State Of Louisiana v. Viusqui Perez-espinosa

Chief Deputy Clerk of Court
For the Court
The Supreme Court of the State of Louisiana
STATE OF LOUISIANA
VS.
VIUSQUI PEREZ-ESPINOSA
No. 2023-KK-00111
_ _ _ _ _ _
IN R
E: S
tate of Louisiana - Applicant Plaintiff; Applying For Writ Of Certiorari,
Par
ish of Jefferson, 24th Judicial District Court Number(s) 17-415, Court of Appeal,
Fifth Circuit, Number(s) 23-K-40;
_ _ _ _ _ _
January 28,
2023
Writ a
pplication granted. See per curiam.
JLW
J
DH
SJC
JTG
WJC
JBM
PDG
Supreme Court of Louisiana
January 28, 2023
01/28/2023 "See News Release 006 for any Concurrences and/or Dissents."

S
UPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA
No
. 2023-KK-00111
STA
TE OF LOUISIANA
VS.
VIUSQUI PEREZ-ESPINOSA
O
n Writ of Certiorari to the Court of Appeal, Fifth Circuit, Parish of Jefferson
PE
R CURIAM
Generally, a lay witness can only testify to the facts within his knowledge and
not to impressions or opinions; however, a witness is permitted to draw reasonable
inferences from his personal observations. State v. Alexander, 430 So.2d 621 (La.
1983). Here, whether the discoloration shown in a photograph of a severed arm
found in the water after a substantial period of time is pre-mortem bruising would
not be a reasonable inference from the personal observations of this lay witness.
Furthermore, whether the discoloration merely “looks like” a bruise is unlikely to be
helpful to the determination of a fact in issue , see La.C.E. art. 701(2), as the trial
judge and the dissenting judge in the court below found. The trial court is vested
with broad discretion in administering Article 701 , and we discern no abuse of
discretion here. Accordingly, the court of appeal’s ruling is reversed and the trial
court’s rulings, which sustained the State’s objection to the lay opinion testimony
and then declined to revisit that evidentiary determination later, are reinstated. The
request for a stay is denied as moot.
REVERSED AND REMANDED
01/28/23