State of Louisiana v. Damion Cain

── State of Louisiana v. Damion Cain ── Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal Date: May 20, 2026 Author: Shonda STONE Category: General Judgment rendered May 20, 2026. Application for rehearing may be filed within the delay allowed by Art. 922, La. C. Cr. P. No. 56,871-KA COURT OF APPEAL SECOND CIRCUIT STATE OF LOUISIANA ***** STATE OF LOUISIANA Appellee versus DAMION CAIN Appellant ***** Appealed from the Fifth Judicial District Court for the Parish of Richland, Louisiana Trial Court No. F-2023-188 Honorable Will R. Barham, Judge ***** LOUISIANA APPEALS AND Counsel for Appellant WRIT SERVICE By: Remy V. Starns Michael A. Mitchell Douglas D. Brown PENNY WISE DOUCIERE Counsel for Appellee District Attorney K. DOUGLAS WHEELER AMANDA M. WILKINS Assistant District Attorneys ***** Before STONE, COX, and THOMPSON, JJ. THOMPSON, J. Damion Cain was convicted by a jury of home invasion, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and simple assault. The facts are not in dispute. He slashed the tires of his former girlfriend’s vehicle, forcefully entered her home uninvited, threatened her with a knife, grabbed her by her neck, and forcibly removed her clothing while threatening sexual assault. After terrorizing his victim in her own home, Cain fled in a vehicle owned by a member of the victim’s family without permission. Following his convictions and original sentence, Cain was adjudicated in this proceeding as a habitual offender under applicable Louisiana law and sentenced accordingly. He now asks this Court to declare his enhanced sentence unconstitutional. We affirm. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY Damion Cain was convicted by a jury of home invasion, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and simple assault. The facts underlying those convictions are outlined in this Court’s opinion, State v. Cain, 56,870 (La. App. 2 Cir. 5/20/26). Following his trial and a presentence investigation, Cain was sentenced to 30 years at hard labor on the home invasion conviction, two years at hard labor on the unauthorized use of a motor vehicle conviction, and 90 days in the parish jail on the simple assault conviction with all sentences to run concurrently. Subsequently,1 the State filed a bill of habitual offender information against Cain, pursuant to La. R.S. 15:529.1, which provided the underlying convictions of distribution of schedule II controlled dangerous substance from 2019, aggravated battery 1 September 13, 2023. from 2022, and the present home invasion and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. At the habitual offender hearing,2 Cain was adjudicated a habitual offender, and his original sentences were vacated, and through the application of the mechanisms of the habitual offender sentencing enhancements,3 Cain was sentenced to 60 years at hard labor on the home invasion conviction and four years at hard labor on the unauthorized use of a motor vehicle conviction with both sentences to run concurrently, imposed without the benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. No motion to reconsider sentence was filed. Cain now appeals his habitual offender sentence as excessive. DISCUSSION Assignment of Error: The sentence of 60 years at hard labor is constitutionally excessive. Cain’s principal argument is that his 60-year sentence, which resulted fro