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FOR IMMEDIATE NEWS RELEASE NEWS RELEASE # 71 FROM: CLERK OF SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA The Opinions handed down on the 21st day of October, 2003, are as follows: BY KNOLL, J.: 2003-KK-0206 STATE OF LOUISIANA v. COREY MILLER, EMANUEL STEVENSON, AND LATASHA WITHERSPOON (Parish of Jefferson) (Introduction and Possession of Contraband in a Correctional Center) For the foregoing reasons, the last sentence of La. R.S. 14:402(E) is stricken and declared unconstitutional. The judgments of the lower courts are reversed and set aside, and judgment is hereby rendered granting defendants' motions to quash. REVERSED. Retired Judge Robert L. Lobrano, assigned as Justice ad hoc, sitting in place of Chief Justice Pascal F. Calogero, recused. KIMBALL, J., concurs in the result. VICTORY, J., concurs in the result. LOBRANO, J., concurs in the result.

10/21/03 SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA NO. 03-KK-0206 STATE OF LOUISIANA VERSUS COREY MILLER, EMANUEL STEVENSON, AND LATASHA WITHERSPOON ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF APPEAL FIFTH CIRCUIT, PARISH OF JEFFERSON

KNOLL, Justice* This criminal case addresses th e co n s titutionality of the last sentence of La. R.S. 14:402(E), a catchall provision which attempts to expan d the definition of contraband in a p arish prison. Defendants were jointly indicted under La. R.S.

14:402(E), pertaining to the introduction and possession of contraband in a correctional center, specifically a cellular phone and charger. After their indictment, the defendants filed a motions to quash, arguing that the catchall provision contained in the last sentence of La. R.S. 14:402(E) was unconstitutional as an improper delegation of legislative power and void as v ag ue. The district court denied

defendants' motions, and the court of appeal affirmed. We g ran t ed t h is writ to consid er the constitutionality of the last sentence of La. R.S. 14:402(E), which provides that the definition of contraband is not restricted to those articles specifically set forth in the statute. For the following reasons we rev erse, finding the lower court s erred in denying defendants' motion to quash, concluding that the statutory

Retired Judge Robert L. Lobrano, assigned as Justice ad hoc, sitting in place of Chief Justice Pascal F. Calogero, recused.
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catchall provision of La. R.S. 14:402(E) violates the separation of powers doctrine. State v. Corey Miller, 03-KK-0206 (La. 4/25/03), __ So.2d __. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY On March 13, 2002, around 5:30 p.m., officers of the Jeffers on Parish Sheriff's Office on duty at the Jefferson Parish Correctional Cen t er ("JPCC") conducted a lockdown search o f POD 3B LEFT, an area within the JPCC. During the search, the officers discovered a s ilv er colored cellular phone plugged into a charg er, wh ich had been concealed behind a television set located in the common area of the POD. After obtain ing a search warrant for the information stored in the phone and a subpoen a d u ces tecum for the cellular phone company's records, the investigating officers determined that the phone contain ed n u mb ers directly linked to defendant, Corey Miller. At the time the phone was discovered, Miller was housed in the POD on charges of second-degree murder. Officers also learned that the phone was

registered to the same address as lis t ed on Miller's Louisiana identification card. It was further discovered that Sheriff's Deputies Lat asha Witherspoon and Emanuel Stevenson were instrumental in placing the cellular phone in Miller's possession. On July 11, 2002, a grand jury indicted the defendants , M iller, Witherspoon, and Stevenson on multiple counts. The firs t co unt charged Miller, Stevenson, and Witherspoon with conspiracy to introduce contraband into the JPCC on or between January 18, 2002 and April 19, 2002 in v io lat io n of La. R.S. 14:402. The second count charged the defendants with conspiracy to co mmit public bribery on or between January 18, 2002 and April 19, 2002 in violation of La. R.S. 14:118. In the t h ird count, the defendants were charged with the possession or introduct io n o f contraband, namely, a cellular telephone and charger, into the JPCC in violation of
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La. R.S. 14:402.1 Stevenson and Witherspoon, who were correctional officers in the JPCC at the time of the o ffense, were further charged in the fourth and fifth counts with public bribery in violation of La. R.S. 14:118 and malfeasance in o ffice in violation of La. R.S. 14:134, respectively. La. R.S. 14:402(E) is directly charged in the first and third counts o f t h e indictment and implicated in the second, fourth, and fifth counts. The statute at issue provides: E. It shall be unlawful to possess or to introdu ce o r attempt to introduce into or upon the premises of any municipal o r p arish prison or jail or to take or attempt to t ake or send therefrom, or to give or to attempt to give to an inmate of any municipal or parish prison or jail, any of the following articles which are hereby declared to be contraband fo r the purpose of this Section, to wit: (1) Any currency or coin which is legal tender; (2) Any stolen property; (3) Any article of food or clothing; (4) Any intoxicating b ev erage or beverages which cause or may cause any intoxicating effects; (5) Any narcotic or hypnotic or excitive drug or an y d rugs of whatever kind or nature, including nasal inhalators of any v ariety, sleeping pills or barbiturates of any variet y that create or may creat e a hypnotic effect if taken internally, or any other controlled dangerous substance as defined in R.S. 40:961, et seq.; and (6) Any firearm or any instrument alit y customarily used as a dangerous weapon, in cluding explosives or combustibles, except through regular channels as authorized by the officer in charge of any institution herein, or any plans for the making or manufacturing of such weapons or devices; However, the definition of contraband is not restricted to those articles set forth hereinabove. (Emphasis added).

On or about M arch 13, 2002, M iller was charged with the same alleged offense based on t he s ame alleged conduct, the introduction and possession of contraband, a cellular phone and charger, in a correctional facility. The Jefferson Parish Correctional Center Disciplinary Board tried the defendant and found him guilty. He was placed in isolation for fourteen days and was deprived of all privileges as punishment for his offense.
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All of the d efen d ants pleaded not guilty. Stevenson and Witherspoon filed motions to quash the indictment based on the constitutionality of the last sentence of La. R.S. 14:402(E), alleging that the provision is an imp ro p er delegation of legislative power and authority and is void for vagueness. Miller joined in the motions to quash.

LAW AND ANALYSIS Under Art icle II,

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