Summary
The Louisiana Court of Appeal, Third Circuit denied Dwayne Demouchet’s application for rehearing in a writ application arising from Iberia Parish criminal case no. 04-CR-1512. The court stated that its original ruling granted the writ but denied relief on the merits, and advised that the proper remedy was a timely writ application to the Louisiana Supreme Court.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether Demouchet was entitled to rehearing under Uniform Rules—Courts of Appeal, Rule 2-18.7(1), after the court granted the writ application but denied relief on the merits.
- Whether a challenge to the court's original writ ruling should instead be presented through a timely writ application to the Louisiana Supreme Court.
Holdings
- An application for rehearing is considered under Uniform Rules—Courts of Appeal, Rule 2-18.7(1) only in cases where the court has granted a writ application on the merits; because the court granted the writ application but denied relief on the merits, rehearing was denied.
- The proper remedy for challenging the Third Circuit's original writ ruling was a timely application for writs to the Louisiana Supreme Court.
Key quotations
“Accordingly, the proper remedy to challenge this court’s ruling on the writ is a timely application for writs to the Louisiana Supreme Court.”
Factual background
The opinion concerns Demouchet's application for rehearing following an earlier writ ruling by the Third Circuit. In that earlier ruling, the court granted the writ application but denied relief on the merits.
Procedural history
The matter arose from Iberia Parish criminal case number 04-CR-1512. The Third Circuit previously granted Demouchet's writ application but denied relief on the merits, and it denied his subsequent application for rehearing. The court stated that any challenge to the writ ruling must be made through a timely writ application to the Louisiana Supreme Court.