Supporting Public Defense in the State of Louisiana
The Office of the State Public Defender now provides a writ service for the 42-district offices of the public defender.
This service, now in its second year of development, is the brainchild of State Public Defender Rémy Voisin Starns and Mark D. Plaisance, former District Defender of the 17th District Office of the Public Defender (Lafourche Parish) and an experienced appellate attorney. Additional attorneys will be hired with the goal of having at least one “writ writer” in each geographic area.
The writ service has already filed dozens of supervisory writs to the various appellate courts and writs of certiorari to the Louisiana Supreme Court. The service has been successful in several cases, and in many instances, merely filing the writ has resulted in favorable plea offers and dismissal of some charges.
Not every request results in a filed writ. Nonetheless, any line defender who has a potential issue for writ should call Mark at (225) 775-5297 to discuss the case. In each instance, trial counsel, district defender, and Plaisance discuss in detail the matter to determine the best path forward, i.e., a writ or preservation of the issue for appeal.
Any issue (suppression, limine, quash) is considered. The writ service has thus far handled writs on motions to suppress, motion to quash on grounds of prescription, motion to dismiss adjudication (juvenile) on grounds of prescription, motions in limine to exclude Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedures Article 404(b) evidence, exclude other acts, and exclude experts. No adverse ruling is so insignificant that it is not considered. In the same vein, if the Public Defender is successful at the trial court, the Louisiana Writ Service will file a response at the appellate level. As a matter of practice, a response should always be filed when the State files a supervisory writ.
The Louisiana Writ Service also provides pre-motion consultation. While the Louisiana Writ Service will not draft the motion, it will provide an opinion on the contents in order to assist the trial attorney in making the best presentation to protect the record for appeal. The same consultation is available regarding the actual hearing, exhibits, etc.