Jai Joseph v. Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections

STATE OF LOUISIANA

COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT

JAI JOSEPH NO. 2021 CW 0443

VERSUS

LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF
PUBLIC SAFETY AND

CORRECTIONS AUGUST 3, 2021

In Re: Louisiana Department Public Safety and Corrections,
of

applying for supervisory writs, 19th Judicial District
Court, Parish of East Baton Rouge, No. 689531.

BEFORE: WHIPPLE, C. J., GUIDRY, McCLENDON, WELCH, AND WOLFE, JJ.

WRIT GRANTED. The trial court lacked jurisdiction to enter
the judgment signed on March 25, 2021. At that time, an appeal

from the first judgment rendered on January 4, 2021 had been
lodged with this court pursuant to the order granting Jai
Joseph` s motion for devolutive appeal, signed on February 22,
2021. Both the original and amended judgments concern the same

issues and same parties. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure
article 2088 provides that the jurisdiction of the trial court

over all matters in the case reviewable under the appeal is
divested on the granting of the order of appeal in the case of a
devolutive appeal.
Any order or judgment rendered subsequent to
the order granting an appeal is null if that order or judgment
purports to address a matter, which is at the time reviewable

under the appeal. Hernandez v. Excel Contractors, Inc., 2018-
1091 ( La. App. 1st Cir. 3/ 13/ 19), 275 So. 3d 278, 283.
Additionally, the amended judgment purports to change the
substance of the first judgment in contravention of La. Code
Civ. P. art. 1951. When a trial court amends a
substantively
judgment without recourse to the proper procedure, the amended

judgment is an absolute nullity. Mack v. Wiley, 2007- 2344 ( La.

App. 1st Cir. 5/ 2/ 08), 991 So. 2d 479, 485- 86, writ denied, 2008-
1181 ( La. 9/ 19/ 08), 992 So. 2d 932. Here, the trial court had no
jurisdiction to enter the amended judgment, which substantively
altered the substance of the original judgment. Thus, the
amended judgment, signed on March 25, 2021, is an absolute

nullity and is hereby vacated.

JEW
EW

McClendon, J., concurs.

Whipple, C. J. and Guidry, J., dissent and would not

consider the writ. The writ application does not contain the
Petition for Judicial Review, the Motion for Expedited Hearing
referenced in the trial court' s March 25, 2021 judgment, a

minute entry or the transcript from the hearings on the motion,
and a signed order setting a return date. See Uniform Rules of

Louisiana Courts of Appeal, Rule 4- 5( C)( 8), ( 10), and ( 11).

COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT

EPUT C K OF COURT
FOR THE COURT