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STATE of Louisiana v. Gordon JOHNSON

Louisiana Supreme Court2018-11-01No. No. 2018-KK-1284
255 So. 3d 1033

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Opinion

majority opinion

PER CURIAM:

Writ granted. In 2015, the district court found that defendant, charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, La.R.S. 14:95.1, and aggravated assault with a firearm, La.R.S. 14:37.4, was incompetent to stand trial and that his capacity could not be restored in the foreseeable future. In 2017, after defendant was charged with two counts of aggravated battery, La.R.S. 14:34, defendant was found competent to proceed (although the charges were eventually dismissed for reasons unrelated to defendants capacity). Based on that competency determination, the state filed a motion pursuant to La.C.Cr.P. art. 649 to resume the proceedings against defendant for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and aggravated assault with a firearm. The district court denied the motion because it previously found defendant could not regain capacity with regard to those charges (because of memory loss resulting from a traumatic brain injury ), although he was competent to be tried on the more recent charges.

The district court erred to the extent it did not appoint a new sanity commission before ruling and instead relied on its previous determination that defendants capacity could not be restored in the foreseeable future. Based on the district courts previous determination that defendants capacity was unlikely to be restored in the foreseeable future, there is reasonable ground to doubt defendants mental capacity to proceed now. See generally La.C.Cr.P. art. 643. However, the state filed its motion to resume the proceedings based on defendants regained competency within the time afforded by La.C.Cr.P. art. 648(B)(3). Therefore, the district court should have appointed a new sanity commission in accordance with La.C.Cr.P. art. 644 and determined whether defendant has regained his capacity. Accordingly, we grant the application to reverse the district courts ruling, and we remand to the district court with instructions to appoint a sanity commission and determine whether defendants capacity has been restored or he remains unable to assist counsel with regard to the present charges. If he remains incompetent with regard to these charges, and in light of his subsequent arrest for other violent offenses, the district court should also determine whether, in accordance with La.C.Cr.P. art. 648(B)(3), to remand defendant to custody of the Louisiana Department of Health, which may institute civil commitment proceedings.

REVERSED AND REMANDED