In June of 1965 the defendant was found guilty by a jury on counts 1, 2, 3 and 4 of a five count indictment in which defendant was accused of armed robbery of five different persons. He was sentenced to serve fifteen years (the maximum in 1965 was thirty yeаrs) on each of four counts, the sentences to run consecutively.
An “out of time” appeal was grаnted the defendant in March of 1971.
At the time of the offense and the trial, the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1928 was still in force and effect, the present Code of Criminal Procedure having become effective оn January 1, 1967.
• Several bills of exceptions were taken. It is necessary to discuss only one.
Bill of Exception No. 2 was reserved to the denial of defendant’s “motion to select.”
Before trial, the attorney for the defendant filed a written “motion to select” in which the defendant requested the district attorney be orderеd to “select before the commencement of trial which particular count of the information filed herein he expects to proceed under.” The bill of information, as noted above, contains fivе counts. In each count the defendant was accused of armed robbery of a different person on April 24, 1965. The evidence in the record shows that the defendant entered the “Loser’s Lounge” and robbed the operator and some customers. We gather that the State purported to draw its bill under the provisions of Article 218 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1928:
“When two or more crimes result from a single act, or from one continuous unlawful transaction, only one indictment will lie; but each of said distinct crimes, though some of them bе felonies and others of them misdemeanors, may be separately charged in distinct counts in the same indiсtment.” ' ''
That article was repealed.in 1932 by Act No. 153. The repeal left in full force Article 217 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1928, which provides that “except as otherwise provided under this title, no indictment shall сharge more than one crime, . . . ” (The same provision is carried in Article 493 of the Code of Criminal Procеdure of 1966).
In State v. Cannon,
The Cannon case cited State v. Roberts,
It is true that there is contrary jurisprudence in this State. For example, in State v. Morrison,
The State argues that the repеal of Article 218 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1928 “in no way affected the common law rule of joinder of crimes . . . ” and relies on the dicta of State v. Turner, supra:
“The repeal of article 218 of the Cоde of Criminal Procedure (Act No. 153 of 1932), relating to charging two or more offenses in distinct counts, does not hаve the effect of repealing the rule at common law as to charging such offenses.”178 La. at 939 ,152 So. at 571 .
The argument is not well founded.
The ruling in State v. Cannon was reiterated with approval in State v. Carter,
As an alternative, the State further contеnds that the robbery charge contained an element of theft, and Article 225 of the Code of Criminal Procеdure of 1928 allowed the cumulation in one indictment of several counts of theft. There is no merit in this argument, for thе purpose of cumulation of theft charges in Article 225 was to aggregate the amounts to determine the grade of the offense charged.
For the reasons assigned, the conviction and sentence аre reversed and the case is remanded for a new trial.
Even assuming that multiple counts were improper, only the sentence would be affected.
Notes
. For a discussion of the problem and history of Article 218, see Slovenko, The Accusation in Louisiana Criminal Law, _ 32 Tul.L.Rev. 47 at pages 70-81 (1957-195S) ; Litton, Joinder of Criminal Offenses in Louisiana, 4 La.L.Rev. 127 (1941-1942).
