Opinion
NO. 2015 KA 1663
04-15-2016
STATE OF LOUISIANA v. SHANNON P. WAINWRIGHT
Paul T. Landry Morgan City, Louisiana Attorney for Plaintiff/Appellee, State of Louisiana C.E. Bourg II Morgan City, Louisiana Attorney for Defendant/Appellant, Shannon P. Wainwright
NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION
On Appeal from The City Court of Morgan City, Parish of St. Mary, State of Louisiana
Trial Court No. 15-0470
The Honorable Kim P. Stansbury, Judge Presiding Paul T. Landry
Morgan City, Louisiana Attorney for Plaintiff/Appellee,
State of Louisiana C.E. Bourg II
Morgan City, Louisiana Attorney for Defendant/Appellant,
Shannon P. Wainwright BEFORE: PETTIGREW, HIGGINBOTHAM, AND CRAIN, JJ. CRAIN, J.
The defendant, Shannon P. Wainwright, appeals her conviction in Morgan City, City Court, for principal to simple battery, simple criminal damage to property, and principal to disturbing the peace. Based upon jurisdictional grounds, we vacate the conviction for simple criminal damage to property and dismiss the appeal of the remaining convictions.
According to the charging affidavit filed by the state in city court, the defendant and two of her daughters "jumped" three female victims, and during the altercation, the defendant stomped on a cellphone owned by one of the victims. In the affidavit, the state charged the defendant with multiple offenses identified as follows:
LARS 14:35 Simple Battery
LA RS 14:56 Simple Criminal Damage to Property (Under $700.50)
LA RS 14:103 Disturbing the Peace
At the conclusion of a one-day bench trial, the defendant was found guilty of principal to simple battery, simple criminal damage to property, and principal to disturbing the peace. Shortly after her convictions, the defendant filed a "Motion for Writs" with an attached order subsequently signed by the city court that granted a "Writ Application/Appeal" and set a return date. After the record was lodged on appeal, this court issued an order remanding the matter for a determination of whether the affidavit charging the defendant was amended orally or in writing. As explained in the order, the clarification was needed because the charge of "simple criminal damage to property ($700.50) as billed would have entitled defendant to a jury trial because she faced a possible penalty of not more than one thousand dollars or imprisonment with or without hard labor for not more than two years, or both." The city court responded with a letter advising that the affidavit was not amended orally or in writing, but the charge of criminal damage to property "was handled as a misdemeanor which was the intent" of the city prosecutor, defense counsel, and the city court.
Louisiana Revised Statute 13:1894A limits the criminal jurisdiction of a city court to "the trial of offenses committed within their respective territorial jurisdictions which are not punishable by imprisonment at hard labor." Under this provision, a city court's criminal jurisdiction extends only to misdemeanors. See La. R.S. 14:2(4) and (6); City of Baton Rouge v. Williams, 95-0308 (La. 10/16/95), 661 So. 2d 445, 447.
The affidavit filed by the state charged the defendant with a violation of "LA RS 14:56 Simple Criminal Damage to Property (Under $700.50)." Louisiana Revised Statute 14:56B(2) provides that if the property damage amounts to five hundred dollars but less than fifty thousand dollars, the defendant shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned with or without hard labor for not more than two years, or both. Here, the significance of the damage being less than $700.50, as opposed to the statutory threshold of $500.00, is not readily apparent; however, absent an amendment, the affidavit charged the defendant with criminal damage to property in an amount that exposed the defendant to punishment by imprisonment at hard labor. See La. R.S. 14:56B(2). We are therefore constrained to find that the city court did not have jurisdiction over that offense. See La. R.S. 13:1894A. The conviction for simple criminal damage to property must be vacated.
We further note that the possibility of confinement at hard labor likewise entitled the defendant to a trial by jury, which is not available in a city court. See La. Code Crim. P. art. 782A; La. R.S. 13:1895.
We note that double jeopardy does not preclude a second trial for that offense in a court of proper jurisdiction, because the city court lacked jurisdiction over the charge. See La. Code Crim. P. art. 595(1).
The defendant's remaining convictions, principal to simple battery and disturbing the peace, are not punishable by imprisonment for more than six months. See La. R.S. 14:35B; La. R.S. 14:103B(1); La. Code Crim. Pro. art. 493.1. As such, those offenses were not triable by a jury and are not subject to our appellate jurisdiction. See La. Const. arts. I, §17(A) and V, §10(A); La. Code Crim. Pro. arts. 779 and 912.1B(1); State v. Slade, 518 So. 2d 1128, 1128 (La. App. 1 Cir. 1987); Mayor's Court of City of Golden Meadow v. Weeks, 442 So. 2d 749, 750 (La. App. 1 Cir. 1983). Insofar as this appeal seeks to invoke our appellate jurisdiction to review the convictions for principal to simple battery and principal to disturbing the peace, the appeal is dismissed for lack of appellate jurisdiction. This memorandum opinion is issued in compliance with Uniform Rules—Courts of Appeal, Rule 2-16.1B.
The defendant's proper remedy for appellate review of those convictions is an application for a writ of review under our supervisory jurisdiction. See La. Const. Art. V, §10(A); La. Code Crim. Pro. art. 912.1C(1); Weeks, 442 So. 2d at 750. The defendant previously filed in this court an "Emergency Motion to Stay Execution of Sentence and Writ Application" asserting various errors by the trial court pertaining to her convictions and sentence, and requesting an emergency stay of her sentence pending disposition of the writ. The writ application was denied. See State v. Wainwright, 15-0985 (La. App. 1 Cir. 6/25/15) (unpublished writ action).
CONVICTION FOR SIMPLE CRIMINAL DAMAGE TO PROPERTY VACATED; APPEAL DISMISSED AS TO CONVICTIONS AND SENTENCES FOR PRINCIPAL TO SIMPLE BATTERY AND PRINCIPAL TO DISTURBING THE PEACE.