State v. Malone

• Decision Date: 01 December 2009
• Docket Number: No. 2008-KP-2253.,2008-KP-2253.
• Citation: 25 So.3d 113
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Justin MALONE.
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

25 So.3d 113

STATE of Louisiana v. Justin MALONE.

No. 2008-KP-2253.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

December 1, 2009.

Pamela C. Spees, Lake Charles, for applicant.

John F. DeRosier, District Attorney, Carla Sue Sigler, Lawrence Babineaux, Assistant District Attorneys, for respondent.

JOHNSON, Justice.^*

We granted this writ application to reexamine the jurisprudence of this State as stated in State v. Morris, 328 So.2d 65 (La.1976), relative to whether the satisfaction of a misdemeanor sentence by payment of the fine imposed renders subsequent appellate review of the conviction moot. For the following reasons, we find that the court of appeal correctly denied the defendant's writ application on the basis that the case was moot.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The defendant, Justin Malone, was charged with the misdemeanor of simple battery, a violation of La. R.S. 14:35, following a fight which occurred on or about February 10, 2006, outside of a restaurant/bar in Calcasieu Parish. The defendant entered a Not Guilty Plea, and was subsequently tried in Lake Charles City Court on April 4, 2008. Following the trial, the defendant was found guilty, and sentenced to a fine of $150.00, plus costs, or 30 days in jail.

The defendant paid the fine immediately following the conviction. The payment information was not made part of the record on appeal, however the receipt demonstrating payment of the fine on April 4, 2008, was included in the Appendix to the defendant's writ application to this Court. Further, defendant's counsel admitted at oral argument that payment of the fine occurred immediately after the defendant was sentenced. Thus, the issue of the timing of the payment of the fine is not in dispute.

On April 30, 2008, defendant filed a Notice of Intention to Apply to the Court of Appeal for Supervisory Writ of Review. A return date was set for May 30, 2008, and was subsequently extended to June 13 2008 in order to provide additional time to obtain the trial transcript.

On August 15, 2008, the court of appeal denied the defendant's writ with the following language:

The Defendant's sentence has been satisfied; thus, the case is moot so as to preclude review of, or attack on, the conviction. State v. Morris, 328 So.2d 65 (La.1976); State v. Laborde, 543 So.2d 1051 (La.App. 3 Cir.1989).¹

The defendant subsequently filed a writ application with this Court, which we granted.²

DISCUSSION

It is well-settled that "courts will not decide abstract, hypothetical or moot controversies, or render advisory opinions with respect to such controversies." Cat's Meow, Inc. v. City of New Orleans, 98-0601, p. 8 (La.10/20/98), 720 So.2d 1186, 1193; Perschall v. State, 96-0322 (La.7/1/97), 697 So.2d 240, 251. "A case is `moot' when a rendered judgment or decree can serve no useful purpose and give no practical relief or effect." Cat's Meow, 98-0601 at p. 8, 720 So.2d at 1193 [citing Robin v. Concerned Citizens for Better Educ. In St. Bernard, Inc., 384 So.2d 405 (La.1980)].₃ "If the case is moot, there is no subject matter on which the judgment of the court can operate." Cat's Meow, 98-0601 at p. 8, 720 So.2d at 1193; Perschall, 697 So.2d at 253.

There are three general rules which have developed when courts have considered whether a criminal case is moot so as to preclude review due to satisfaction of the sentence: (A) the traditional rule, (B) the liberal rule, and (C) the federal rule.³ The traditional rule provides that the satisfaction of the sentence renders the case moot so as to preclude review; the liberal rule provides that an accused's interest in clearing his name permits review even after the sentence has been satisfied; and the federal rule provides that satisfaction of a sentence renders the case moot unless, as a result of the conviction, the defendant suffers collateral consequences. 9 A.L.R.3d 462 at § 2a. The traditional rule is generally premised on a court's lack of jurisdiction to hear moot cases, the courts' reluctance to issue advisory opinions, the need to end litigation, and the assumption that an accused who satisfies his sentence accepts it. Id. The liberal rule is based on the interest of the accused in clearing his name. Id. And, the federal rule represents a compromise between the harsher traditional rule and the far-reaching liberal rule. The federal rule generally allows review of a conviction where there are serious collateral consequences, such as where the conviction is used to increase the sentence for a subsequent crime, where the defendant's parole has been revoked from an earlier sentence due to the conviction, where the defendant has suffered a loss of his civil rights, or has been deprived of certain privileges. Id.

The ruling of the court of appeal denying the defendant's writ is supported by long-standing jurisprudence from this Court holding that satisfaction of a misdemeanor sentence by payment of the fine imposed renders any subsequent review moot. In State v. Morris, 328 So.2d 65 (La.1976), relied on by the court of appeal, the defendant was convicted of possession of marijuana as a second offender and sentenced to pay a fine of $250.00 or be confined to jail for 90 days, and to serve six months in jail. The six-month jail sentence was suspended and defendant was placed on probation for one year. Defendant appealed, but paid the fine before the order of appeal was granted.

In deciding whether Morris still had a right to appeal, this Court noted that "Louisiana has adopted the view that the satisfaction of the sentence renders the case moot so as to preclude review of or attack on the conviction or sentence." Morris, 328 So.2d at 66. This rule was based on earlier rulings by this Court in City of Lafayette v. Trahan, 157 La. 305, 102 So. 409 (1924) and State ex rel. Perilleux v. Wilder, 50 La. Ann. 388, 23 So. 203 (1898). In Trahan, this Court stated that "[a] new trial cannot restore life to him who has been hanged . . . it cannot direct the return of a fine already paid into the fisc. . . ." 157 La. at 307, 102 So. at 410. In Wilder, this Court stated that "[i]t . . . appears that the judgment from which an appeal is sought has been acquiesced in, and the fine imposed paid, without qualification or protest. Under such circumstances, the law denies the right of appeal." 50 La. Ann. at 390, 23 So. at 203.

While recognizing that this was the majority rule followed by many jurisdictions, this Court in Morris observed that an increasing number of courts permit review after satisfaction of the sentence if the accused will, as a result of the conviction, suffer collateral disabilities apart from the sentence. Morris, 328 So.2d at 66. Moreover, this Court took note that some jurisdictions had adopted the liberal view that an accused's interest in clearing his name is enough to warrant review of or attack on the conviction or sentence even though the sentence has been satisfied. Id.⁴

At the time Louisiana adopted the traditional rule, the majority of jurisdictions followed this same rule.⁵ While some courts have continued to follow the traditional rule, especially in cases involving misdemeanor convictions,⁶ there has been some shift of momentum in later cases towards the so-called federal rule, and occasionally the liberal rule. These cases have primarily declined to declare a case moot where the defendant shows that prejudicial collateral consequences would occur.⁷

The United States Supreme Court has developed a line of jurisprudence discussing mootness of criminal cases involving satisfied sentences. These cases do not involve satisfaction of the sentence by payment of a fine, but generally involve cases where the defendant has served his sentence before the case comes up for review. However, the policy considerations underlying these decisions have relevance to our discussion here.

In St. Pierre v. United States, 319 U.S. 41, 63 S.Ct. 910, 87 L.Ed. 1199 (1943), the United States Supreme Court considered whether petitioner's appeal was moot where he had fully served his sentence before certiorari was granted. In finding the case moot, the Court concluded that there was no longer a subject matter on which the judgment of the Court could operate. The Court reasoned that: "[t]he sentence cannot be enlarged by this Court's judgment, and reversal of the judgment below cannot operate to undo what has been done or restore to petitioner the penalty of the term of imprisonment which he has served. Nor has petitioner shown that under either state or federal law further penalties or disabilities can be imposed on him as a result of the judgment which has now been satisfied." St. Pierre, 319 U.S. at 42-43, 63 S.Ct. 910. The Court further noted that the petitioner could have brought his case for review before the expiration of his sentence, and even though he had applied for bail to the district court and to the circuit court of appeals, he did not apply to the Supreme Court for a stay or a supersedeas. Moreover, the Court stated that "the moral stigma of a judgment which no longer affects legal rights does not present a case or controversy for appellate review." Id. at 911-912.

The Supreme Court further developed the law on this issue in Fiswick v. United States, 329 U.S. 211, 67 S.Ct. 224, 91 L.Ed. 196 (1946). In Fiswick, the Court considered whether an appeal of a German national, convicted of conspiring against the United States, was moot where the petitioner had completed his sentence. The Court cited its earlier decision in St. Pierre, noting in that case the petitioner had not shown that additional penalties could be imposed on him as a result of the judgment. In holding that the case was not moot, the Court found that this case differed in that the petitioner's conviction subjected him to deportation under federal law. The Court also recognized that the conviction would affect the petitioner's ability to become naturalized, and, as a convicted felon, he might lose certain civil...