## Facts

- Stanley Sullivan, Sr. participated in a plan to rob Leon Ford by ambushing Ford as he exited his home and striking him with a club.
- Ford remained conscious after being struck; the assailants fled before taking property.
- Sullivan was charged with and convicted of attempted armed robbery in 1975.
- The trial court sentenced Sullivan to 25 years at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.
- The conviction and sentence were affirmed on direct appeal in 1977.
- In 1982, Sullivan sought sentence modification, arguing the attempt statute did not require the “without benefit” restrictions applicable to completed armed robbery; the trial court denied relief.
- The Louisiana Supreme Court granted review to determine the legality of the “without benefit” restrictions for attempted armed robbery.

## Issues

1. Whether La. R.S. 14:27(D)(3)’s directive that an attempt be punished “in the same manner as for the offense attempted” incorporates armed robbery’s statutory denial of parole, probation, and suspension of sentence for the crime of attempted armed robbery.
2. Whether a sentence for attempted armed robbery that includes “without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence” is authorized by La. R.S. 14:27(D)(3).

## Decision

- The court held that La. R.S. 14:27(D)(3) does not require, and does not automatically incorporate, the no-parole/probation/suspension restrictions attached to the completed armed robbery statute.
- The court rejected the prior interpretation that had read “in the same manner” to include those benefit restrictions for attempted armed robbery.
- The court ordered correction of Sullivan’s sentence to remove the “without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence” limitation.

## Legal Principles

- Under La. R.S. 14:27(D)(3), punishment for an attempt must track the general mode of punishment for the completed offense (e.g., fine or imprisonment; hard labor where applicable) and is capped at one-half of the maximum fine and term prescribed for the completed offense.
- The phrase “in the same manner as for the offense attempted” in La. R.S. 14:27(D)(3) does not, without express legislative direction, import collateral sentencing disabilities such as ineligibility for parole, probation, or suspension of sentence.
- When the legislature intends attempt offenses to carry the same benefit restrictions as the completed offense, it must do so explicitly; courts should not extend such restrictions by implication from the attempt statute’s “same manner” language.

## Conclusion

The Louisiana Supreme Court concluded that attempted armed robbery is not subject to armed robbery’s statutory denial of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence under La. R.S. 14:27(D)(3), and it ordered Sullivan’s sentence corrected to remove those restrictions.


State ex rel. Sullivan v. Maggio, 432 So. 2d 854 (La. 1983)