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State v. Randleston

Supreme Court of Louisiana
Oct 4, 1996
681 So. 2d 936 (La. 1996)

Opinion

No. 96-KK-1646

October 4, 1996

IN RE: State of Louisiana; — Plaintiff(s); Applying for Writ of Certiorari and/or Review, Supervisory and/or Remedial Writs; Parish of Orleans Criminal District Court Div. "C" Number 372-017; to the Court of Appeal, Fourth Circuit, Number 96KW-0069


Granted. See per curiam.

WFM

JCW

CDK

JPV

EJB

CALOGERO, C.J. dissents.

LEMMON, J. not on panel.

JOHNSON, J. dissents. The trial court gave sufficient reasons for departure from the minimum sentence guidelines.


Defendant was charged with one count of simple possession of cocaine residue, and pled guilty as charged. She was adjudicated as a second felony offender. The trial court sentenced her to ninety days, below the statutory minimum of thirty months mandated for a second offender under La.R.S. 15:529.1. The court of appeal affirmed and the state now applies to this court.

Louisiana's judiciary maintains the distinct responsibility of reviewing sentences imposed in criminal cases for constitutional excessiveness. State v. Sepulvado, 367 So.2d 762 (La. 1979). However, in order to find the punishment mandated by La.R.S. 15:529.1 excessive, the trial judge must find that the sentence makes no measurable contribution to the acceptable goals of punishment or that the sentence amounts to nothing more than the purposeful imposition of pain and suffering and is grossly out of proportion to the severity of the crime. State v. Dorthey, 623 So.2d 1276 (La. 1993).

Although the trial judge cited Dorthey in his reasons, it does not appear that he made a proper finding that imposition of the statutorily-mandated sentence would be constitutionally excessive. Accordingly, the judgment of the court of appeal is vacated, and the case remanded to the trial court to justify its deviation from the statutorily-mandated minimum sentence in this case.

CALOGERO, J. and JOHNSON, J., dissent.

LEMMON, J., — not on panel.


Summaries of

State v. Randleston

Supreme Court of Louisiana
Oct 4, 1996
681 So. 2d 936 (La. 1996)
Case details for

State v. Randleston

Case Details

Full title:STATE OF LOUISIANA v. FERN RANDLESTON

Court:Supreme Court of Louisiana

Date published: Oct 4, 1996

Citations

681 So. 2d 936 (La. 1996)

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