The opinion
STATE OF LOUISIANA
COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT
STATE OF LOUISIANA NO. 2021 KW 0347
VERSUS
ARLEN J. BROWN APRIL 26, 2021
In Re: Arlen J. Brown, applying for supervisory writs, 23rd
Judicial District Court, Parish of Ascension, No.
10949.
BEFORE: GUIDRY, McCLENDON, AND LANIER, JJ.
WRIT DENIED. In Ramos v. Louisiana, _ U. S. , _, 140
S. Ct. 1390, 1397, 206 L. Ed. 2d 583 ( 2020), the United States
Supreme Court held, " the Sixth Amendment' s unanimity requirement
applies to state and federal criminal trials equally." However,
the Court declined to address whether its holding applied
retroactively to cases on collateral review. The Court
specifically observed that the question of "[ w] hether the right
to jury unanimity applies to cases on collateral review is a
question for a future case where the parties will have a chance
to brief the issue and we will benefit from their adversarial
presentation." See Ramos, _ U. S. at , 140 S. Ct. at 1407.
The question of whether Ramos must apply retroactively to cases
on federal collateral review is currently pending before the
Court. Edwards v. Vannoy, _ U. S. F 140 S. Ct. 2737, 206
L. Ed. 2d 917 ( 2020). Moreover, the Louisiana Supreme Court has
declined to definitively rule on whether Ramos should apply on
collateral review in state court proceedings pending a decision
in Edwards. See State v. Gipson, 2019- 01815 ( La. 6/ 3/ 20), 296
So. 3d 1051, 1052 ( Johnson, C. J., dissenting to point out that
she disagreed with the majority' s decision to defer ruling until
the United States Supreme Court mandates action). Therefore, we
are constrained to deny relief at this time. However, our
decision does not preclude relator from reurging the issue in
the district court if warranted by the decision of the higher
court( s).
JMG
PMC
WIL
COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT
DEPUTY C ERK OF COURT
FOR THE COURT