Court Opinion

ID: 9961768
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-04-19 18:06:25.827021+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:18:52.509462
License: Public Domain

STATE OF LOUISIANA

                                 COURT OF APPEAL

                                    FIRST CIRCUIT

                            2023 KA 0992 & 2023 KW 1125

                                STATE OF LOUISIANA

                                       VERSUS

                                CLYDE R. JOSEPH, JR.

                                                   Judgment Rendered:   APR 19 2024

                On Appeal and Application for Supervisory Review
                                        from the
                           Eighteenth Judicial District Court
                            In and for the Parish of Iberville
                                   State of Louisiana
                                Docket Number 2141- 96
                    The Honorable Alvin Batiste, Jr., Judge Presiding

Antonio M. " Tony" Clayton                      Counsel for Appellee

District Attorney                               State of Louisiana
Ali Zito Meronek
Assistant District Attorney
Plaquemine, Louisiana

Prentice L. White                               Counsel for Defendant/Appellant
Baton Rouge, Louisiana                          Clyde R. Joseph, Jr.

Clyde R. Joseph, Jr.                            In Proper Person
Angola, Louisiana

            BEFORE: GUIDRY, C.J., CHUTZ, AND LANIER, JJ.
GUIDRY, C.J.

        On September 27, 2001,          a jury found the defendant, Clyde R. Joseph, Jr.,

guilty of second degree murder, a violation of La. R.S. 14: 30. 1, after which he was

sentenced to a mandatory term of life imprisonment at hard labor without the

possibility of parole.'       The offense occurred in 1996, when the defendant was

sixteen   years   old.    Following the United States Supreme Court' s decisions in

Miller v. Alabama, 567 U. S. 460, 132 S. Ct. 2455, 183 L.Ed.2d 407 ( 2012)                         and

Montgomery v. Louisiana, 577 U. S. 190, 136 S. Ct. 718, 193 L. Ed.2d 599 ( 2016),

the trial court conducted a resentencing hearing and, after taking the matter under

advisement, declined to grant the defendant parole eligibility.                  He filed a pro se

motion to reconsider sentence, upon which the trial court has yet to rule.                        The

defendant now appeals, filing both a counseled and a pro se brief, in which he

assigns error to the resentencing.            The defendant also concurrently filed a writ

application seeking supervisory review of the resentencing, which application was

referred to this panel to decide in conjunction with the pending appeal.                   See State

v. Joseph, 2023 KW 1125 ( La. App. 1 st Cir. 1/             18/ 24). For the following reasons,

we remand this matter to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this

opinion, and in so decreeing, we deny the writ application as moot.

                                               FACTS

       In November of 1996, the defendant and two other young men planned to

rob Laura Henson, the manager of Fred' s Department Store.                         As Ms. Henson

exited the store,     she was shot and killed.           The defendant was identified as the

shooter, after which he confessed to shooting Ms. Henson.

1 This court affirmed the defendant' s conviction and sentence, and the Louisiana Supreme Court
denied the defendant' s writ of certiorari.   State v. Joseph, 02- 0976 ( La. App. 1st Cir. 12/ 20102),
837 So. 2d 761, writ denied, 03- 0410 ( La. 10/ 10103), 855 So. 2d 327.

                                                   2
                               EXCESSIVE SENTENCE

       In his counseled assignment of error and his second and third pro se

assignments of error, the defendant argues the trial court abused its discretion in

denying him parole eligibility under Miller, and the sentence is unconstitutionally

excessive.   In his first pro se assignment of error, he claims the trial court violated

his constitutional rights when he was denied the opportunity to testify at the Miller

hearing.     However,   because the record contains no ruling on the defendant' s

timely -filed, pro se motion to reconsider sentence, we pretermit further discussion

of these assignments of error.

      When      the   defendant    was      initially convicted        and   sentenced   in   2001,

Louisiana law mandated a sentence of life imprisonment without benefit of parole

for a juvenile tried as an adult and convicted of second degree murder. However,

in 2012,     the United   States    Supreme      Court held       in    Miller that the Eighth

Amendment' s     prohibition      against    cruel   and   unusual       punishment      forbids   a

sentencing scheme that mandates life in prison without the possibility of parole for

juvenile offenders who were under the age of eighteen at the time of the offense.

Miller, 567 U. S. at 470- 71, 132 S. Ct. at 2463- 64.       Thereafter, in 2016, the United

States Supreme Court determined that Miller announced a substantive right of

constitutional law, which applied retroactively to juvenile offenders. Montg_
                                                                            omgy,

577 U.S. at 212, 136 S. Ct. at 736.

      In accordance therewith, the Louisiana legislature specifically amended the

Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure and the Louisiana Revised Statutes to

codify Miller' s holding, as follows:

             A]ny person serving a sentence of life imprisonment for a
           conviction of ...   second degree murder ...       who was under the age
           of eighteen years at the time of the commission of the offense and
           whose indictment for the offense was prior to August 1, 2017, shall
           be eligible for parole consideration ...        if a judicial determination
           has been made that the person is entitled to parole eligibility
           pursuant to Code of Criminal Procedure Article 878. 1( B) and ...

                                                 3
              t] he   offender has   served twenty- five years    of   the   sentence

             imposed[.]

                               2
La. R.S. 15: 574. 4( G)( 1).

          For such an offender, the district attorney may choose to file a notice of

intent to seek a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, at

which point " a hearing shall be conducted to determine whether the sentence shall

be imposed with or without parole eligibility." La. C. Cr.P. art. 878. 1( B)( 1).

          Herein, the    State filed a Notice of Intent to Seek a Sentence of Life

Imprisonment without the Possibility of Parole against the defendant. On April 13,

2023, the trial court held a resentencing hearing and, after taking the matter under

advisement,       denied the defendant the benefit of parole on May              12,    2023.

Thereafter, the defendant filed a pro se motion to reconsider sentence in which he

argued that the trial court erred in denying him parole eligibility under Miller.

          Before the trial court ruled on the pro se motion, the defendant' s attorney

filed a motion for a two- year extension of deadline to file an additional motion to

reconsider sentence.       During a hearing on the motion for a two-year extension of

the deadline, held on June 14, 2023,         the trial court explained its reasoning for

denying the defendant parole eligibility at the resentencing hearing, stating the

defendant failed to accept responsibility, show remorse, or do the things necessary

to become a productive citizen upon release, such as obtaining his G.E.D. and job

skills.   Thus, the trial court believed that even if it granted the defendant the benefit

of parole at the resentencing hearing, the defendant would not be eligible under La.

R.S. 15: 574. 4.

          The following exchange then took place between the trial court and the

defendant:

THE COURT:                           Your attorney also filed an extension of time on
                                     the motion to reconsider.    I' ve looked through the

2 At the time of the resentencing hearing, the defendant had served over 26 years of his life
sentence, having been imprisoned since late 1996.
                                               4
                Title 15 --     I may have missed something -- but it
                seems the Legislature didn' t put in a provision
                wherein someone in Mr. Joseph' s shoes would

                have an opportunity at still obtaining parole after a
                certain time period. I know they did it for other
                individuals      such     as   other   lifers    that   weren' t

                juveniles being given an opportunity at parole after
                 serving so many years in Angola. However, under
                our Code of Criminal Procedure, I think it' s 881. 1,
                that you can request reconsideration of sentence.

                Normally, it has to be done within 30 days after
                sentencing, however, the           court can      extend    that
                period for a reasonable time.

                I don' t know if I returned [ your G.E. D.]              results

                back to you --

MR. JOSEPH:     Yes, sir.

THE COURT: --      But it appears to me that you didn' t pass,
                correct?

MR. JOSEPH:     Yeah, I passed the subject -- I failed one subject,
                but I' ve got to take the test on June the 20th.

THE COURT:      Okay. All right. So you would still need to do
                that. You still need to try and obtain some type of
                job skill. Again, I mentioned in my reasons that,
                even though you learned how to do leather crafts,
                it' s no indication of how much money you make at
                the rodeo sales.

MR. JOSEPH:     Well, I' ve made some.

THE COURT:      Okay. Well, you' ll have an opportunity to present
                that again.

                What I' m going to do is I' ll extend the period to
                ask for reconsideration.

                How long does it take for you to learn a job skill?

MR. JOSEPH:     You might apply for it but it might take you three
                years dust to get in it.

THE COURT:      Okay.       Well, you need to try and -- whatever it
                takes for you to do that before a three-year time
                period, you need to do that.

THE COURT:      So,   Mr.       Joseph,    I' m   going     to    extend     the

                opportunity for you to ask for reconsideration two

                            5
                                     years from today. Today is June the 14th, so that
                                     would be June the      13th that you can ask for
                                     reconsideration,
                                                        but that should only be done if
                                     you have met the requirements under Title 15[.]

      Our thorough review of the record reveals the trial court failed to rule on the

defendant' s previously filed pro se motion to reconsider sentence,              and   any

counseled motion that remains outstanding. Although the defendant does not raise

the failure to rule on the pro se motion as error, he does contest the excessiveness

of the sentence, as he does in his motion to reconsider sentence. Based on the trial

court' s discussion with the defendant during the June 14, 2023 hearing, we find

any action by this court concerning the length of the defendant' s sentence would be

premature because, on reconsideration of the sentence, the trial court could grant

the defendant the relief he seeks.     See State v. Jackson, 00- 0717 ( La. App. 1 st Cir.

2116101), 814 So. 2d 6, 11- 12, writ denied, 01- 0673 ( La. 3115102), 811 So. 2d 895;

cf. State v. Lewis, 16- 0533 ( La. App. 1st Cir. 10131116), 207 So. 3d 1078, 1081

where the trial court denied the motion to reconsider sentence but granted an

extension of time to file subsequent motions, appellate review of trial court' s ruling

was not premature).        During the hearing on the motion for the two-year extension,

the trial court indicated it would consider granting the defendant' s pro se motion to

reconsider sentence if the defendant met the parole eligibility requirements under

La. R.S.   15: 574. 4 by obtaining his G.E.D. and a specific job skill by the deadline

of June 14, 2025.

      Appellate courts are authorized by statute to remand to the district court,

when appropriate, for a ruling on an outstanding motion to reconsider sentence.

See La. C.Cr.F.     art.   881. 4( 0) ( providing that "[ i] f necessary to an appropriate

disposition of a motion to reconsider sentence, the appellate court may remand the

case to the trial court with instructions to supplement the record or to hold an

evidentiary hearing.").       This court and other Louisiana courts have refused to

                                              Nil
consider sentencing issues on appeal when there is an outstanding motion to

reconsider sentence.        See Statey. Miller, 12- 1090 ( La. App. 1st Cir. 3/ 22113), 2013

WL 11994011 * 4 ( unpublished); State v. Toledano, 18- 0715 ( La. App. 4th Cir.

1/ 23/ 19),    363 So. 3d 264, 268; State v. Cotten, 17- 684 ( La. App. 3d Cir. 3114118),

241 So. 3d 457, 471; State v. Stock, 16- 552 ( La. App. 5th Cir. 2/ 22/ 17), 212 So. 3d

1268, 1280.          Accordingly, because there is no ruling on the defendant' s pro se

motion        to   reconsider   sentence,   we find appellate review of the sentence is

premature.3

        Therefore,      we remand this matter to the trial court for a ruling on the

defendant' s outstanding pro se motion to reconsider sentence.             See La. C. Cr.P. art.

881. 4( 0); State v. Heard,       15- 0077 ( La. App. 1st Cir. 6/ 5/ 15), 2015 WL 3544446,

 2.   The trial court should rule on the motion within thirty days of the date of this

opinion.       Thereafter, if the defendant wishes to appeal his sentence, he may file a

new appeal with this court.

        REMANDED                FOR   RULING         ON   MOTION        TO     RECONSIDER
SENTENCE; WRIT APPLICATION DENIED AS MOOT.

3 Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure article 881. 1 provides that the trial court may extend the
period of time in which a defendant may make or file a motion to reconsider sentence. That
extension of time does not divest this court of jurisdiction. Lewis, 207 So. 3d at 1081. Further,
La. C. Cr.P. art. 916( 3) contemplates that a defendant may file a motion to reconsider sentence
during the pendency of his appeal. The trial court has jurisdiction to rule on any such motion
that is properly filed. However, because the defendant filed a pro se motion to reconsider
sentence upon which the trial court has yet to rule prior to the filing of the counseled motion for
extension, appellate review of his resentencing is premature. Cf. Lewis, 207 So. 3d at 1081.
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