State v. Johnson

JiCIACCIO, Judge.

For the second time, on the application of the State of Louisiana, we grant certiorari to review the trial judge’s sentencing of the defendant to thirty months at hard labor as a fourth offender rather than to the mandated minimum sentence of twenty years.

• The defendant, Walter Johnson, was charged by bill of information with possession of cocaine, La. R.S. 40:967(C), and with a third offense for possession of marijuana, La. R.S. 40:966(C)(2), to which he pleaded not guilty. After a bench trial, the court found the defendant to be guilty as charged on each count. The State…