State v. Brown, 2012–KP–0872.

• Decision Date: 07 May 2013
• Docket Number: No. 2012–KP–0872.,2012–KP–0872.
• Citation: 118 So.3d 332
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Giovanni BROWN.
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

118 So.3d 332

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Giovanni BROWN.

No. 2012–KP–0872.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

May 7, 2013.

James D. Caldwell, Attorney General, Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office, Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Terry Michael Boudreaux, Assistant District Attorney, for Applicant.

Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana, Carol A. Kolinchak, Benjamin W. Maxymak, Pro Hac Vice, Bryan A. Stevenson, Pro Hac Vice, for Respondent.

VICTORY, J.^*

[2012-0872 (La. 1]We granted this writ application to consider whether the United States Supreme Court's decision in Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48, 130 S.Ct. 2011, 176 L.Ed.2d 825 (2010), applies in a case in which the juvenile offender committed multiple offenses resulting in cumulative sentences matching or exceeding his life expectancy without the opportunity of securing early release from confinement. Having reviewed the record and the applicable law, we find Graham's holding that the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment forbids the imposition of life in prison without parole for juveniles committing non-homicide crimes, applies only to sentences of life in prison without parole, and does not apply to a sentence of years without the possibility of parole. Therefore, we reverse the decision of the trial court which amended

[118 So.3d 333]

defendant's four 10–year sentences for four armed robberies.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On October 27, 1999, defendant, Giovanni Brown, and an accomplice approached seventeen year-old William Boada, Jr. (“Bill”) while he was outside his home washing his car. Bill declined defendant's offer to purchase a phone card and [2012-0872 (La. 2]went inside to retrieve a pen for defendant, and, as he entered his home, defendant put a gun to his back, removed the phone from its hook, and ordered Bill to lie on the ground. After demanding to know if anyone else was in the house, defendant went looking for Bill's fifteen-year-old brother Brian while his accomplice held a gun on Bill. After defendant's search was unsuccessful, Bill went to the locked bathroom where his brother was taking a shower, and defendant repeatedly attempted to kick down the bathroom door. When Brian came out, defendant and his accomplice pointed their guns at his face. Bill and Brian were questioned about the location of any money in the house and about when their father would be home. They were then taken at gunpoint to an upstairs bedroom where they were ordered to strip to their underwear, and bound with duct tape from their wrists to their elbows, from their ankles to their knees, and around their head and mouth, with small holes cut out around their mouths. They were then dragged to a bathroom and left lying on their sides with the door shut, where they could hear the perpetrators rummaging around the house. A short time later, Bill's girlfriend, Amanda, came to the house, and when she opened the front door, she saw defendant and his accomplice, both with guns, coming down the stairs. She was brought into the kitchen. Immediately thereafter, Mr. Boada came home and was met by the perpetrators. They demanded money and stated they would hurt the bound victims if Mr. Boada did anything “stupid.” After forcing Mr. Boada to open a safe box and finding no money, they ordered Mr. Boada to go with defendant to an ATM machine and withdraw money. Mr. Boada insisted on seeing his children, and he and Amanda were taken upstairs, where Amanda was bound with duct tape in the same manner as Bill and Brian. Mr. Boada saw his children bound and visibly frightened. Defendant then forced Mr. Boada at gunpoint to drive Amanda's car to the bank, with his accomplice threatening that if they didn't [2012-0872 (La. 3]return, he would hurt the remaining victims. At the bank, Mr. Boada realized he did not have his ATM card, and defendant became irritated and ordered Mr. Boada to return home. Upon return, Mr. Boada was bound with duct tape and placed in the bathroom with the other victims. The perpetrators continued to ransack and search the house, periodically checking on the victims and telling them they would let them know when they were leaving. The victims took this to mean defendant was going to kill them before they left and they all believed they were going to die. After some time had passed and the house became quiet, the victims untied themselves, escaped from the house and called the police. Bill's hands were swollen and numb from lack of circulation, and he was having trouble breathing. When the police arrived, they discovered the house was ransacked and that various items had been stolen, including clothes, shoes, two watches, a stereo, computer, camcorder, digital camera, Bill's BMW, and Amanda's Malibu. A few weeks later, defendant and his accomplice were arrested and defendant was charged with aggravated kidnapping and four counts of armed robbery. Defendant was sixteen years old when he committed these crimes.

[118 So.3d 334]

Defendant was found guilty of all charges and the court sentenced him to the mandatory term of life imprisonment without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence for the aggravated kidnapping, and to four 10–year terms, also “without benefit,” for each of the armed robberies. The court ordered all sentences to run consecutively. The court of appeal affirmed. State v. Brown, 01–160 (La.App. 5 Cir. 5/30/01), 788 So.2d 667. Defendant did not seek review in this Court.

In 2011, defendant filed a motion to correct illegal sentence pursuant to the United States Supreme Court's decision in Graham, supra, which held that imposition of life sentences without benefit of parole eligibility on juveniles who commit non-homicide offenses violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition against [2012-0872 (La. 4]cruel and unusual punishment. The district court granted the motion and amended all of defendant's sentences to delete the parole eligibility restrictions and instructed the Department of Corrections to amend his prison master to reflect that he is now parole eligible on all of his five convictions. In his oral reasons, the trial court explained:

So, from a standpoint of the arguments that have been made per the Defendant Brown's motion too [sic] correct, what I agree, is an illegal sentence as it relates to Graham v. Florida, the Court will strike the sentence as it relates to there being no benefit of parole on the aggravated kidnaping charge, and in line with the consecutive sentences on the armed robbery charges subject to the State's objection, which is under the law an understandable objection, the Court, because of the ruling in Graham, and the position taken by the Louisiana Supreme Court, the Court is going to strike the component of the armed robbery sentences that were run consecutive to the life sentence on the aggravated kidnaping. I'm going to strike the component that called for those to be run without benefit of parole also. It would be illogical to require one to serve a life sentence even if you can get paroled when you then would be facing 40–years on the armed robbery charges without benefit of parole. It would negate the effect of the Court's, both the Louisiana Supreme Court and The Supreme Court's earlier rulings. So, I am not going to review the sentences in spite of the good work of Mr. Brown. I do not think that is my role here, and do not have any legal authority to do so to impact the sentences, but I will further dictate of those two higher courts, strike the inability of Mr. Brown to seek parole, and I will specifically allow that, and correct the sentence as it relates to both the aggravated kidnaping charge, and the four armed robbery charges.

The district court felt bound under Graham to delete the parole restrictions not just on the life sentence, but on all the sentences, in order “to give effect to Graham's requirement that the defendant be given ‘some meaningful opportunity to obtain release based on demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation.’ ” According to the court, imposing “40 years of additional time without benefits after a parole review of a life sentence would effectively negate Graham's ultimate directive to provide an opportunity for rehabilitation for the juvenile.” The court of appeal affirmed, finding that Graham's intent was “to give juvenile defendants convicted of non-homicide offenses some meaningful opportunity to obtain release.” [2012-0872 (La. 5]State v. Brown, 12–0093 La.App. 5 Cir. 3/27/12) ––– So.3d ––––. We granted the State's writ application to consider its argument that while the district court properly eliminated the parole restriction on the life sentence,

[118 So.3d 335]

nothing in Graham authorized it to amend his four 10–year armed robbery sentences. State v. Brown, 12–0872 (La.9/21/12), 98 So.3d 320.

DISCUSSION

The issue before us is whether, and to what extent, the United States Supreme Court's decision in Graham applies in cases in which the juvenile offender committed multiple offenses resulting in cumulative sentences matching or exceeding his life expectancy without the opportunity of securing early release from confinement on parole. According to our calculations, if we accept the State's argument that the original armed robbery sentences should be reinstated, defendant will be eligible for parole on the life sentence after serving 30 years of that sentence, at approximately age 46,¹ but will not be entitled to release, even if parole would otherwise have been granted, because his armed robbery sentences would run consecutively to the life sentence and he would then have to begin serving those four ten-year sentences; thus, he would not be subject to release until possibly age 86. ²[2012-0872 (La. 6]Therefore, the issue is whether this 70–year sentence is constitutional.

In recent years, the United States Supreme Court has issued a string of cases applying the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment to limit the...