No. K88-1390 Precedential Amended Processed

State v. Delahoussaye

Louisiana Court of Appeal, First Circuit · Filed December 29, 1988 · 535 So. 2d 1348

Authorities cited

Identified automatically; this list may not be exhaustive.

State v. Grant 490 So. 2d 272
State v. Barlow 488 So. 2d 180
Melamine Chemicals, Inc. v. Comet Distribution Services, Inc. 488 So. 2d 682
State v. Williams 484 So. 2d 662
State v. Robertson 517 So. 2d 988
State v. Davis 514 So. 2d 517
State v. White 476 So. 2d 1162

Opinion text

ORDER WRIT GRANTED AND MADE PEREMPTORY: The Louisiana Supreme Court has recently adopted the position that indigent defendants may never be subjected to confinement in lieu of payment of a fine. State v. Grant, 490 So.2d 272 (La.1986); State v. Barlow, 488 So.2d 180 (La.1986); State v. Bartie, 488 So.2d 180 (La.1986); State v. Pinkney, 488 So.2d 682 (La.1986); State v. Williams, 484 So.2d 662 (La.1986). Also, this circuit has stated that a court cannot impose a fine as a sentence and then automatically convert it into a term of imprisonment solely because the defendant is indigent and cannot pay the fine. State v. Robertson, 517 So.2d 988 (La.App. 3 Cir.1987); State v. Davis, 514 So.2d 517 (La.App. 3 Cir.1987); State v. White, 476 So.2d 1162 (La.App. 3 Cir.1987), citing Bearden v. Georgia, 461 U.S. 660 , 103 S.Ct. 2064 , 76 L.Ed.2d 221 (1983). Relator’s sentence of a fine of $459.00 for various traffic violations and in default of payment serving twenty-one days in the parish prison is an illegal sentence in accordance with the above mentioned jurisprudence. The sentence is amended to delete that portion which imposes time in the parish prison in default of payment of the fines.