State v. Eiermann, 224 So. 3d 1220

Misty Eiermann was indicted on second-degree murder, obstruction of justice, illegally supplying a felon with a firearm, possession of morphine (two counts), possession of Zoloft (legend drug), and possession of alprazolam.
On April 25, 2016, pursuant to a plea agreement the State amended murder to manslaughter; Eiermann pled guilty to manslaughter and guilty as charged on the remaining counts.
The trial court sentenced Eiermann to 40 years hard labor (manslaughter), 20 years hard labor (obstruction), and 5 years hard labor on each remaining count, all to run concurrently.
Appointed appellate counsel filed an Anders brief concluding there were no non-frivolous issues on appeal and moved to withdraw; the State agreed.
The appellate court conducted an independent review, found no non-frivolous appellate issues, granted counsel’s motion to withdraw, and affirmed convictions and sentences as amended.
The court identified patent errors in the sentencing record: (1) the statute for illegally supplying a felon with a firearm does not authorize hard labor, so that portion was deleted; and (2) inconsistencies between the transcript and the commitment were remanded for correction (including offense dates and parole/probation language).

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency/form of indictment	Indictment (as amended) properly charged offenses under La. C.Cr.P.	Eiermann did not contest the charging instrument on appeal	Indictment/amendment proper; no non-frivolous issue found
Validity of guilty pleas (Boykin/voluntariness)	Pleas were knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily entered after colloquy and signed waiver	Eiermann did not present a viable claim that plea was involuntary or Boykin-defective	Pleas upheld as knowing/voluntary; no basis for withdrawal on appeal
Reviewability of sentence given plea agreement (La. C.Cr.P. art. 881.2)	Sentences were imposed according to plea agreement and within statutory ranges; art. 881.2 bars review	Eiermann sought appellate review but record shows plea agreement set forth at plea hearing	Sentences not reviewable beyond plea terms; affirmed as amended
Errors patent in sentencing/commitment	Court must correct non-authorized sentencing language and commitment inconsistencies	Eiermann requested patent review; court found errors requiring correction	Deleted hard-labor designation for firearm count and remanded to correct commitment order

Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (U.S. 1967) (permissible withdrawal when appeal is wholly frivolous after counsel’s review)
Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238 (U.S. 1969) (constitutional requirements for voluntary guilty pleas)
State v. Jyles, 704 So.2d 241 (La. 1997) (Anders brief standard under Louisiana law)
State v. Dufrene, 980 So.2d 31 (La. App. 5 Cir. 2008) (scope of appellate review when counsel files Anders brief)
State v. McCoil, 924 So.2d 1120 (La. App. 5 Cir. 2006) (standards for withdrawing guilty pleas post-sentencing)
State v. Oliveaux, 312 So.2d 337 (La. 1975) (routine appellate error-patent review)