01-17-1968 APPEAL FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA PLAQUEMINES PARISH
Submitted by Gladys Stovall-Armstrong
 


**********************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm
**********************************************
  


APPEAL FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA.

No. 410.

Argued January 17, 1968.

Decided May 20, 1968.

Under Louisiana law simple battery is a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum
of two years' imprisonment and a $300 fine. Appellant was convicted of simple
battery and sentenced to 60 days in prison and a fine of $150. He had
requested a jury trial which was denied because the Louisiana Constitution
grants jury trials only in cases where capital punishment or imprisonment at
hard labor may be imposed. The Louisiana Supreme Court denied certiorari.
Held:

1. Since trial by jury in criminal cases is fundamental to the American
scheme of justice, the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees a right of jury trial
in all criminal cases which, were they tried in a federal court, would come
within the Sixth Amendment's guarantee of trial by jury. Pp. 147-158.