State v. Hilaire

• Citation: 216 La. 972,45 So.2d 360
• Decision Date: 13 February 1950
• Docket Number: Nos. 39636-39642,s. 39636-39642
• Parties: STATE v. HILAIRE.
• Court: Supreme Court of Louisiana

Page 360

45 So.2d 360

216 La. 972

STATE v. HILAIRE.

Nos. 39636-39642.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

Feb. 13, 1950.

Rehearing Denied March 20, 1950.

Bertrand DeBlanc, Lafayette, for appellant.

Bolivar E. Kemp, Jr., Atty. Gen., M. E. Culligan, Asst. Atty. Gen., R. J. Putnam, Dist. Atty., Abbeville, and Allen J. Lacobie, Asst. Dist. Atty., Lafayette, for appellee.

FOURNET, Chief Justice.

Defendant, Joseph LeRoy Hilaire, when called for arraignment on seven charges by bills of information, six with having committed simple burglary and one with the theft of a bicycle, pleaded guilty to each offense, waived legal delays, and requested the court to pass sentence on him forthwith; whereupon he was sentenced to serve at hard labor in the State Penitentiary for a period of five years on each burglary charge and two years on the theft charge, the sentence for theft and for three of the burglary charges to run concurrently with the sentence first imposed. On the next day the defendant filed a motion through counsel for an appeal, based on the suggestion 'that the record * * * shows error to his prejudice.'

Counsel for the defendant contends that, under the provisions of Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution of Louisiana, the defendant, being charged with a felony, was entitled to the assistance of counsel learned in the law to defend him; and that the failure of the trial judge to assign counsel to defendant constitutes a violation of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. He further contends that the State did not sustain the burden of proving that the defendant was over the age of 17 years when the alleged crimes were committed, and that by his plea of guilty defendant did not waive his right to allege, plead and prove his age.

The right to defend one's self when charged with a felony, or to have the assistance of counsel to aid in such defense, did not exist under the common law as practiced in England until the year 1836, when by act of Parliament the full right was granted in respect of felonies generally. However, that harsh procedure was never accepted in this country; and when the thirteen colonies sought to band together, they made certain to secure this human right which they considered inalienable and consented to uniting under a constitutional form of government only when assured of the right to defend one's self in criminal prosecutions and to have the assistance of counsel for such defense, Sixth Amendment, U. S. Constitution. The constitutions of the various states contain similar provisions, and in the Bill of Rights of the Louisiana Constitution of 1921 is contained the provision that 'No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property, except by due process of law. * * *' Art. I, Sec. 2, as well as the following provisions: 'In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall have the right to a speedy public trial by an impartial jury; * * * The accused in every instance shall have the right to be confronted with the witnesses against him; he shall have the right to defend himself, to have the assistance of counsel, and to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor * * *.' Art. I, Sec. 9. The Bill of Rights of the several preceding Constitutions of the State contain provisions similar to those quoted above. See: Const. of 1913, Art. 9; Const. of 1898, Art. 9; Const. of 1879, Art. 8; Const. of 1868, Art. 6; Const. of 1864, Art. 105; Const. of 1852, Art. 103; Const. of 1845, Art. 107; Const. of 1812, Art. 6, Sec. 18.

In order to safeguard this right, the lawmakers of our State, in adopting the Code of Criminal Procedure in 1928, under the heading 'Right to Counsel,' incorporated the provision that 'The accused in every instance shall have the right to defend himself and to have the assistance of counsel * * *', Art. 142, C.C.P.; and in order to make secure this right to an accused who is unable to procure or employ such counsel, incorporated the further provision that 'Whenever an accused charged with a felony shall make affidavit that he is unable to procure or employ counsel learned in the law, the court before whom he shall be tried, or some judge thereof, shall immediately assign to him such counsel; * * *.' Art. 143, C.C.P. (Emphasis supplied.) This was but a codification of the prior existing law, with slight modifications. See Revised Statutes, Sec. 992, and the jurisprudence thereunder.

It has been the universal practice and procedure in the trial of all criminal cases in this State to furnish the accused, upon his request in proper cases, with counsel to assist him in the trial and defense of his cause, and the trial judge's failure to do so constitutes a reversible error, State v. Blankenship, 186 La. 238, 172 So. 4; State v. Neely, 186 La. 171, 171 So. 840, but the court need not appoint counsel for the accused unless he requests it, State v. Kelly, 25 La.Ann. 381; State v. Ziord, 30 La.Ann. 867; State v. Doyle, 36 La.Ann. 91; State v. Perry, 48 La.Ann. 651, 19 So. 684, and authorities there cited; State v. Whitesides, 49 La.Ann. 352, 21 So. 540; State v. Sims, 117 La. 1036, 42 So. 494; State v. Charles, 130 La. 683, 58 So. 509; State v. Williams, 162 La. 590, 110 So. 766; State v. Davis, 171 La. 449, 131 So. 295, and where the defendant, charged with a felony, pleads guilty (except in capital cases where such pleas are...