Justia Louisiana Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The State charged Defendant Mervin White with driving while intoxicated. After a trial by jury in 2008, he was found guilty as charged. The trial court sentenced him to 20 years' imprisonment at hard labor without opportunity for probation or parole. The appellate court affirmed Defendant's conviction, but vacated his sentence as excessive and reduced it to a term of ten years. The State appealed, arguing that the evidence supported Defendant's 20-year sentence. Upon review of the applicable legal authority, the Supreme Court found that though Defendant's sentence fell within the upper range of sentences, it did not suggest an arbitrary departure "from a sentencing norm that might indicate disproportionate punishment." Accordingly, the Court reversed the appellate court and reinstated Defendant's 20-year sentence. View "Louisiana v. White" on Justia Law

A New Orleans bank robbery in 1984 ended with the death of a Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's deputy. A unanimous jury found Defendant Thomas Sparks, Jr. guilty of first-degree murder in the deputy's death. At the penalty phase of the trial, the jury unanimously returned a death sentence. Defendant raised twenty-three assignments of error on appeal. After a thorough review of the law and evidence, the Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's murder conviction, and conditionally affirmed the imposition of the death sentence. The Court remanded the case to the district court for an evidentiary hearing on whether Defendant received effective assistance of counsel at the penalty phase of his trial.