State ex rel. Jackson v. Henderson

• Decision Date: 24 September 1973
• Docket Number: No. 53577,53577
• Citation: 283 So.2d 210
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana ex rel. James Henry JACKSON v. C. Murray HENDERSON, Warden, Louisiana State Penitentiary, et al.
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

Page 210

283 So.2d 210

STATE of Louisiana ex rel. James Henry JACKSON v. C. Murray HENDERSON, Warden, Louisiana State Penitentiary, et al.

No. 53577.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

Sept. 24, 1973.

James E. Bolin, Jr., Booth, Lockard, Jack, Pleasant & LeSage, Shreveport, for plaintiff-applicant.

William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., LaRoy A. Hartley, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., John A. Richardson, Dist. Atty., Fred C. Sexton, Jr., Asst. Dist. Atty., for defendants-respondents.

SUMMERS, Justice.

Petitioner, James Henry Jackson, was tried and found guilty of attempted forgery on June 11, 1970, in the First Judicial District Court, Parish of Caddo. He was charged on June 26, 1970 in a bill of information with previous convictions under the Habitual Offender Law, La.R.S. 15:529.1. The information charged him as a fourth and subsequent offender. The multiple bill was based on four separate offenses (felony theft) committed on four separate dates in September and October 1966. Four guilty pleas on the same day, February 10, 1967, were obtained as a result of these offenses. Based on the multiple offender bill, Jackson was convicted as a fourth felony offender and was sentenced on July 28, 1970 to twenty years. He appealed to this Court. In considering the contention that the first four offenses constituted one offense since Jackson was arraigned and pleaded guilty on the same date, we said:

The bill of information correctly charges the defendant under R.S. 15:529.1 and correctly sets forth convictions of separate offenses which are sufficient for the multiple offender charge. From an examination of the bill of information as well as the other pleadings and proceedings we find no error patent on the face of the record. (State v. Jackson, 258 La. 632, 247 So.2d 558 (1971))

Subsequent to our decision on May 4, 1971, Jackson applied to this Court for a writ of habeas corpus on May 18, 1973. The application was granted, briefs were submitted, and at oral argument on August 28, 1973 this Court requested supplemental briefs dealing with three questions: (1) whether the court can take cognizance of errors patent on the face of the record in a habeas corpus application; (2) whether the multiple offender law can be used to confuse the defendant prior to trial (Jackson argues that the district attorney indicated that the multiple offender statute would be used if he didn't plead guilty); and (3) if a person pleads guilty to four offenses on the same date, can those convictions be considered as four convictions under the multiple offender statute?

I.

The first question is answered in the affirmative. An indictment in a criminal proceeding is an 'error discoverable by a mere inspection of the pleadings and proceedings' as contemplated in Article 920 of the Code of Criminal Procedure State v. Palmer, 251 La. 759, 206 So.2d 485 (1968); State v. Sanford, 248 La. 630, 181 So.2d 50 (1965). And we can discern no reason, and none has been suggested, why this same principle should not apply in a proceeding for habeas corpus. In fact, counsel for the State concedes that if the indictment in question is erroneous it may be considered as an error patent on the face of the record. See also La.Code Crim.Proc. arts. 362, 872 and 882.

II.

Reference by the district attorney to the fact that if defendant stood trial the Habitual Offender Law would be invoked is said to have a chilling effect upon the defendant's right to a jury trial. Aside from the fact that there is nothing of record here to support the assertion that the district attorney did in fact indicate that he would invoke the Habitual Offender Law if the defendant stood trial, if he did do so the threat had no effect on Jackson, for he did in fact stand trial.

Moreover, we cannot approve the contention. It is in the very nature of plea bargains that the prospects under differing circumstances will be discussed freely by the district attorney and the defendant and his counsel. Plea bargains are to be encouraged and fostered. The administration of criminal justice would be seriously hampered without that means of disposing of the case load. Lynch v. Henderson, 469 F.2d 1081 (5th Cir. 1972); People v. Lampson, 6 Ill.App.3d 1099, 286 N.E.2d 358 (1972).

III.

We are of the opinion Jackson was improperly charged as a fourth offender here. After setting forth in Section A that persons who, after being convicted of a felony, thereafter commit any subsequent felony within this state upon conviction of said felony shall be...