Opinion
No. 2019-KH-1995
06-12-2020
STATE OF LOUISIANA v. CHARLES DAUGHTRY
On Supervisory Writ to the 22nd Judicial District Court, Parish of St. Tammany Johnson, C.J., would grant and assigns reasons.
At 61-years-old, Mr. Daughtry was sentenced as a habitual offender to life in prison without parole, probation, or suspension of sentence for two counts of simple burglary. This sentence is unconstitutional. Mr. Daughtry's entire criminal history is non-violent, consisting of burglaries and possessing stolen things. When questioned by police about the instant home burglaries in Mandeville, Mr. Daughtry "admitted to committing both and gave the interviewing detectives . . . details about how he first knocked on the homes' front doors to make sure no one was present before he proceeded to the homes' back doors to make his entrance there." State v. Daughtry, 14-0213 *3 (La. App. 1 Cir. 9/19/14) (unpub'd). Mr. Daughtry was deliberately ensuring his crimes were only property crimes. By his own admission Mr. Daughtry was a drug addict, who supported his addition with burglaries. Defendant is an incorrigible thief, but by no measure is he an irredeemable menace to society deserving only to die in prison.
The convictions used to enhance his sentence were a 1985 conviction in Orleans Parish for six counts of simple burglary of an inhabited building; a 1991 conviction in Jefferson Parish for six counts of simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling; a 2001 conviction in St. Tammany Parish for two counts of simple burglary of an inhabited dwelling; and a 2001 conviction in St. Tammany Parish for illegal possession of stolen things (value over $500). --------
Life without parole is an excessive, cruel and unusual punishment, and grossly disproportionate for simple burglaries. It offends the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution and Article 1, § 20 of the Louisiana Constitution. Solem v. Helm, 463 U.S. 277 (1983); State v. Sepulvado, 367 So.2d 762 (La 1979); State v. Dorthey, 623 So.2d 1276 (La.1993).