknowledged the reasoning of this court's opinions in Sanders and Firmin, the appellate court continued its analysis by citing to, and ultimately relying upon, appellate court cases which address a totally different issue than the one presented here. Instead of trying to determine whether a sentence under La. R.S. 14:95.1 could be enhanced by habitual offender proceedings, the court of appeal focused on the use of a firearms conviction to enhance a subsequent conviction. The appellate court cited to the Fourth Circuit's opinion in State v. Hymes, 513 So.2d 371 (La.App. 4 Cir.1987), wherein that appellate court held that a felon in possession of a firearm conviction may be used to enhance the penalty for a subsequent conviction only if the underlying felony used as an element in the firearms conviction is not also used in the same multiple bill. Id., 513 So.2d at 373. [5] In a variant on that concept, the Second Circuit also noted cases where it and other courts of appeal have held that a prior conviction used to enhance the commission of a subsequent crime into a second offense (for example, second offense narcotics possession) may not thereafter be used in the habitual offender bill following the defendant's conviction for a subsequent felony when both the original conviction and second offense conviction appear in the same multiple bill. See generally State v. Smith, 2005-375 p. 10 (La.App. 4 Cir. 7/20/05), 913 So.2d 836, 842; State v. White, 39,634 p. 3 (La.App. 2 Cir. 6/16/05), 907 So.2d 180, 182, writ denied, 2005-2097 (La.3/10/06), 925 So.2d 510; State v. Iverson, 37,369 p. 5 (La.App. 2 Cir. 9/24/03), 855 So.2d 835, 838-839, writ denied, 2003-2950 (La.5/14/04), 872 So.2d 510; and State v. Harrison, 32,643 p. 10 (La.App. 2 Cir. 10/27/99), 743 So.2d 883, 889-890, writ denied, XXXX-XXXX (La.6/30/00), 765 So.2d 327. From these appellate court opinions, the Second Circuit drew the conclusion that no impermissible double enhancement occurred in Baker's case because the conviction used to prove an essential element of the firearm possession offense was not the prior conviction then used to enhance the offender status and sentence of the firearm conviction under the habitual offender proceedings. Baker, 40,997 p. 6, 935 So.2d at 369.