State Of Louisiana v. Mark E. Spicer, Jr.

Supreme Court of Louisiana
June 26, 2023
Chief Deputy Clerk of Court
For the Court
The Supreme Court of the State of Louisiana
STATE OF LOUISIANA
VS.
MARK E.
SPICER, JR.
No. 2023-KK-00570
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_ _ _ _
I
N RE: Mark E. Spicer, Jr. - Applicant Defendant; Applying For Supervisory Writ,
Parish of St. Tammany, 22nd Judicial District Court Number(s) 3932-F-2019, Court
of Appeal, First Circuit, Number(s) 2023 KW 0002;
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June 26, 2023
Writ application granted. See per curiam.
C
rain, J., recused.
PDG
JLW
JDH
SJC
JTG
JBM
06/26/2023 "See News Release 030 for any Concurrences and/or Dissents."

SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA
No. 2023-KK-00570
STATE OF LOUISIANA
VS.
MARK E. SPICER, JR.
On Supervisory Writ to the 22nd Judicial District Court, Parish of St. Tammany
PER CURIAM
Writ granted. Under the unique circumstances presented in this first degree
murder prosecution, which seeks the death penalty, we reverse the trial court’s denial
of defendant’s motion to recuse Judge Lobello. The decedent was a Mandeville
Police Officer. The judge attended the funeral of the decedent. The judge’s former
law partner represented the defendant’s father in a case in which the defendant, Mark
E. Spicer, Jr., was the alleged victim. An attorney who worked at the judge’s former
law office is the brother of a Mandeville Police Officer who provided first aid to one
of the victims and participated in the collection of some of the evidence in this case.
We find, based on an objective evaluation of the totality of these circumstances, it
can be reasonably and substantially expected the judge would be unable to conduct
the proceedings in a fair and impartial manner. Considering these unique facts, the
interests of justice and Code of Criminal Procedure art. 671(B) require recusal. We
remand for reallotment.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
06/26/23