State v. Rugon

• Decision Date: 19 September 1977
• Docket Number: No. 60001,60001
• Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Gregory RUGON.
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

Page 876

355 So.2d 876

STATE of Louisiana v. Gregory RUGON.

No. 60001.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

Sept. 19, 1977.

Rehearing Denied Oct. 21, 1977.

William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., Harry F. Connick, Dist. Atty., William F. Wessel, Louise S. Korns, Bridget Bane, Lindsay Alexis Larson, III, Asst. Dist. Attys., New Orleans, for relator (plaintiff).

John V. Baus and Donald V. Organ, New Orleans, for respondent, Judge Matthew S. Braniff.

SANDERS, Chief Justice.

The State charged Gregory Rugon with possession of marijuana, in violation of LSA-R.S. 40:966. After pleading not guilty, defendant withdrew his plea and entered a plea of guilty. On that date, May 27, 1977, the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge postponed sentencing. On June 6, 1977, the judge sentenced defendant to serve three months in the Orleans Parish Prison. The court suspended the execution of sentence during good behavior under the terms and conditions set forth in Article 894 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and under the special condition that defendant donate $200 to the Judicial Administrator of the Criminal District Court for the Appellate Process Support and Court Programs Fund. The court further ordered defendant to pay court cost of $67.50 or to serve an additional thirty days in the parish prison. At this time, the State objected to the special condition of probation, the donation. The court overruled the State's objection. Upon the State's application, we granted supervisory writs. La., 346 So.2d 1271 (1977).

The sole issue presented is the validity of the $200 "donation" to the Judicial Administrator.

The State contends that the payment is in direct contravention of LSA-R.S. 15:571.11(D). It argues that the pecuniary penalty imposed by the trial court is a fine or forfeiture and thus subject to the legislative mandate in LSA-R.S. 15:571.11(D). The district court judge asserts that the $200 "donation" is not a fine or forfeiture as encompassed by the Statute.

LSA-R.S. 15:571.11(D) provides:

"All fines and forfeitures imposed in criminal cases and prosecutions by the courts of Orleans Parish shall, upon collection, be paid to the district attorney of Orleans Parish who shall deposit same in a special account to be used in defraying the expenses of the criminal courts of the parish, extradictions and such other expenses pertaining to the operation of the criminal courts of Orleans Parish and the office of the district attorney of Orleans Parish as in his discretion may be necessary. Provided, that any surplus remaining in said special account or fund on December 31st of each and every year shall be distributed as follows: one-half to be retained by the district attorney of Orleans Parish, to be used as hereinabove set forth, and the other half to be remitted to the city of New Orleans. No money shall be paid out of this fund except upon motion by the district attorney of Orleans Parish and approval by a judge of the criminal district court of Orleans Parish. A copy of said motion must be served on the budget officer of the city of New Orleans twenty-four hours prior to the approval thereof by the judge. Said fund shall be annually audited by the director of finance of the city of New Orleans." (Emphasis added.)

In determining whether a given payment is a fine, the label given by the trial judge is not conclusive. Shore v. Edmisten, 290 N.C. 628, 227 S.E.2d 553 (1976).

A donation is a gratuity; a voluntary alienation of property; a gift. Webster, N., New International Dictionary (3rd ed. 1961) p. 673. The official court minutes clearly indicate that the suspension of defendant's three-month sentence was conditioned upon his "donation" of $200. If defendant paid $200 to the Judicial Administrator of the Criminal District Court for the Appellate Process Support and Court Programs Fund, his jail sentence would be suspended. If defendant failed to contribute, he would be confined in the parish prison for thirty days. The contribution was not voluntary or gratuitous. Hence, in our opinion, it was not a donation.

In State v. Brannon, 34 La.Ann. 942 (1882), this Court stated that a fine "is a sum expressly imposed in lieu of, or in addition to a term of imprisonment, or as any part of the punishment for an offense." (Emphasis added.) Since that time, we have defined a fine as: "a pecuniary penalty" (State v. Price, 124 La. 917, 50 So. 794 (1909)); "a pecuniary exaction, imposed as a punishment for violation of the law." (McHugh v. Placid Oil Co., 206 La. 511, 19 So.2d 221 (1944)).

When the statute is given a genuine construction to effectuate its funding purpose the payment at issue here falls within the scope of "fine." ¹

The trial court judge asserts, however, that the payment in controversy is a valid condition of probation, which can be equated with restitution to the aggrieved party under Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 895. In pertinent part, that article provides:

"When the court suspends the imposition or execution of sentence and places a defendant on probation, it shall require the defendant to refrain from criminal conduct and it may impose any specific conditions reasonably related to his rehabilitation, including any of the following:

"That the defendant shall:

" * * *e d

"(7) Make reasonable reparation or restitution to the aggrieved party for damage or loss caused by his offense in an amount to be determined by the court; "

In our opinion, this argument is not dispositive of the legal question presented. Formulating the sentence so as to make the exaction a condition of probation does not change its essential nature nor bar its classification as a fine. The specific conditions of probation enumerated in Article 895 are...