State v. Mayfield

• Decision Date: 06 December 2018
• Docket Number: 18-420
• Citation: 261 So.3d 101
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Marlin L. MAYFIELD a/k/a Marlin Mayfield
• Court: Court of Appeal of Louisiana — District of US

261 So.3d 101

STATE of Louisiana

v.Marlin L. MAYFIELD a/k/a Marlin Mayfield

18-420

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

December 6, 2018

Hon. Keith A. Stutes, Lafayette Parish District Attorney, P. O. Box 3306, Lafayette, LA 70502-3306, (337) 232-5170, COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE: State of Louisiana.

Jack Edward Nickel, Assistant District Attorney, P. O. Box 288, Crowley, LA 70527, (337) 788-8831, COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE: State of Louisiana.

David Rubin, 15th Judicial District Public Defender, 516 SE Court Circle, Crowley, LA 70526, (337) 889-5672, COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLANT: Marlin L. Mayfield.

Court composed of John D. Saunders, Billy Howard Ezell, and Candyce G. Perret, Judges.

PERRET, Judge.

Defendant, Marlin L. Mayfield, entered a plea of guilty to one count of manslaughter, a violation of La.R.S. 14:31, and one count of aggravated assault with a firearm, a violation of La.R.S. 14:37, in connection with the June 23, 2013, shooting of his wife. Defendant appeals his manslaughter sentence as excessive. For the following reasons, we amend, and as amended, affirm.

Factual and Procedural Background:

On June 23, 2013, Teresa Mayfield, Defendant's wife, arrived at Defendant's home to pick up their children and an argument ensued. During the argument, Defendant took Mrs. Mayfield from her vehicle and into his home where he shot her in the back of the head. Defendant then drove to his brother's house, called 911, and reported that he shot his wife. Defendant handed over the gun to his brother and asked his brother to pick up his daughters from his home. Defendant, having told the 911 dispatcher where he could be located, was arrested and brought to the Crowley Police Department.¹

Defendant, Marlin L. Mayfield, was charged by indictment on September 20, 2013, with one count of first-degree murder of Teresa Mayfield, a violation of La.R.S. 14:30, and one count of second-degree kidnapping, a violation of La.R.S. 14:44.1. On October 16, 2013, Defendant entered a plea of not guilty to all of the charges.

At the July 20, 2017 Boykinization hearing, Defendant entered a plea of guilty to one count of manslaughter, a violation of La.R.S. 14:31, and one count of aggravated assault with a firearm, a violation of La.R.S. 14:37.4. The trial court ordered a pre-sentence investigation (PSI) report in preparation for the sentencing hearing. Additionally, while the plea agreement permitted the trial court to sentence Defendant up to the maximum of forty years, the sentence for aggravated assault with a firearm was capped at seven years, to run consecutively with the manslaughter sentence.

On October 12, 2017, Defendant was sentenced to forty years without the benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence for manslaughter and seven years at hard labor for aggravated assault with a firearm, the sentences to run consecutively. Defendant filed a motion to reconsider sentence arguing that the sentences were unconstitutionally excessive, and the trial court failed to properly consider the mitigating factors. The trial court denied the motion without comment. Defendant now appeals and assigns a single error: the manslaughter sentence is excessive.

Errors Patent:

In accordance with La.Code Crim.P. art. 920, all appeals are reviewed for errors patent on the face of the record. After reviewing the record, we find that there are two errors patent.²

First, the trial court erred in ordering that Defendant's manslaughter sentence be served without the benefit of parole. For manslaughter, Defendant was sentenced to forty years without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:31 provides:

B. Whoever commits manslaughter shall be imprisoned at hard labor for not more than forty years. However, if the victim killed was under the age of ten years, the offender shall be imprisoned at hard labor, without benefit of probation or suspension of sentence, for not less than ten years nor more than forty years.

Thus, the above penalty provision does not prohibit parole, probation, or suspension of sentence in this case. However, at the time the offense was committed, La.Code Crim.P. art. 893(A) prohibited a suspended sentence for an offense designated as a crime of violence in La.R.S. 14:2(B), which included the crime of manslaughter. ³

Therefore, the trial court properly imposed Defendant's manslaughter sentence without the benefit of probation or suspension of sentence. But, because La.Code Crim.P. art. 893 did not authorize the restriction of parole, the trial court erred in ordering Defendant's manslaughter sentence to be served without the benefit of parole. Accordingly, this court amends Defendant's manslaughter sentence to delete the denial of parole eligibility and instructs the district court to make an entry in the minutes reflecting this change. State v. Batiste , 09-521 (La.App. 3 Cir. 12/9/09), 25 So.3d 981.

Second, though the minutes indicate the manslaughter sentence is to be served at hard labor, the trial court at the sentencing hearing failed to impose the sentence at hard labor as required by La.R.S. 14:31, rendering the sentence illegally lenient. State v. Perkins , 13-245 (La.App. 3 Cir. 11/6/13), 124 So.3d 605. Although the authority is granted and discretionary under La.Code Crim.P. art. 882, this court will not consider an illegally lenient sentence unless it is an error raised on appeal. Id. See also State v. Jacobs , 08-1068 (La.App. 3 Cir. 3/4/09), 6 So.3d 315, writ denied , 09-755 (La. 12/18/09), 23 So.3d 931.

Discussion:

In his sole assignment of error, Defendant alleges that the trial court erred when it ordered a forty-four-year-old veteran to the maximum sentence for manslaughter of forty years imprisonment without considering mitigating factors, including his documented mental health history, military service, and lack of a criminal history. Defendant objected to the sentence at the hearing and filed a motion to reconsider sentence. He separates this assignment of error into two parts: the trial court erred in failing to properly consider the many mitigating factors; and the forty-year maximum sentence for the manslaughter conviction was excessive.

This court previously explained the standard of review to be applied in assessing excessive sentence claims:

[Louisiana Constitution Article] I, [§] 20 guarantees that, "[n]o law shall subject any person to cruel or unusual punishment." To constitute an excessive sentence, the reviewing court must find the penalty so grossly disproportionate to the severity of the crime as to shock our sense of justice or that the sentence makes no measurable contribution to acceptable penal goals and is, therefore, nothing more than a needless imposition of pain and suffering. The trial court has wide discretion in the imposition of [a] sentence within the statutory limits and such sentence shall not be set aside as excessive absent a manifest abuse of discretion. The relevant question is whether the trial court abused its broad sentencing discretion, not whether another sentence might have been more appropriate.

State v. Barling , 00-1241, 00-1591, p. 12 (La.App. 3 Cir. 1/31/01), 779 So.2d 1035, 1042, writ denied , 01-838 (La. 2/1/02), 808 So.2d 331 (citations omitted).

Even though a penalty falls within the statutory sentencing range, it may still be unconstitutionally excessive:

In deciding whether a sentence is shocking or makes no meaningful contribution to acceptable penal goals, an appellate court may consider several factors including the nature of the offense, the circumstances of the offender, the legislative purpose behind the punishment and a comparison of the sentences imposed for similar crimes. While a comparison of sentences imposed for similar crimes may provide some insight, "it is well settled that sentences must be individualized to the particular offender and to the particular offense committed." Additionally, it is within the purview of the trial court to particularize the sentence because the trial judge "remains in the best position to assess the aggravating and mitigating circumstances presented by each case."

State v. Smith , 02-719, p. 4 (La.App. 3 Cir. 2/12/03), 846 So.2d 786, 789, writ denied , 03-562 (La. 5/30/03), 845 So.2d 1061 (citations omitted). "[T]he trial judge need not articulate every aggravating and mitigating circumstance outlined in [La.Code Crim.P.] art. 894.1 [;] the record must reflect that he adequately considered these guidelines in particularizing the sentence to the defendant." State v. Smith , 433 So.2d 688, 698 (La.1983) (citing State v. Ray , 423 So.2d 1116 (La.1982) ; State v. Keeney , 422 So.2d 1144 (La.1982) ; State v. Duncan , 420 So.2d 1105 (La.1982) ). "The appellate court shall not set aside a sentence for excessiveness if the record supports the sentence imposed." La.Code Crim.P. art. 881.4(D).

State v. Frazier , 14-1132, pp. 14-15 (La.App. 3 Cir. 3/4/15), 157 So.3d 1266, 1275-76, writ denied , 15-657 (La. 2/26/16), 187 So.3d 467. Additionally, "maximum sentences are generally reserved for the worst offenders and the worst offenses." State v. Fallon , 15-1116, p. 6 (La.App. 3 Cir. 4/6/16), 189 So.3d 605, 609.

Prior to the sentencing hearing, Defendant submitted a sentencing memorandum which the trial court admitted it reviewed prior to the hearing. The memorandum included a discussion of Defendant's personal history and mitigating factors. Attached to the memorandum were Defendant's service records for the United States Army and Louisiana National Guard, a letter from a psychologist who reviewed Defendant's hospital records and examined him at the request of defense counsel, records from the Department of Health and Hospitals and Acadia Vermillion Hospital, seventeen letters on his behalf from community members, and a letter of remorse from Defendant. These exhibits were admitted into evidence at the hearing.

The sentencing memorandum and exhibits reveal that, in an...