State v. Hoppens, 140 So. 3d 293

Defendant pled guilty to one count of manslaughter under La. R.S. 14:31 and received 40 years’ imprisonment; plea followed dismissal of related counts.
Indictment originally charged second-degree murder, forgery (two counts), and access device fraud; sanity hearing found defendant competent.
Plea negotiations occurred with the trial court’s involvement alleged in Bouie analysis, but no evidence of coercive participation.
Appellate counsel filed an Anders brief; defendant filed a pro se supplemental brief.
Trial court granted an out-of-time appeal; this court conducts independent review and remands for correction of a patent error on the commitment order.
The court affirms the conviction and sentence and grants counsel’s withdrawal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the Anders brief supports any nonfrivolous issues	Hoppens	Hoppens	No nonfrivolous issues; Anders brief granted; conviction affirmed.
Whether the guilty plea was knowingly and intelligently entered	Hoppens	Hoppens claimed panicked self-defense and ineffective investigation.	Guilty plea valid; Boykin colloquy satisfactory; waiver upheld.
Whether the factual basis for the plea was sufficient	State	Insufficient basis given innocence claim and grade of homicide.	Factual basis adequate; no innocence claim; no reversible error.
Whether trial counsel was ineffective for not objecting to the factual basis or for an Alford plea	Hoppens	Ineffective assistance claims precluded on direct appeal or lack merit.	Claims meritless on record; proper to raise in post-conviction rather than direct appeal.
Whether mental capacity issues invalidated the plea	State	Mental capacity unresolved before plea.	Sanity hearing conducted; competency found; no reversible error.

Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (U.S. 1967) (procedure allowing withdrawal when appeal is frivolous with brief referencing potential issues)
State v. Bradford, 676 So.2d 1108 (La. App. 5 Cir. 1996) (Louisiana Anders procedure adopted)
State v. Jyles, 704 So.2d 241 (La. 1997) (Anders brief discussed; review for nonfrivolous issues required)
State v. Bourgeois, 406 So.2d 550 (La. 1981) (non-jurisdictional defects review limitations on appeal)
State v. Smith, 38 So.3d 894 (La. App. 5 Cir. 2010) (due process factual basis not required when defendant does not claim innocence)
North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25 (U.S. 1970) (valid guilty plea despite protestations of innocence when record shows guilt)
State v. McCoil, 924 So.2d 1120 (La. App. 5 Cir. 2006) (recognizes standards for withdrawing guilty pleas under plea agreements)
State v. Bouie, 817 So.2d 48 (La. 2002) (judge participation in plea negotiations—caution against coercive influence)
State v. Corzo, 896 So.2d 1101 (La. App. 5 Cir. 2005) (waiver of pre-plea rulings; failure to object = waiver)
State v. Washington, 916 So.2d 1171 (La. App. 5 Cir. 2005) (plea agreement governs review of sentence under Art. 881.2)
State v. Long, 106 So.3d 1136 (La. App. 5 Cir. 2012) (remand for correction of commitment orders; error patent review)