Louisiana Carjacking Conviction: How to Appeal a Louisiana Criminal Conviction

If a person has been convicted of a crime here in Louisiana, the person has a right to appeal the conviction. This must be done within thirty (30) days immediately after the sentencing by the Louisiana criminal trial court. Appeals from a Louisiana criminal trial court go "up" to the Louisiana appellate courts. There are five such appellate courts covering various geographical districts.

Note that an appeal is not an opportunity to offer new or alternative evidence. An appellate court only reviews what happened at the trial level and basically only "reads" what happened based on the record created by the trial court. A convicted person can "win" their appeal by proving that legal mistakes were made at the trial level. Generally, "winning an appeal" gives the criminal defendant the right to a new trial.

Typically, an appeal is only allowed after a full criminal court trial. That is, mostly, if the accused accepts a plea bargain and then pleads guilty as part of the deal, the plea bargain will generally include a waiver of the right to appeal. But there are some exceptions. Louisiana post-conviction appeals are legally complex and complicated. If you have been convicted and want to explore a possible appeal, contact a committed and experienced Shreveport criminal appellate attorney at the Law Offices of Philip B. Adams.

To get a better understanding of how the appeal process works, let's look at an example from a recent case called State v. Scott, 360 So. 3d 92 (La: Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit 2023). In that case, the accused -- Osiris L. Scott -- was accused, accepted a plea bargain, and was sentenced for armed robbery and felon-in-possession of a gun. The specifics involved a carjacking with a gun, which, after the car was taken, also involved the use of credit cards contained in the victim's purse, which was in the car at the time of the carjacking.

Scott's lawyer offered two primary criminal defenses at the trial level: improper identification from the victim and improper obtaining of incriminating statements from the defendant during the police interrogation. 

Let's examine the first criminal defense and how it led to the appeal. With respect to identifications, in Louisiana, to be convicted of a crime, the accused must be identified as the person who committed the alleged crime. This must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Victims often provide identification. But most victim identifications of an alleged perpetrator involve some sort of options. A typical "police line-up" is an example, where usually five or more suspects of similar size and shape are presented to the victim. If the victim identifies the defendant, then that lineup may be deemed a proper identification that can be used at trial. Without options and alternatives, a victim or witness identification can be deemed "suggestive," and that can lead to the exclusion of the out-of-court identification from being used at trial.

In the Scott case, however, the victim was shown only still photographs that depicted the alleged defendant. The two still photos were taken from video surveillance footage from a store where the accused used one of the victim's credit cards to make a purchase. The still photos were shown to the victim on the same day as the carjacking. When shown the photos, the victim positively identified the individual as Scott. Further, when she was asked what she specifically recognized, she responded and wrote on one of the photographs, "The sweatshirt is what the guy was wearing. His eyes are what I remember in these pictures." The victim signed and dated the photographs and further wrote that she was "100 % confident."

At the criminal trial, Scott's attorney asked the criminal trial court just to exclude any evidence related to this identification by the victim. Scott's lawyer argued that the procedure caused an improper, unlawful, and suggestive identification. After reviewing the written request from Scott's lawyer and the written responses from the prosecuting attorneys, the trial court denied the request.

The judge's denial of the request was one of the reasons that Scott's lawyer filed an appeal. Ultimately, the appellate court agreed with the trial judge. Even if there was a suggestive element to the victim's identification of Scott, the totality of the circumstances showed no misidentification. Various facts led to that conclusion, including the fact that the photos were shown to the victim on the same day as the carjacking, she identified specific things (like the color and markings on Scott's clothes), she stated her confidence to be 100%, etc.

From just this one example, we can see the importance of having experienced Louisiana attorneys help with your criminal defense. Essentially, every decision and action taken by the criminal court judge can be the basis for an appeal. In Scott's case, it was the court's denial of the request to exclude the victim's identification that became an issue on appeal. In other cases, it might be the criminal defense attorney's verbal objection to evidence, to questions asked at trial, to the use of documents, etc.

Contact A Caddo Parish Louisiana Criminal Appeals Attorney Today

For more information, contact the Law Offices of Philip B. Adams today. We are relentless, meticulous, and aggressive Louisiana criminal appeal lawyers. Complete our "Contact Us" page here. You may significantly benefit by having an attorney with legal competence and experience assist you with your Louisiana criminal case. We have offices in Shreveport and handle criminal defense cases and appeals throughout all of Louisiana.