State of Louisiana Versus Ronald Gasser ( 2020 )

STATE OF LOUISIANA NO. 18-KA-531
VERSUS FIFTH CIRCUIT
RONALD GASSER COURT OF APPEAL
STATE OF LOUISIANA
ON REMAND FROM THE LOUISIANA SUPREME COURT
AN APPEAL FROM THE TWENTY-FOURTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT
PARISH OF JEFFERSON, STATE OF LOUISIANA
NO. 16-7108, DIVISION "K"
HONORABLE ELLEN SHIRER KOVACH, JUDGE PRESIDING
July 15, 2020
ROBERT A. CHAISSON
JUDGE
Panel composed of Judges Fredericka Homberg Wicker,
Jude G. Gravois, and Robert A. Chaisson
CONVICTION AND SENTENCE VACATED; MATTER REMANDED
RAC
FHW
JGG
COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF/APPELLEE,
STATE OF LOUISIANA
Honorable Paul D. Connick, Jr.
Terry M. Boudreaux
Darren A. Allemand
COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLANT,
RONALD GASSER
Dane S. Ciolino
CHAISSON, J.
This case is presently before this Court pursuant to a remand by the
Louisiana Supreme Court “for further proceedings and to conduct a new error
patent review” in light of Ramos v. Louisiana, 590 U.S. ---, 140 S.Ct. 1390, 206
L.Ed.2d 583 (2020).1 State v. Gasser, 19-1220 (La. 6/3/20), --- So.3d ---, 2020
WL 3424001 (per curiam). Previously, this Court affirmed defendant’s conviction
for manslaughter and his sentence of thirty years imprisonment at hard labor. The
guilty verdict was non-unanimous with ten of twelve jurors voting to convict.
State v. Gasser, 18-531 (La. App. 5 Cir. 7/3/19), 275 So.3d 976. For the following
reasons, and in accordance with the Louisiana Supreme Court’s directive on
remand, we find that defendant is entitled to a new trial. We therefore vacate
defendant’s conviction and sentence and remand the matter for further proceedings
consistent with this opinion.
ANALYSIS
As noted in this Court’s previous opinion, defendant was charged, by grand
jury indictment, with second degree murder, in violation of La. R.S. 14:30.1.
Following trial by a twelve-person jury, defendant was convicted of the lesser
included offense of manslaughter. The penalty provision for the charged offense
of second degree murder provides for a mandatory penalty of life imprisonment at
hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. La. R.S.
14:30.1(B). Since the punishment for this offense is necessarily confinement at
hard labor, defendant had to be tried before a twelve-person jury. See La. Const.
Art. I, § 17; La. C.Cr.P. art. 782.2
1
The order of remand provided: “If the non-unanimous jury claim was not preserved for review in the trial
court or was abandoned during any stage of the proceedings, the court of appeal should nonetheless consider the
issue as part of its error patent review. See La. C.Cr.P. art. 920(2).”
2
Both La. Const. Art. I, § 17 and La. C.Cr.P. art. 782(A) currently provide, in pertinent part, that a case for
an offense committed prior to January 1, 2019, in which the punishment is necessarily confinement at hard labor,
shall be tried by a jury of twelve persons, ten of whom must concur to render a verdict, and that a case for an offense
committed on or after January 1, 2019, in which the punishment is necessarily confinement at hard labor, shall be
tried by a jury of twelve persons, all of whom must concur to render a verdict.
Non-unanimous jury verdicts were previously allowed under both La. Const.
Art. I, § 17 and La. C.Cr.P. art. 782, and the circumstances of the instant case. In
defendant’s appeal before this Court, he argued the unconstitutionality of non-
unanimous jury verdicts.3 Based on the law in effect at that time, this Court found
no merit to defendant’s challenge. State v. Gasser, 275 So.3d at 998.
However, subsequent to this Court’s opinion affirming defendant’s
conviction and sentence and while defendant’s writ application challenging this
Court’s opinion was pending in the Louisiana Supreme Court, the United States
Supreme Court handed down its decision in Ramos v. Louisiana, supra. Therein,
the United States Supreme Court found that the Sixth Amendment right to a jury
trial, as incorporated against the States by the Fourteenth Amendment, requires a
unanimous verdict to convict a defendant of a serious offense.4 The Court
concluded:
There can be no question either that the Sixth Amendment’s
unanimity requirement applies to state and federal criminal trials
equally. This Court has long explained that the Sixth Amendment
right to a jury trial is “fundamental to the American scheme of justice”
and incorporated against the States under the Fourteenth Amendment.
This Court has long explained, too, that incorporated provisions of the
Bill of Rights bear the same content when asserted against States as
they do when asserted against the federal government. So if the Sixth
Amendment’s right to a jury trial requires a unanimous verdict to
support a conviction in federal court, it requires no less in state court.
(Footnotes omitted). Ramos, 140 S.Ct. at 1397.
Based on Ramos and the fact that the instant case is still on direct review, we
find that since the verdict resulting from defendant’s jury trial was not unanimous
for this serious offense, defendant is entitled to a new trial.
3
In his appeal, defendant also raised as error the sufficiency of the evidence to convict, which this Court
rejected as having no merit. State v. Gasser, 275 So.3d at 983-990.
4
For purposes of the Sixth Amendment, federal law defines petty offenses as offenses subject to
imprisonment of six months or less and serious offenses as offenses subject to imprisonment over six months. The
Sixth Amendment’s right to a jury trial only attaches to serious offenses. See generally Lewis v. United States, 518
U.S. 322, 327-28, 116 S.Ct. 2163, 135 L.Ed.2d 590 (1996); Hill v. Louisiana, 2013 WL 486691 (E.D. La. 2013).
2
CONCLUSION
Accordingly, in light of the United States Supreme Court’s decision in
Ramos and the circumstances of this case, we vacate defendant’s conviction and
sentence and remand the matter to the trial court for further proceedings consistent
with this opinion.
CONVICTION AND SENTENCE
VACATED; MATTER REMANDED
3
SUSAN M. CHEHARDY CURTIS B. PURSELL
CHIEF JUDGE CLERK OF COURT
MARY E. LEGNON
FREDERICKA H. WICKER
CHIEF DEPUTY CLERK
JUDE G. GRAVOIS
MARC E. JOHNSON
ROBERT A. CHAISSON SUSAN BUCHHOLZ
STEPHEN J. WINDHORST
FIRST DEPUTY CLERK
HANS J. LILJEBERG
JOHN J. MOLAISON, JR. FIFTH CIRCUIT
MELISSA C. LEDET
JUDGES 101 DERBIGNY STREET (70053)
DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL STAFF
POST OFFICE BOX 489
GRETNA, LOUISIANA 70054 (504) 376-1400
(504) 376-1498 FAX
www.fifthcircuit.org
NOTICE OF JUDGMENT AND CERTIFICATE OF DELIVERY
I CERTIFY THAT A COPY OF THE OPINION IN THE BELOW-NUMBERED MATTER HAS BEEN DELIVERED
IN ACCORDANCE WITH UNIFORM RULES - COURT OF APPEAL, RULE 2-16.4 AND 2-16.5 THIS DAY
JULY 15, 2020 TO THE TRIAL JUDGE, CLERK OF COURT, COUNSEL OF RECORD AND ALL PARTIES NOT
REPRESENTED BY COUNSEL, AS LISTED BELOW:
18-KA-531
E-NOTIFIED
24TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT (CLERK)
HONORABLE ELLEN SHIRER KOVACH (DISTRICT JUDGE)
DARREN A. ALLEMAND (APPELLEE) TERRY M. BOUDREAUX (APPELLEE) THOMAS J. BUTLER (APPELLEE)
DANE S. CIOLINO (APPELLANT) COLIN CLARK (OTHER)
MAILED
HONORABLE JEFFREY M. LANDRY (OTHER) ELIZABETH BAKER MURRILL (OTHER) MICHELLE W. GHETTI (OTHER)
ATTORNEY GENERAL SOLICITOR GENERAL DEPUTY SOLICITOR GENERAL
LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
1885 NORTH 3RD STREET POST OFFICE BOX 94005 POST OFFICE BOX 94005
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BATON ROUGE, LA 70802
HONORABLE PAUL D. CONNICK, JR.
(APPELLEE)
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
TWENTY-FOURTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT
200 DERBIGNY STREET
GRETNA, LA 70053