State Of Louisiana v. Kendell Shanner Cagler ( 2020 )

STATE OF LOUISIANA
COURT OF APPEAL
FIRST CIRCUIT
2018 KA 0427 R
STATE OF LOUISIANA
VERSUS
KENDELL SHANNER CAGLER
SEP 3 0 2020
JUDGMENT RENDERED:
Appealed from the
Twenty -Second Judicial District Court
In and for the Parish of St. Tammany • State of Louisiana
Docket Number 577420 • Division C
The Honorable Richard A. Swartz, Judge Presiding
Warren L. Montgomery ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
District Attorney State of Louisiana
Matthew Caplan
Assistant District Attorney
Covington, Louisiana
Katherine M. Franks ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT
Louisiana Appellate Project DEFENDANTKendell Shannon
Madisonville, Louisiana Cagler
BEFORE: WELCH, CHUTZ, AND LANIER, JJ.
WELCH, I
The State of Louisiana charged the defendant, Kendell Shanner Cagler, by
an amended bill of information with one count of armed robbery with a firearm, a
violation of La. R.S. 14: 64 and 14: 64. 3 ( count I); one count of possession of a
firearm by a convicted felon, a violation of La. R.S. 14: 95. 1 ( count II); and one
count of aggravated second degree battery, a violation of La. R.S. 14: 34. 7 ( count
III). Following a jury trial, a non -unanimous jury found the defendant guilty as
charged on counts I and II, and not guilty on count III. On count I, the trial court
sentenced the defendant to imprisonment at hard labor for sixty years, with an
additional five-year imprisonment at hard labor pursuant to La. R.S. 14: 64. 3, the
firearm enhancement statute. On count II, the trial court sentenced the defendant
to imprisonment at hard labor for twenty years. The trial court ordered the
defendant' s sentences on both counts without benefit of parole, probation, or
suspension of sentence. The trial court gave the defendant credit for time served.
The trial court subsequently adjudicated the defendant a fourth -felony habitual
offender and resentenced him on count I to life imprisonment at hard labor without
the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.
This court affirmed the defendant' s convictions and sentences on appeal.
See State v. Cagier, 2018- 0427 ( La. App. Pt Cir. 11/ 7/ 18), 2018 AVL 5876878
unpublished). However, the Louisiana Supreme Court granted the defendant' s
writ application and remanded the case to this court " for further proceedings and to
conduct a new error patent review in light of Ramos v. Louisiana, U.S. ,
140 S. Ct. 1390, 206 L. Ed. 2d 583 ( 2020)[,]" as the defendant' s case was not yet
final, but still pending on direct review. See State v. Cagier, 2018- 02015 ( La.
6/ 3/ 20), 296 So. 3d 1017, 2020 WL 3423802, at * 1 ( per curiam) ( citing Griffith v.
Kentucky, 479 U.S. 314, 328, 107 S. Ct. 708, 716, 93 L. Ed. 2d 649 ( 1987)).
P
In Ramos, the United States Supreme Court overruled Apodaca v. Oregon'
and held that the right to a jury trial under the Sixth Amendment of the United
States Constitution, incorporated against the States by way of the Fourteenth
Amendment of the United States Constitution, requires a unanimous verdict to
convict a defendant of a serious offense. Ramos, 140 S. Ct. at 1397. The Ramos
Court further noted that its ruling applied to those defendants convicted of felonies
by non -unanimous verdicts whose cases are still pending on direct appeal. Ramos,
140 S. Ct. at 1406. Accordingly, the defendant' s convictions and sentences are
vacated, and we remand this case for a new trial.
DECREE
In light of Ramos v. Louisiana, U.S. , 140 S. Ct. 13909 206 L. Ed.
2d 583 ( 2020), we vacate the defendant' s convictions and sentences and remand
this matter for a new trial.
CONVICTIONS AND SENTENCES VACATED; REMANDED FOR
NEW TRIAL.
1 Oregon' s non -unanimous jury verdict provision of its state constitution was challenged in
Apodaca v. Oregon, 406 U. S. 404, 412- 13, 92 S. Ct. 1628, 1634, 32 L. Ed. 2d 184 ( 1972).
Johnson v. Louisiana, 406 U. S. 356, 92 S. Ct. 1620, 32 L. Ed. 2d 152 ( 1972), decided with
Apodaca, upheld Louisiana' s then -existing constitutional and statutory provisions allowing nine -
to -three jury verdicts in criminal cases.
3