State v. Anaya-Espino

114 So.3d 1248

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee

v.Jorge Luis ANAYA–ESPINO, Appellant.

No. 48,025–KW.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

May 22, 2013.

Preempted

LSA–R.S. 14:100.13

J. Antonio Florence, for Appellant.

Charles Rex Scott, II, District Attorney, George Winston, III, Colin Clark, Assistant District Attorneys, for Appellee.

Before BROWN, WILLIAMS and MOORE, JJ.

MOORE, J.

[2 Cir. 1]Defendant, Jorge Luis Anaya–Espino, was charged by bill of information with operating a vehicle without lawful presence in the United States, a violation of La. R.S. 14:100.13. He filed a motion to quash the bill of information on grounds that federal immigration law preempts La. R.S. 14:100.13; that the statute is unconstitutionally vague, overbroad, and violates due process by shifting the burden of persuasion of an essential element of the offense to the defendant, namely, by requiring him to prove that he is lawfully in the United States.

The trial court denied the motion to quash after a hearing, argument and briefs were submitted. We granted the defendant's supervisory writ application in part, remanding the case to the trial court with instructions to reconsider the motion in light of Arizona v. United States, ––– U.S. ––––, 132 S.Ct. 2492, 183 L.Ed.2d 351 (2012). Finding that the Arizona state law and facts in Arizona v. United States were distinguishable from the instant facts and law in this case, the trial court again denied the defendant's motion on the same grounds. We granted the writ to docket the matter for briefing and oral argument. For the reasons that follow, we grant the defendant's application, reverse the trial court's ruling on the motion to quash, and dismiss the charge against the defendant.

Facts

On Sunday, October 23, 2011, Officer Lita Hopkins, a patrol officer of the Greenwood Police Department, received a telephone call from an off-duty officer of the department, Officer Ainsworth. Officer Ainsworth reported that he was then driving south on Hwy. 169 behind a blue SUV and [2 Cir. 2]observing a child standing up in the back seat of the vehicle without a seatbelt. Officer Hopkins immediately left the department building and drove to Hwy. 169 to intercept the vehicle. While driving south on Hwy. 169, Officer Hopkins passed the northbound, blue Chevrolet Blazer. She turned around and got behind the Blazer. She testified that she observed several children standing in the back seat of the vehicle without seatbelts.

Officer Hopkins initiated a traffic stop. She asked the driver, later identified as the defendant, Jorge Luis Anaya–Espino, if he spoke English, and he responded “a little.” She asked him for his driver's license. The defendant presented Officer Hopkins with a Mexican identification card that had a Shreveport address. Two deputies from the Caddo Parish Sheriff's Office, Deputies Smalley and Foster, arrived at the scene during the stop. Not recognizing the ID, Officer Hopkins showed the deputies the ID card presented to her by the defendant. They also stated they had never seen a card like the one presented. Deputy Smalley asked the defendant to step out of the vehicle. According to Officer Hopkins' police report, Deputy Smalley asked the defendant if he was in the United States legally, and the defendant stated “no.” The defendant was placed under arrest for operating a vehicle without proof of his lawful presence in the U.S.

Officer Hopkins spoke with the defendant's wife, who was a front-seat passenger in the vehicle, and explained to her why her husband was being arrested. Mrs. Christy Anaya spoke English and stated that they were in the process of getting her husband's paperwork done to make him “legal” in the U.S. She blamed herself for letting her husband drive the vehicle. [2 Cir. 3]Officer Hopkins did not write citations for the children not being in seatbelts.

The defendant was then taken to the Caddo Correctional Center and booked for violation of La. R.S. 14:100.13, operating a vehicle without lawful presence in the U.S.

Procedural History

As noted, the state charged defendant by bill of information with operating a vehicle without lawful presence in the U.S., R.S. 14:100.13. Counsel filed a motion to quash on grounds that federal immigration law preempts the state statute and that R.S. 14:100.13 is unconstitutional. At the hearing on the motion, Officer Lita Hopkins was the sole witness to testify. The court requested the parties submit briefs. It ultimately rendered judgment denying the motion with written reasons.

In its written reasons, the court noted that the state legislature's purpose in enacting La. R.S. 14:100.13 was to complement and enhance federal efforts to uncover those who seek to use the highways of this state to commit acts of terror and who seek to gain driver's licenses or identification cards for the purpose of masking their illegal status in the state. The court reviewed the state's appellate jurisprudence, noting that the Fourth Circuit in State v. Lopez, 2005–0685 (La.App. 4 Cir. 12/20/06), 948 So.2d 1121, held that La. R.S. 14:100.13 A conflicted with federal immigration law because it “places a burden on both legal and non-legal aliens which exceeds any standard contemplated by federal immigration law.”

[2 Cir. 4]On the other hand, the court cited several cases from the First Circuit holding that R.S. 14:100.13 is not preempted by federal law because the statute “does not involve a state determination of who should be admitted into the country or the conditions under which a legal entrant may remain.” State v. Reyes, 2007–1181 (La.App. 1 Cir, 2/27/08), 989 So.2d 770, 776,writ denied,2008–2013 (La.12/18/09), 23 So.3d 929.¹ The First Circuit has concluded that the statute does not conflict with federal immigration law, and in fact, “implements the aims and goals of the federal REAL ID Act ² as well as those of federal immigration law in general.” State v. Ramos, 2007–1448 (La.App. 1 Cir. 7/28/08), 993 So.2d 281, 288,writ denied,2008–2103 (La.12/18/09), 23 So.3d 929.

Following the First Circuit's line of jurisprudence, the court held that federal immigration law does not preempt R.S. 14:100.13, that the state has the authority to regulate public roads and highways, and that R.S. 14:100.13 constituted a valid exercise of the state's police power.

The defendant applied to this court for a writ of review. We granted the writ in part, remanding to the trial court with instructions to reconsider its opinion in light of the June 25, 2012, decision of the United States Supreme Court in Arizona v. United States, supra.

[2 Cir. 5]After reviewing Arizona v. United States, supra, the court denied the motion to quash with written reasons affirming its previous ruling. The court distinguished the parts of the Arizona statute under scrutiny, namely Section 3 of S.B. 1070, which made failure to comply with federal alien registration requirements a state misdemeanor, and Section 5(C) of the same bill, which made it a misdemeanor for an unauthorized alien to seek or engage in employment in the state. By contrast, the court noted that La. R.S. 14:100.13 makes it a felony offense for an alien to operate a motor vehicle in the state without documentation reflecting his legal presence in the U.S. Because the offense is triggered by the operation of a motor vehicle by an undocumented alien, it concluded that the statute regulates the use of state public roads and highways, not immigration. Consequently, the court concluded that, unlike the Arizona statute, federal law does not preempt La. R.S. 14:100.13.

In his application for a writ of review, the defendant raises three assignments of error in the trial court's ruling on the motion to quash: (1) the trial court erred in concluding that R.S. 14:100.13 is not preempted by federal law; (2) the trial court erred in determining that R.S. 14:100.13 enhances federal immigration law; and, (3) the trial court erred in concluding that R.S. 14:100.13 regulates the use of state public roads and highways—not immigration.

We granted the defendant's writ application for docketing and oral argument.

[2 Cir. 6]Discussion

La. R.S. 14:100.13 reads:

A. No alien student or nonresident alien shall operate a motor vehicle in the state without documentation demonstrating that the person is lawfully present in the United States.

B. Upon arrest of a person for operating a vehicle without lawful presence in the United States, law enforcement officials shall seize the driver's license and immediately surrender such license to the office of motor vehicles for cancellation and shall immediately notify the INS of the name and location of the person.

C. Whoever commits the crime of driving without lawful presence in the United States shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, imprisoned for not more than one year, with or without hard labor, or both.

R.S. 14:100.13 was enacted by 2002 La. Acts, 1st Ex.Sess., No. 46, § 1, known as the “Prevention of Terrorism on the Highways Act.” As part of the act, the legislature enacted La. R.S. 14:100.11, which set forth the following findings of the legislature and the purpose of La. R.S. 14:100.12, et seq.:

A. The legislature finds that the devastating consequences of the barbaric attacks on September 11, 2001 on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon as well as the pervasive bomb threats and biological terrorism in various parts of the country were committed for the purposes of demoralizing and destabilizing our society and creating a climate of fear. These heinous deeds designed to kill, maim, and strike terror into the hearts of innocent citizens of this country cannot be tolerated, nor can those less violent acts to the infrastructure of our state which are designed to intimidate, confuse and disrupt everyday commerce and the delivery of goods and services to the populace be permitted.

B. The legislature further finds that it is imperative that state laws be enacted to complement...