State Of Louisiana v. Derrick Groves And Kendall Barnes

Chief Deputy Clerk of Court
For the Court
The Supreme Court of the State of Louisiana
STATE OF LOUISIANA
VS.
DERRICK GROVES AND KENDALL BARNES
No. 2023-KD-00046
_ _ _ _ _ _
I
N RE: State of Louisiana - Appl icant Plaintiff; Applying For Supervisory Writ,
Parish of Orleans Criminal, Criminal District Court Number(s) 544- 352, Court of
Appea
l, Fourth Circuit, Number(s) 2023-K-0024;
_ _
_ _ _ _
January 13, 2023
Wr
it application granted. See per curiam.
WJ
C
J
LW
JDH
SJC
JTG
JBM
Griffin, J., would deny.
Supreme Court of Louisiana
January 13, 2023
01/13/2023 "See News Release 002 for any Concurrences and/or Dissents."

SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA
No. 2023-KD-00046
STATE OF LOUISIANA
VS.
DERRICK GROVES AND KENDALL BARNES
On Supervisory Writ to the Criminal District Court, Parish of Orleans
PER CURIAM
A mistrial is a drastic remedy warranted only when an error at trial results in
substantial prejudice to the defendant which effectively deprives him of a fair trial.
State v. Edwards , 420 So.2d 663 (La. 1982). In the present case, the FBI agent’s
non-specific references to surveillance and an investigation were not so prejudicial
as to effectively deny defendants a fair trial. See generally State v. Hayes, 414 So.2d
717 (La. 1982) (“Neither of the challenged comments is an unambiguous reference
to crimes alleged to have been so committed.”); see also State v. Walker, 593 So.2d
818, 819 –820 (La. App. 4 Cir. 1992). The trial court’s ruling, which declared a
mistrial is reversed, and the case remanded for further proceedings.
REVERSED AND REMANDED
01/13/23