STATE OF LOUISIANA v. CHARLES RAY THOMPSON (2023)

To prove ineffective assistance of counsel, both deficient performance by counsel and resulting prejudice must be established. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 2064, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). Here, even assuming counsel's performance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness under prevailing professional norms, it did not prejudice defendant.

The majority concludes that prejudice was proven because an excessive sentence resulted. A mandatory minimum sentence can only be reduced as constitutionally excessive if the court finds the sentence “makes no measurable contribution to acceptable goals of punishment” or is 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). This requires that defendant show he is “exceptional,” “a victim of the legislature's failure to assign sentences that are meaningfully tailored to the culpability of the offender, the gravity of the offense, and the circumstances of the case.” State v. Johnson, 97-1906, (La. 3/4/98), 709 So.2d 672, 676.

The subject sentence is not excessive so as to justify a downward departure from the mandatory minimum sentence for a third felony offender. Defendant was convicted of distributing cocaine and possessing a gun–an enumerated crime of violence. See La. R.S. 14:2(B)(57). There is evidence he was a member of the drug trade in his area. Defendant only asserts his crimes were the result of his drug addiction. He offers no other mitigating information to warrant a downward departure from the mandatory life sentence. He has not proven he is exceptional. In fact, as a confessed drug addict, he has proven himself too common. A reduced sentence under Dorthey is reserved for rare cases where the punishment clearly does not fit the crime. By not enforcing this high standard, the majority turns the exception into the rule.

Defendant proved no prejudice. Thus, he failed to show he received ineffective assistance of counsel. I dissent.

CRAIN, J., dissents and assigns reasons.