STATE OF LOUISIANA Vs. EDDIE TRIPLETT
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STATE OF LOUISIANA * NO. 2006-K-1508 VERSUS * COURT OF APPEAL EDDIE TRIPLETT * FOURTH CIRCUIT * STATE OF LOUISIANA ******* APPLICATION FOR WRITS DIRECTED TO CRIMINAL DISTRICT COURT ORLEANS PARISH NO. 400-740, SECTION “H” Honorable Camille Buras, Judge ****** JUDGE MAX N. TOBIAS, JR. ****** (COURT COMPOSED OF JUDGE MAX N. TOBIAS, JR., JUDGE DAVID S. GORBATY, AND JUDGE EDWIN A. LOMBARD) LOMBARD, J. CONCURS EDDIE TRIPLETT #125982 MAGNOLIA UNIT ONE LOUISIANA STATE PENITENTIARY ANGOLA, LA 70712 IN PROPER PERSON, RELATOR SUPERVISORY WRIT GRANTED; JUDGMENT AFFIRMED. FEBRUARY 7, 2007 The relator, Eddie Triplett, seeks review of the trial court’s judgment denying his motion to correct an illegal sentence in light of La. R.S. 15:308, as amended by Louisiana Acts 2006, No. 45. La. R.S. 15:308 declared that Louisiana Acts 2001, No. 403 should be applied retroactively. For the following reasons, we affirm. On 22 October 1998, a jury found the relator guilty of possession of cocaine, a violation of La. R.S. 40:967. He was subsequently adjudicated a fourth felony offender pursuant to La. R.S. 15:529.1 and sentenced to life imprisonment without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. This court affirmed his conviction and sentence in an unpublished opinion. State v. Triplett, 00-0620, unpub. (La. App. 4 Cir. 1/17/01), writ denied, 01-0654 (La. 1/12/02), 816 So.2d 865. The gravamen of the dispute is whether the trial court had jurisdiction to review and reduce the relator’s sentence pursuant to La. R.S. 13:308, as amended by Louisiana Act 2006, No. 45. In State v. Dick, 06-2223, 06-2226 (La. 1/26/07), ___ So. 2d. ___, 2007 WL 196367, the Louisiana Supreme Court held that the exclusive remedy of an offender (such as Mr. Triplett) for relief under La. R.S. 15:308 is before the Louisiana Risk Review Board and not before the district court, because in effect the offender is seeking a commutation of sentence; commutation of a sentence falls exclusively, pursuant to the Louisiana Constitution, to the executive branch of government. Id. at p. 2, ___ So. 2d at ___. The Louisiana Risk Review Board falls within the executive branch of government. The trial court did not err in refusing to grant the relator relief pursuant to La. R.S. 15:308. The judgment sentencing Mr. Triplett to life imprisonment without the benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence was a final, definitive judgment over which the trial court had no jurisdiction to modify under La. R.S. 15:308. Therefore, we grant the relator’s application for a supervisory writ of review, but affirm the trial court’s judgment denying him relief. SUPERVISORY WRIT GRANTED; JUDGMENT AFFIRMED.
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