State v. Moore
| Decision Date | 13 December 1976 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 58446,58485 and 58588,s. 58446 |
| Citation | 340 So.2d 1351 |
| Parties | STATE of Louisiana v. Edwin MOORE. |
| Court | Louisiana Supreme Court |
Harold Douglas, New Orleans, for defendant-appellee-respondent.
William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., Harry F. Connick, Dist. Atty., Louise S. Korns, Asst. Dist. Atty., for plaintiff-appellant-relator.
The Orleans Parish Grand Jury indicted Edwin Moore on November 29, 1973, for the first degree murder of George Dominick in violation of LSA-R.S. 14:30, a capital offense. On February 2, 1974, Moore, then a juvenile, withdrew his former plea of not guilty and pleaded guilty to second degree murder, a non-capital offense, for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment. By post conviction relief, his plea and sentence were annulled, and the case was remanded for further proceedings. State ex rel. Moore v. Warden of Louisiana St. Pen., La., 308 So.2d 749 (1975).
Moore filed a motion to quash the first degree murder indictment, alleging that Roberts v. Louisiana, 428 U.S. 325, 96 S.Ct. 3001, 49 L.Ed.2d 974 (1976), declared the statute under which Moore was charged, LSA-R.S. 14:30, unconstitutional. The district court judge granted the motion and ordered the indictment quashed. The State then applied for supervisory review in writ application No. 58,485. In addition, the State appealed the ruling quashing the indictment in No. 58,588. 1 Upon Moore's habeas corpus application, the district court ordered him released. The State applied for writs, and we granted its application (No. 58,446) and issued a stay order. La., 336 So.2d 515 (1976).
The sole issue presented is whether Edwin Moore, a juvenile indicted for committing a capital offense, can be tried in criminal district court in light of Robers v. Louisiana, supra, invalidating the death sentence.
At the time of the offense, LSA-R.S. 13:1570 provided in pertinent part:
'Except as otherwise provided herein, the (juvenile) court shall have exclusive original jurisdiction in proceedings:
'(5) Who violates any law or ordinance, Except a child charged with having committed a capital crime or a crime defined by any law defining attempted aggravated rape after having become fifteen years of age. . . .' (Italics ours.)
Moore contends that as he was a fifteen-year-old juvenile at the time of the crime, he cannot now be tried in criminal district court for the crime because it is no longer a 'capital offense.' LSA-C.Cr.P. Art. 933(2).
He argues that because Roberts left the first degree murder statute without a penalty when the death penalty was declared unconstitutional, first degree murder lost its status as a capital crime and, therefore, he should be remanded to the custody of the juvenile court.
When the same issue was raised recently in State v. Smith, La. 339 So.2d 829 (1976), we held:
'Defendant maintains that when the death penalty was declared unconstitutional, first degree murder lost its status as a capital crime, and he should have been remanded to the custody of the juvenile court. (Cf. La.C.Cr.P. art. 933(2): "Capital offense' means an offense that may be punished by death'). The identical issue was raised after Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238, 92 S.Ct. 2726, 33 L.Ed.2d 346 (1972), struck down the death penalty provision of our prior first degree murder statute, La.R.S. 14:30 (1950). State v. Whatley, 320 So.2d 123 (La.1975). Whatley held that the district court retained jurisdiction over a juvenile charged with first degree murder because 'as enacted, La.R.S. 14:30 (1950) constituted a legislative classification that the crime of murder constituted a capital offense, and that...
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State v. Tyler
...court in this matter.' 339 So.2d 829, 835 (La.1976). That holding was considered dispositive of a similar issue raised in State v. Moore, La., 340 So.2d 1351, decided December 13, 1976. See also State v. Whatley, 320 So.2d 123 By the view we have taken of the issues presented in the motion ......
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Burge v. Cain
...the death penalty is no longer available because of constitutional infirmity. State v. Hills, La., 354 So.2d 186 (1977); State v. Moore, La., 340 So.2d 1351 (1976); State v. Smith, La., 339 So.2d 829 cert. denied, 430 U.S. 986, 97 S.Ct. 1685, 52 L.Ed.2d 381 (1977).Moreover, we have consiste......
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State v. Davies
...crime, the offense of aggravated rape was classified as a capital offense. See State v. Tyler, La., 342 So.2d 574 (1977); State v. Moore, La., 340 So.2d 1351 (1976); State v. Whatley, La., 320 So.2d 123 (1975); State v. Rhymes, La., 284 So.2d 923 (1973); State v. Holmes, supra. Thus, we may......
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State v. Burge
... ... It is well accepted that an offense retains its "capital" nature within the meaning of LSA-R.S. 13:1570 even though the death penalty is no longer available because of constitutional infirmity. State v. Hills, La., 354 So.2d 186 (1977); State v. Moore, La., 340 So.2d 1351 (1976); State v. Smith, La., 339 So.2d 829 cert. denied, 430 U.S. 986, 97 S.Ct. 1685, 52 L.Ed.2d 381 (1977) ... Moreover, we have consistently held that although the death penalty may be unconstitutional, the prosecution for the offense is nonetheless valid ... ...