Louisiana Supreme Court Decisions 2023

Justia Opinion Summary: This matter arose from Wilbert Jones’ suit for compensation under La. R.S. 15:572.8 (“Wrongful Conviction Compensation Statute”). Jones was indicted for the rape of A.H. on April 3, 1972. At trial, he testified that he…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Louisiana Supreme Court granted certiorari to consider the continuing validity of the doctrine of absolute prosecutorial immunity, adopted in Knapper v. Connick, 681 So. 2d 944 (1996). This case presented the issue…

Justia Opinion Summary: The certiorari writ application in this case was granted by the Louisiana Supreme Court to address a purely legal issue: where a defendant’s convictions by a non-unanimous jury were final, but his sentences were still…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Marshall Alexander, Jr. was found guilty as charged of the second degree murder of Scott Latiolais. On March 29, 2002, Latiolais’s body was found in a field in St. Martin Parish. He was killed by a shotgun…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Louisiana Supreme Court granted the State's petition for review to determine whether the court of appeal erred in reversing the district court's denial of post-conviction relief. The court of appeal found trial…

Justia Opinion Summary: The district court awarded damages to plaintiff Lashondra Jones who was allegedly injured when she stepped on a wooden pallet with an attached pallet guard, holding a bulk watermelon bin, to reach a watermelon in the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Matthew Morgan, an inmate assigned to the Concordia Parish Correctional Facility and under the supervision of the Sheriff of Concordia Parish, escaped from his trustee work assignment at the Concordia Parish courthouse.…

Justia Opinion Summary: The property at issue in this case was a small parcel, about 50-feet square, located in the middle of a block in the French Quarter. "Lot AA" was bounded on its north and east sides by an alley that accessed Conti Street…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff sought insurance coverage under an all-risks commercial insurance policy for business income losses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Finding no “direct physical loss of or damage to property” caused by COVID-19,…

Justia Opinion Summary: In July 2019, Plaintiffs Suzanne Farrell and her husband, Joseph Farrell, were traveling to Galveston, Texas, when they stopped to refuel at a Circle K Store in Pineville, Louisiana. While Mr. Farrell pumped gas, Mrs.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs Yasha Clark and Morgan Walker petitioned to disqualify defendant Stephanie Bridges as a candidate for the office of Orleans Parish Civil District Court Judge, Division B. Plaintiffs alleged that Bridges…

Justia Opinion Summary: Lake Charles Rubber and Gasket Co., L.L.C. ("Lake") and its sole owner, Vesta Balay Johnston (collectively, Plaintiffs), and Gulf Coast Rubber and Gasket, L.L.C. ("Gulf') and Bryan Vincent (collectively, Defendants),…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Pineville City Court was fully funded by the City of Pineville. This funding included amounts for the salaries of three clerk positions and accompanying human resources services. In turn, the City Court reimbursed…

Justia Opinion Summary: This matter arose from a 2006 class action suit instituted by Steve Crooks and Era Lee Crooks (“Class Plaintiffs”) against the State through the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (“LDNR”) concerning the ownership…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose from a dispute regarding the excavation of lots located in the The Grove Subdivision between plaintiff Hidden Grove LLC (“Hidden Grove”), the developer of The Grove, and homeowner defendants Richard and…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2020, an accident, fire, and explosion occurred in the hydrocracker unit at a Valero Refining-Meraux, LLC refinery in Meraux, Louisiana. No significant levels of chemicals were detected as a result of the explosion.…