State v. Guillard, 04-KA-899.

• Decision Date: 26 April 2005
• Docket Number: No. 04-KA-899.,04-KA-899.
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Wesley GUILLARD.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

902 So.2d 1061

STATE of Louisiana v. Wesley GUILLARD.

No. 04-KA-899.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Fifth Circuit.

April 26, 2005.

Paul D. Connick, Jr., District Attorney, Terry M. Boudreaux, Anne Wallis — Appellate Counsel, David Wolff — Trial Counsel, Assistant District Attorneys, Gretna, Louisiana, for Appellee, State of Louisiana.

Laurie A. White, Autumn Town, Lauren E. Williams, New Orleans, Louisiana, for Appellant, Wesley Guillard.

Panel composed of Judges JAMES L. CANNELLA, THOMAS F. DALEY, and SUSAN M. CHEHARDY.

SUSAN M. CHEHARDY, Judge.

On September 19, 1996, the Jefferson Parish District Attorney filed a bill of information charging defendant, Wesley Guillard, with attempted first degree murder, in violation of La. R.S. 14:27 and La. R.S. 14:30, and aggravated burglary, in violation of LA. R.S. 14:60. Defendant was arraigned and pled not guilty to both charges.

On August 20, 1997, trial on defendant's aggravated burglary charge commenced before a twelve-person jury.¹ On August 21, 1997, the jury returned a verdict of guilty as charged. On October 14, 1997, defendant filed a motion for new trial, which the trial judge denied. Immediately thereafter, defendant waived statutory delays and the trial court sentenced defendant to ten years at hard labor. The trial judge ordered defendant to serve two years of the sentence, and, thereafter, be placed on eight years of active probation. The State objected to the sentence as illegal, which the trial court overruled.

On October 15, 1997, defendant filed a Motion for Appeal.² The State, thereafter, filed a habitual offender bill of information, alleging defendant to be a third felony offender.³ The trial court began habitual offender proceedings on November 18, 1997 but the matter was held open.

On January 5, 1998, defendant filed a Motion to Quash Habitual Offender Bill of Information, arguing that it was not timely filed. On January 16, 1998, defendant filed a Motion to Quash the Same Bill of Information on the Basis of Double Jeopardy. On January 16, 1998, after a hearing, the trial judge granted defendant's first Motion to Quash finding that the habitual offender bill of information had not been timely filed.

On February 9, 1998, the State filed a Motion to Reconsider the Court's Prior Ruling Granting Defendant's Motion to Quash State's Habitual Bill of Information. On February 19, 1998, the trial judge heard and denied the State's Motion to Reconsider. Further, the trial court also heard and granted defendant's second Motion to Quash finding that double jeopardy precluded the State from pursuing the habitual offender bill. The State sought supervisory review of both of the trial court's rulings in this Court. On April 15, 1998, this Court set aside the trial court judgment and ordered the trial court to complete the habitual offender proceedings. State v. Guillard, 98-201 (La.App. 5 Cir. 4/15/98)(unpublished writ disposition).

On October 1, 1998, the trial court continued with the habitual offender proceedings and found defendant to be a third felony offender. At the hearing, defendant, citing State v. Dorthey, 623 So.2d 1276 (La.1993), moved the court to consider a downward deviation from the statutory minimum sentence when imposing defendant's habitual offender sentence. The trial judge ultimately imposed an enhanced sentence of ten years at hard labor, without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.⁴

The State again sought supervisory review in this Court, challenging the sentence as illegal. On August 3, 1999, this Court set aside defendant's habitual offender sentence, remanded for re-sentencing, and ordered the trial court to articulate reasons for its downward deviation from the mandatory minimum sentence. State v. Guillard, 98-1148 (La.App. 5 Cir. 8/3/99)(unpublished writ disposition).

On April 20, 2000, the trial court held defendant's second habitual offender sentencing hearing. The trial judge, who gave extensive reasons for his deviation from the statutory minimum sentence, again imposed a habitual offender sentence of ten years at hard labor without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. The State sought supervisory review from the trial court's judgment for a third time.

On June 14, 2000, this Court vacated defendant's second habitual offender sentence and ordered the trial court to re-sentence defendant to "no less than the mandatory minimum sentence under the Habitual Offender Law." State v. Guillard, 00-1088 (La.App. 6/14/00)(unpublished writ disposition). Defendant applied to the Louisiana Supreme Court for writs, which were denied. State v. Guillard, 00-2540 (La.4/12/02), 817 So.2d 1121.

On July 1, 2002, the trial court sentenced defendant to the mandatory minimum sentence of life imprisonment at hard labor, without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. Defendant made an oral motion for appeal. On May 14, 2004, defendant filed an application for post-conviction relief, seeking an out-of-time appeal. The trial court granted an out-of-time appeal on May 19, 2004.

Facts

On July 28, 1996, Levar Hill("Hill") was living with Chavon Royal("Royal"), who was his girlfriend at the time, and her son at her apartment on Webster Street in Kenner. That evening, Hill arrived at Royal's apartment at around 11:00 p.m. After Hill went inside the apartment, Royal stayed outside to smoke a cigarette.

When Hill went outside sometime later, he saw Wesley Guillard, who he had known since junior high school, on a bicycle on the sidewalk in front of Royal's apartment. Hill admittedly did not want Wesley Guillard speaking to Royal and told him to leave.⁵ Hill and Wesley Guillard exchanged words, Guillard left, and Hill and Royal went inside the apartment.

Twenty to thirty minutes later, Hill and Royal heard a knock on the front door. Hill, who was shirtless, opened the door slightly. Wesley Guillard and, his cousin, Alan Guillard⁶ pushed the door open and entered the apartment. Wesley Guillard pushed Hill onto a nearby couch. At first, Royal thought Wesley Guillard was punching Hill, but she realized defendant was stabbing Hill when she saw that Hill was bleeding.

Royal testified that she was restraining Alan Guillard, who was standing nearby holding a large knife. Both Hill and Royal reported that Royal was able to hold Alan back because he was intoxicated. Royal testified that Alan Guillard did not strike Hill at all. Further, Alan Guillard refused to hand over the large knife that he was carrying when Wesley demanded the knife.

At some point, Hill managed to get away from Wesley Guillard, grab Royal and her son, and run into the bedroom. Hill attempted to lock the bedroom door, but Wesley Guillard knocked it down and continued the attack. Guillard only stopped the attack after Hill picked up a broken picture frame from the floor, swung it, and cut Wesley Guillard on the hand. The Guillards then fled. Later, Royal testified that Wesley Guillard stabbed Hill six or seven times. Hill testified that Wesley Guillard stabbed him a total of five times and told Hill that he was going to kill him.

Fearing the men would return, Hill and Royal took her son and left the apartment. They flagged down a passing motorist and asked for a ride to a hospital. When Hill and Royal spotted police officers at a nearby E-Z Serve convenience store, they asked the driver to stop so they could report the incident to the police.

Officer John Louis of the Kenner Police Department testified that, at about 11:30 p.m. on July 28, 1996, he was investigating an unrelated armed robbery at an E-Z Serve convenience store on Airline Highway. Officer Louis was handling that crime scene when Hill and Royal approached him. Royal told Officer Louis that Hill had been stabbed. After observing Hill, Officer Louis called for an ambulance, which transported Hill to Kenner Regional Medical Center. Once Hill's condition was stable, he was transferred to Charity Hospital in New Orleans where he was treated for stab wounds.⁷

After Hill left in the ambulance, Officer Louis went to Royal's apartment to secure the crime scene and investigate the incident. Based on his investigation, Officer Louis arrived at Wesley and Alan Guillard as suspects.

Sergeant Corey Broussard of the Kenner Police Department testified that, on the night of the incident, he drove Royal to a house where she believed Wesley Guillard was living. The occupants of the house told the officer that Wesley Guillard did not live there. Sergeant Broussard then decided to bring Royal to her relatives' house. While they were en route, Royal saw Wesley Guillard walking and pointed him out to the officer. Sergeant Broussard called for assistance from additional officers. Sergeant Broussard placed Wesley Guillard under arrest and other officers transported him to the Kenner lockup.

Officer Louis testified that defendant had a cut on his left hand that required stitches so he transported defendant to Charity Hospital the morning after the offense and his arrest. Physicians documented and treated a laceration, which was three centimeters long and one-quarter centimeter deep, on the back of the defendant's left hand.

Officer Louis testified that he interviewed Hill at a later date, and Hill named defendant and Alan Guillard as his attackers. Hill also identified defendant and Alan Guillard in a photographic lineup. At that time, Alan Guillard was still at large. Further, at trial, Hill identified defendant as the man who forced his way into the apartment and stabbed him. Royal also identified defendant in court as one of Hill's attackers.

Suzette Hill, who is Levar Hill's mother, testified that she received a letter postmarked January 30, 1997, which purportedly was from the defendant. She read the letter aloud in court. In the letter, defendant admitted to the stabbing, and apologized for the injuries he had caused.

Defendant's mother, Janice Guillard, testified on...