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State v. Gill10/13/2004
Jefferson W. Gill appeals his conviction of vehicular homicide, a violation of La.R.S. 14:32.1, contending the evidence is not legally sufficient to support the verdict. We affirm the judgment, amending only by removing the words "as a condition of parole" in the judgment.
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On May 22, 2001, passers-by noticed a burning truck in the woods about 50 feet off of Highway 190 near DeRidder sometime between 10:00 and 10:30 p.m. The witnesses called 911. One of the witnesses saw a black male with his back on fire get out of the driver's side of the truck, stumble backwards ten feet, and fall down, unconscious. The male was later identified as Jefferson Gill. The witness approached the truck and saw a woman lying on the ground about five feet away from the passenger side of the truck. She was later identified as Lisa Faye Thomas.
Rescue personnel arrived and extinguished the truck fire. The driver's side and the front of the truck were wrecked, and the roof was crushed. Gill regained consciousness and told one of the firefighters his knee and right shoulder hurt. State Trooper Rogers arrived on the scene at 12:17 a.m. and began questioning him while he was in the ambulance. Gill told Rogers that he was not the driver and was asleep when the accident occurred. After some questioning, the ambulance took him to the hospital for treatment.
Gill had burns on his feet and lower legs, injuries to his face, head, and a fracture of his cervical spine. Lisa Faye Thomas was pronounced dead at the hospital. Her cause of death was listed as massive chest trauma resulting from the crash.
When Trooper Rogers arrived at the hospital, he advised Gill of his Miranda rights and questioned him further about the accident. Rogers testified that Gill "stated that he had gone to Club 68 here in DeRidder, where he had picked up Ms. Thomas. At that time he just said it was his girlfriend. He didn't know who she was. From there, they had gone to Leesville and he had drank a beer. Then he had gone to sleep, didn't remember anything else." Again, Gill denied he was driving when the accident occurred. Based on his investigation and questioning, Rogers asked him to consent to a chemical test of his blood. The result of this test was .09 grams percent. Rogers issued Gill a citation for vehicular manslaughter, to which Gill pled not guilty on **3 March 5, 2002. After a three day jury trial, the jury returned a guilty verdict. The trial court sentenced Gill to nine years at hard labor, two without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence, and fines in the amount of $5000.00. Gill appeals the verdict, alleging the evidence is not legally sufficient to support the jury's verdict.
ERRORS PATENT
In accordance with La.Code Crim.P. art. 920, we review all appeals for *1274 errors patent on the face of the record. After reviewing the record, we find one. The trial court incorrectly required Gill's participation in a court-approved, substance-abuse program and a driver-improvement program as a condition of his parole.
A trial court exercises no authority over the penalty phase of the sentence "and can impose no condition on the parole responsibility of the parolee." [FN1] The penalty provision of the vehicular homicide statute requires the defendant's participation "in a court-approved substance abuse program or a court-approved driver improvement program or both." [FN2] The only discretion the trial court has is whether a defendant participates in one program, or in both programs. Nevertheless, the trial court required defendant's participation in both programs as a condition of parole. Therefore, we delete the portion of the sentence, ordering the participation in the programs as a condition of parole, and we require Gill's participation in bot
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