Opinion
No. 2020-K-00391
11-18-2020
STATE of Louisiana v. Corday Treveil TAYLOR
Writ application denied.
Johnson, C.J., would grant in part and assigns reasons.
Johnson, C.J., would grant in part and assigns reasons:
Under the circumstances of this case, I believe the defendant's sentence violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment and is constitutionally excessive under Article I, Section 20 of the Louisiana Constitution.
Of the three co-defendants in this murder case, Mr. Taylor was the only one who did not exit the vehicle used to drive to the crime, or actually shoot the victim. Yet, he is the only one with a life sentence. His two co-defendants, the men who killed the victim, received forty years in prison.
A legal sentence may still be unconstitutionally excessive under Article 1, § 20 of the Louisiana Constitution if it makes no measurable contribution to acceptable goals of punishment or amounts to nothing more than the purposeful imposition of pain and suffering and is grossly out of proportion to the severity of the crime. State v. Dorthey , 623 So.2d 1276 (La.1993) ; State v. Johnson , 709 So.2d 672 (La 1998). The Eighth Amendment to the Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishments, including not just barbaric punishments, but also those that are disproportionate to the crime committed. Weems v. United States , 217 U.S. 349 (1920) ; Solem v. Helm , 463 U.S. at 284. A review of whether a sentence is disproportionate under the Eighth Amendment "should be guided by objective criteria, including (i) the gravity of the offense and the harshness of the penalty; (ii) the sentences imposed on other criminals in the same jurisdiction ; and (iii) the sentences imposed for commission of the same crime in other jurisdictions." Solem , 463 U.S. at 292 (emphasis added). In this case a court does not need to look at other criminals in the same jurisdiction because it can look at other criminals in the same case. By any measure, including common sense, Mr. Taylor's life sentence is disproportionate to that of his co-defendants who killed the victim.
Accordingly, I would grant the writ in part and remand to the trial court for re-sentencing in light of the Eighth Amendment's proportionality guidance.