PER CURIAM . Defendant Christopher J. Wells shot and killed Brandon McCue on May 4, 2008. Defendant shot the victim four times at close range in front of eyewitnesses in the parking area of the trailer park on Chef Menteur Highway where McCue lived. Defendant was charged with second degree murder. He admitted he shot the victim but claimed he did so in self-defense. At trial, the state's witnesses testified defendant came to the parking area to purchase marijuana from the victim but drove...
HUGHES , J. * This case presents the issue of whether the email communications of an employee of a public agency, via the public agency's email system, on private political matters with private individuals, are subject to disclosure under Louisiana's Public Records Law, LSA-R.S. 44:1 et seq., when those emails have been referenced in audits of the public agency. Upon a balancing of the public and private interests discussed hereinafter, we conclude that constitutional rights of privacy...
WEIMER , Justice . We granted certiorari in this child custody matter to review the designation of both parents as "co-domiciliary parents," a designation which has divided the courts of appeal. Additionally, we must review the related question of whether the trial court issued a valid joint custody implementation order. After analyzing La. R.S. 9:335, we reverse that portion of the appellate court decision upholding the trial court's designation of "co-domiciliary parents." We agree with...
PER CURIAM . In this matter, we are called upon to determine whether the lessors properly terminated a lease. For the reasons that follow, we find the district court was correct in finding the lease was terminated, and the court of appeal erred in disturbing the district court's judgment. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY By agreement dated January 25, 1957, Simon and Herman H. Rosenberg leased property located at 2025 Canal Street in New Orleans to Eagle Enterprises, Inc. for a term of sixty...
PER CURIAM . Writ granted; reversed and remanded. Defendant was found guilty as charged by a jury of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. By agreement with the state, defendant admitted the allegations in the habitual offender bill of information and was sentenced under La.R.S. 15:529.1(A)(1) as a second felony offender to 22 years imprisonment at hard labor with the first two years to be served without parole eligibility. The court of appeal reversed the conviction because it...
WEIMER , Justice . The state's writ application was granted to review those portions of the appellate court decision that reversed the district court's imposition of the maximum sentence for defendant's simple rape conviction and remanded the case to the district court with instructions for resentencing. For the following reasons, we reverse the decision of the appellate court, in part, reinstate defendant's simple rape sentence, and remand to the district court for the execution of the...
WEIMER , Justice . We granted certiorari to determine whether the appellate court's recognition of a "novel and untested" cause of action comports with Louisiana mineral law. The purported cause of action imposes a duty on a mineral lessee purchasing the lessor's mineral royalty rights to disclose to the lessor that the lessee has already negotiated the resale of the mineral rights to a third party for a significantly higher price. Finding the lessee's duties upon which the appellate court...
CLARK , Justice . * This is a direct appeal under La. Const. art. V, 5(D) by the defendant Lamondre Tucker. 1 In November 2008, a Caddo Parish grand jury indicted the defendant for the first degree murder of Tavia Sills, in violation of La. R.S. 14:30. After a trial, the jury found the defendant guilty as charged. At the conclusion of the penalty phase of the trial, the jury unanimously returned a verdict of death, finding the aggravating circumstances that: (1) the defendant was...
PER CURIAM . In this appeal, the State of Louisiana seeks review of a judgment of the district court declaring La. Const. Art. XII, 15, La. Civ.Code art. 86, La. Civ.Code art. 89, La. Civ.Code art. 3520(B), and Revenue Information Bulletin No. 13-024 (9/13/13) to be unconstitutional. After the appeal was taken under advisement, the United States Supreme Court rendered its opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges, ___ U.S. ___, 135 S.Ct. 2584, ___ L.Ed.2d ___, 2015 WL 2473451 (2015), which held...
GUIDRY , Justice . We are called upon to determine whether the lower court erred in declaring unconstitutional on its face Act 1 of the 2012 Legislative Session as codified in La.Rev.Stat. 17:443(B)(1) and (2). Upon de novo review, we find the court of appeal erred in declaring La.Rev.Stat. 17:443 as amended by Act 1 of 2012 unconstitutional on its face because it does not afford a full evidentiary hearing before a neutral adjudicator prior to termination. Instead, we find La.Rev.Stat. 17:...
HUGHES , J. We accepted the certified question presented to this court by the United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, in Faulk v. Union Pacific Railroad Company, 576 Fed.Appx. 345 (5th Cir.2014) (per curiam). 1 The question posed by the Fifth Circuit is: "Whether the application of LA.REV.STAT. 48:394 to any of the properties in this case amounts to an unconstitutional taking of private property without a public purpose, in violation of Article I, Section 4 of the Louisiana...
CRICHTON , J. We granted the state's writ application to determine whether a person required to register as a sex offender as a result of an offense committed as a juvenile under La. R.S. 15:542 must comply with the sex offender identification required by La. R.S. 32:412(I) or La. R.S. 40:1321(J). After briefing and argument, it became apparent that the deficient record in this matter does not permit the Court to answer that question. Rather, the record makes clear that the respondent in...
KNOLL , J. This direct appeal was lodged in this Court concerning the constitutional sufficiency of the administrative adjudication procedure which the City of New Orleans has established for its citizens who challenge tickets that were issued automatically on the basis of photographic evidence obtained from traffic cameras. In 2007, the City of New Orleans (the "City") enacted a group of ordinances, codified as Sections 154-1701 through 15-1704 of its Code of Ordinances, which created...
JOHNSON , Chief Justice . In this legal malpractice case, defendant, Michelle Myer-Bennett, filed a peremptory exception of peremption asserting plaintiff, Tracy Ray Lomont, filed her malpractice claim beyond the three-year peremptive period set forth in La. R.S. 9:5605. Ms. Lomont opposed the exception, arguing the peremptive period should not apply because Ms. Myer-Bennett engaged in fraudulent behavior which prevents application of the peremptive period pursuant to La. R.S. 9:5605(E)....
CLARK , J. The instant case presents a claim under the Louisiana Products Liability Act ("LPLA"). We granted its companion case to determine the viability of negligent spoliation of evidence as a cause of action in Louisiana. 1 We now address the underlying products liability case and review the appropriateness of the lower court's grant of summary judgment. For the reasons expressed below, we affirm. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY On March 15, 2008, a multi-vehicle accident occurred in...
WEIMER , Justice . This matter addresses the "amount in dispute" which determines subject matter jurisdiction of a city court with a jurisdictional limit of $30,000. After filing suit, plaintiff settled with the tortfeasor and the tortfeasor's liability insurer for $25,000, leaving only plaintiff's claim against her uninsured motorist insurer. The issue to be determined is whether following the dismissal of the settling defendants, the city court had jurisdiction over plaintiff's claim...
KNOLL , Justice . This case is in a pretrial posture concerning the admissibility of evidence of defendant's past "sexually assaultive behavior," which is not statutorily defined as a sexual offense. At a pretrial hearing on the State's motion to introduce evidence pursuant to La. Code Evid. art. 412.2 of defendant's 1997 "sexually assaultive behavior," the Trial Court ruled the evidence was inadmissible because defendant's alleged conduct did not meet the "elements of a sexual battery" as...
PER CURIAM . 1 The rulings of the courts below are reversed in part and this case is remanded to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with the views expressed herein. In this pending prosecution for second degree battery in violation of La. R.S. 14:34 and false imprisonment, La. R.S. 14:46, defendant filed a motion to exclude from trial portions of the medical records from Ochsner Hospital in New Orleans, documenting the victim's treatment for a broken nose and black eye in...
WEIMER , Justice . Invoking Louisiana Supreme Court Rule XII, 1 the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit certified to this court the following question of law: Did the dismissal of Scott Lemoine's criminal cyberstalking prosecution pursuant to Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure article 691 constitute a bona fide termination in his favor for the purposes of this Louisiana malicious prosecution suit Lemoine v. Wolfe, 575 Fed.Appx. 449, 463 (5th Cir.2014). We accepted...
PER CURIAM . At issue in these consolidated applications is whether the court of appeal erred in reversing the judgment of the district court which dismissed plaintiffs' suit as abandoned. For the reasons that follow, we conclude the suit is abandoned, and we therefore reverse the judgment of the court of appeal. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY On June 25, 2008, plaintiffs, Byron and Margo Guillory, filed suit against several defendants, including Pelican Real Estate, Inc. ("Pelican") and its...
