Prohibition on Joinder of Capital and Non-Capital Felony Charges Under Louisiana Law

Introduction

In State of Louisiana v. Davieontray Lee Breaux, the Louisiana Supreme Court addressed whether prosecutors may join capital felony charges (first-degree murder with a death-penalty notice) alongside other felony charges (attempted first-degree murder) in a single indictment. The defendant, Breaux, was indicted on two counts of first-degree murder (capital offenses) and three counts of attempted first-degree murder (non-capital felonies). Breaux moved to quash the indictment for misjoinder, arguing that Louisiana’s Constitution and procedural code prohibit joining capital and non-capital felonies. The trial court denied relief, and the court of appeal refused supervisory writs. The Supreme Court granted writs to resolve this important joinder question.

Summary of the Judgment

Justice Griffin, writing for the majority, reversed the lower courts. Relying on the plain text of Article I, §17 of the Louisiana Constitution and nearly a century of consistent jurisprudence, the Court held that capital felony charges cannot be joined with non-capital felonies. The indictment is quashed and the case is remanded for separate proceedings on the capital counts and the non-capital counts. Justices Hughes, Crain, and Cole concurred (Crain and Cole adding their own reasoning), while Justice McCallum dissented.

Analysis

Precedents Cited

La. Const. art. I, §17 – Establishes four categories of felony trials (capital, absolute, relative, bench) and regulates permissible joinders.
La. C.Cr.P. art. 493 – Allows joinder of offenses “triable by the same mode of trial.”
La. C.Cr.P. art. 493.2 – Permits joinder of absolute and relative felonies when tried by a twelve-member jury with ten-juror concurrence (now partially superseded by constitutional amendments and Ramos).
Ramos v. Louisiana, 590 U.S. 83 (2020) – U.S. Supreme Court ruling requiring unanimous jury verdicts in state criminal cases, aligning with Louisiana’s post-2019 Constitution.
State v. McZeal, 352 So. 2d 592 (La. 1977) – Earlier Louisiana Supreme Court decision prohibiting joinder of capital and non-capital offenses based on differing jury-verdict requirements at that time.
State v. Strickland, 683 So. 2d 218 (La. 1996) – Reaffirmed McZeal’s joinder prohibition and applied harmless-error review.
Other longstanding rulings from State v. Jacques (1931) to modern appellate decisions.

Legal Reasoning

The majority’s reasoning flowed from three pillars:

Constitutional Text: Article I, §17(A) of the Louisiana Constitution divides felonies into four classes—capital, absolute (necessarily hard labor), relative (may or may not be hard labor), and bench trials—and prescribes the jury size and unanimity requirement for each. Capital cases must be tried by a jury of twelve with unanimous verdicts. No constitutional provision permits capital cases to be joined with other categories.
Statutory Joinder Rules: La. C.Cr.P. art. 493 allows joinder only when offenses are “triable by the same mode of trial.” Although the State argued “mode” refers narrowly to jury size and unanimity, the Constitution’s separate treatment of capital felonies places them in a distinct category not eligible for joinder with other felonies under art. 493.
Historical and Jurisprudential Consistency: Nearly a century of Louisiana decisions interpreting the predecessor constitutional provisions have uniformly prohibited mixing capital and non-capital charges. Attempts to amend or clarify joinder rules—at the 1973 constitutional convention, in 1998’s introduction of art. 17(B), and in the 2018 unanimity amendment—never authorized capital/non-capital joinder.

Impact

This decision reaffirms strict separation between capital and non-capital felony charges in Louisiana.

Prosecutors must now indict capital counts separately from other felony counts, even if they arise from the same facts.
Defense attorneys can reliably challenge any mixed capital/non-capital indictment via a motion to quash.
The ruling may increase the number of capital-only indictments and corresponding pre-trial proceedings.
Other jurisdictions will note Louisiana’s unique constitutional framework, which remains more restrictive than U.S. Supreme Court precedents requiring unanimity but not forbidding joinder.

Complex Concepts Simplified

Joinder vs. Misjoinder: Joinder is charging multiple offenses together in one indictment. Misjoinder occurs when the law prohibits that combination.
Capital Felony: A crime punishable by death (e.g., first-degree murder when the State seeks the death penalty).
Absolute Felony: A non-capital crime requiring hard-labor imprisonment (e.g., certain offenses committed before 2019).
Relative Felony: A non-capital crime punishable either with or without hard labor.
Mode of Trial: The constitutional category defining jury composition and unanimity requirements.
Ramos Rule: Requires unanimity for all felony convictions in Louisiana for crimes committed on or after January 1, 2019.

Conclusion

State v. Breaux reinstates a clear, text-based rule: Louisiana’s Constitution and procedural statutes do not allow capital felony charges to be joined with non-capital felonies. By quashing the mixed indictment, the Supreme Court preserves the integrity of each constitutional trial category and affirms nearly a century of Louisiana jurisprudence. Going forward, prosecutors and defense counsel must structure indictments in strict compliance with Article I, §17 and La. C.Cr.P. art. 493 to avoid misjoinder challenges.