×
You've used up your 3 free articles for this month. Subscribe today.
Louisiana Supreme Court: Jury May Not Speculate on Guilt When Evidence Is Lacking
by Dale Chappell
Where the evidence was lacking and the jury could only speculate as to the defendant’s guilt, the Supreme Court of Louisiana reversed the defendant’s conviction and entered a judgment of acquittal, holding that a jury may not “speculate” on a person’s guilt.
Darryl Jones …
Full article and associated cases available to subscribers.
As a digital subscriber to Criminal Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.
Already a subscriber? Login
More from this issue:
- Courts Have Made Social Media a Landmine for Defendants. Could It Change Soon?, by Steve Horn
- $600,000 Awarded Missouri Man in Legal Malpractice Verdict After 17 Years in Prison
- Denver Under Fire For Law That Critics Describe as Legalized ‘Car Stealing’, by Derek Gilna
- Pennsylvania Supreme Court Announces Search Warrant Required for Nonconsensual Entry into Any Residence to Carry Out Arrest Warrant, by Richard Resch
- Mississippi Supreme Court Clarifies that Appellate Courts Never Serve as ‘13th Juror’ for Motion for New Trial, by David Reutter
- New Mexico Supreme Court: Seriousness of Charged Crime Itself Not Sufficient to Deny Defendant Pretrial Release, by Dale Chappell
- #Policetoo: 35 States Allow ‘Consensual’ Sex Between Police and Detainees, by Christopher Zoukis
- Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Announces ‘Finality’ Under Sentence Enhancement Provision for Out-of-State Convictions Governed by Texas Law, by Dale Chappell
- Durham, North Carolina, Opts Out of Military-Style Training for Police, by Christopher Zoukis
- Seventh Circuit Affirms Suppression of Evidence Because Traffic Stop Unreasonably Prolonged, by Christopher Zoukis
- Montana Supreme Court Holds Failure to Instruct Jury on State’s Burden of Proof is Plain Error, by Dale Chappell
- Utah Supreme Court: Procedural Due Process Violated Where Failure to Participate in Sex Offender Treatment Program Used to Deny Parole to Prisoner Not Convicted of Sex Offense, by David Reutter
- Eleventh Circuit Holds Florida Drug Trafficking Statute Indivisible and Overbroad for Removal Under Immigration and Nationality Act, by Dale Chappell
- Biased Facial Recognition Systems Are Coming to a Law Enforcement Agency Near You, by Christopher Zoukis
- Washington Supreme Court: Nexus Between Property Searched and Probation Violation Required for Warrantless Search of Probationer’s Property, by Dale Chappell
- Missouri High Court Holds Checkbox-Style Search Warrant Constitutes an Unconstitutional General Warrant, by Dale Chappell
- $1 Million Paid by NYC to Settle False Arrest Claim
- Government Eyes Are Watching You: We Are All Prisoners of the Surveillance State, by John W. Whitehead
- Kansas Supreme Court: Judge’s ‘Thwarting’ of Defendant’s Right to Self-Representation was Structural Error Requiring Reversal of Convictions, by Dale Chappell
- New Jersey Supreme Court: Substantive Error to Amend Indictment to Change Degree of Felony on Eve of Trial, by Matthew Clarke
- Seattle to Toss Old Pot Convictions
- Missouri Supreme Court Clarifies No Resisting Arrest Charge Once Arrest is Completed, by Dale Chappell
- Fifth Circuit Grants § 2255 Petition Challenging Failure to Register Conviction for Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, by Christopher Zoukis
- FBI Data Reveal ‘War on Cops’ is Nonexistent, by Dale Chappell
- South Carolina Supreme Court Clarifies When Court Can Deny Right to Self-Representation; Orders New Trial, by Dale Chappell
- Pennsylvania Supreme Court Vacates Intellectually Disabled Prisoner’s Death Sentence, by Christopher Zoukis
- Pennsylvania Supreme Court Announces New Rule to Allow IAC Claims for Fine-Only Sentences, by Dale Chappell
- Ninth Circuit: Younger Abstention Not Appropriate in Habeas Case Challenging Lack of Constitutionally Sufficient Bail Hearing, by Christopher Zoukis
- Delaware Supreme Court Reverses Criminally Negligent Homicide Because Conduct was ‘Too Remote’ from Cause of Death, by Dale Chappell
- Is FBI Using Classified Tools for Everyday Investigations?, by Christopher Zoukis
- Legally Thrown in Jail for Wanting to File a Complaint Against Police
- District Court Grants Bail in a Drug Case Over Government’s Typical Assertion That ‘No Condition or Combination of Conditions Would Reasonably Assure the Defendant’s Presence at Trial’
- Powerful District Attorney Lobbies Improperly Influence Law Making, by Matthew Clarke
- NYPD Hands Out Business Cards So Suspects Can Rate Their Encounter with Cops
- State Attorney in Vermont Won’t Prosecute Misdemeanor Opioid Treatment Drug Cases, by Betty Nelander
- News in Brief
- Ninth Circuit Rules Weekends in Jail Count as Time ‘In Prison’, by Dale Chappell
- The Long, Dark History of Law Enforcement’s Warrantless Bus Searches, by Steve Horn
- Louisiana Supreme Court: Jury May Not Speculate on Guilt When Evidence Is Lacking, by Dale Chappell
- Risk Assessment Software: Biased and No Better Than Human Behavior Prediction, by Christopher Zoukis
- Daily Caller Investigation Lays Opiate Crisis at Feet of DEA, by Derek Gilna
- SCOTUS: Warrantless Invasion of Curtilage to Conduct Search Unconstitutional, by Richard Resch
- Dial T for Tyranny: While America Feuds, the Police State Shifts Into High Gear, by John W. Whitehead
- Non-Unanimous Jury Verdicts Give Prosecutors ‘Awesome Power’ and Have Racist Roots, by Dale Chappell
More from Dale Chappell:
- Arguing Successful Federal Habeas Corpus Claims, June 1, 2025
- How to Take Your Postconviction Case Directly to the U.S. Supreme Court: A Roadmap to Direct Collateral Review, March 15, 2025
- Federal Habeas Corpus for State Prisoners: Proving Unreasonableness Under AEDPA, Feb. 1, 2025
- Federal Court Rules Michigan’s Sex Offender Registration Laws Violate Constitution, Dec. 1, 2024
- Refuting the Government’s Argument Against Nonretroactive Changes in Law as Grounds for Compassionate Release, Oct. 1, 2024
- Federal Habeas Corpus: Getting Around Procedural Default, July 15, 2024
- The Death of the Savings Clause, May 15, 2024
- Federal Habeas Corpus: Understanding Second or Successive Petitions for State Prisoners, April 15, 2024
- Fourth Circuit Reinstates Relief From Death Penalty, Citing State’s Forfeiture of Argument Against Relief, May 15, 2023
- Federal Habeas Corpus: The Evidentiary Hearing for Federal Prisoners, April 15, 2023
More from these topics:
- Aphantasia: Why Truthful Witnesses Can Sound Like Liars, Jan. 1, 2026. Jury Instructions, False Statements/Perjury, Self-Authentication, Voir Dire, Evidence - Integrity/Reliability of, Eyewitness Identification, Character/Reputation/Propensity.
- Exonerated Former Prisoner Wins Election for Chief Record Keeper in New Orleans, Jan. 1, 2026. Prisoner Legal Assistance, Juries, Public Records, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment.
- California Supreme Court Announces Pre-2009 Provocative Act Murder Convictions Are Not Categorically Ineligible for Resentencing Under § 1172.6, Dec. 15, 2025. Jury Instructions, Retroactivity, Murder/Felony Murder, Accessories and Accomplices.
- Third Circuit: Where Prosecutor “Flooded” Jury Trial With Evidence of Defendant’s Prior Bad Acts, Counsel Was Constitutionally Ineffective in Not Seeking Contemporaneous Limiting Instructions and Not Objecting When Evidence Went Beyond Limited Purpose –, Oct. 15, 2025. Jury Instructions, Strickland Standard, Failure to Preserve Challenge, Motive/Opportunity/Intent/Identity Evidence, Bad Acts Evidence.
- Illinois Supreme Court Announces Conviction for Attempted First Degree Murder Requires ‘Intent to Kill Without Lawful Justification, Aug. 1, 2025. Jury Instructions, Ineffective Assistance of Counsel, Inconsistent.
- South Carolina Supreme Court Announces Traditional Four-Element Standard for When Person Has Right to Use Deadly Force in Self-Defense Not Applicable to Non-Deadly Force Self-Defense Analysis, May 15, 2025. Defenses, Jury Instructions.
- Minnesota Supreme Court Clarifies Standard for Determining Whether a Defendant Is Entitled to Jury Instructions on Self-defense and Defense of Others, May 15, 2025. Defenses, Jury Instructions, Jury Instructions in Jury Room.
- Maryland Supreme Court: Trial Court Abused Its Discretion by Failing to Exercise That Discretion Where It Summarily Refused Requested Jury Instruction Because It Was a Non-Pattern Instruction and ‘Some Evidence’ Supported the Instruction, March 15, 2025. Jury Instructions, Evidence - Failure to Disclose.
- Massachusetts Supreme Court Vacates Threat-Based Conviction on First Amendment Grounds Because Jury Instructions Failed to Include Mens Rea Element Mandated by Counterman for ‘True-Threat’ Conviction, Feb. 15, 2025. Jury Instructions, Resentencing, Threats, Negligence/Reckless Endangerment.
- Ohio Supreme Court Announces Self-Defense Jury Instruction Does Not Require Intent to Harm or Kill Assailant, Oct. 1, 2024. Defenses, Jury Instructions, Motive/Opportunity/Intent/Identity Evidence.
