State Of Louisiana v. John Jacob Jenkins

Supreme Court of Louisiana
March 19, 2024
Chief Deputy Clerk of Court
For the Court
The Supreme Court of the State of Louisiana
STATE OF LOUISIANA
VS.
JOHN JACOB JENKINS
No. 2023-KK-01477
_ _
_ _ _ _
IN
RE: John Jacob Jenkins - Applicant Defendant; Applying For Writ Of Certiorari,
Parish of St. Tammany, 22nd Judicial District Court Number(s) 3085-F-2020, Court
of Appeal, First Circuit, Number(s) 2023 KW 0723;
_ _ _ _ _ _
March 19, 2024
Writ application granted. See per curiam.
Weimer, C.J., dissents.
Crain, J., dissents.
McCallum, J., dissents.
PDG
JDH
SJC
JTG
03/19/2024 "See News Release 012 for any Concurrences and/or Dissents."

SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA
No. 2023-KK-01477
STATE OF LOUISIANA
VS.
JOHN JACOB JENKINS
On Writ of Certiorari to the Court of Appeal, First Circuit, Parish of St. Tammany
PER CURIAM:
Writ granted. We find the videos at issue here to be of such a graphic nature
that the danger of unfair prejudice substantially outweighs their slight probative
value. See La.C.E. arts. 404(B), 403. Furthermore, the videos are not needed to
complete the State’s narrative of its case. See generally State v. Taylor, 01-1638, pp.
12–13 (La. 1/14/03), 838 So.2d 729, 743 (rule of “narrative completeness” permits
the use of evidence “to tell a story of guiltiness [and] to support an inference of guilt,
to convince the jurors a guilty verdict would be mo rally reasonable as much as to
point to the discrete elements of a defendant’s legal fault.” (citing Old Chief v.
United States, 519 U.S. 172, 188, 117 S.Ct. 644, 654, 136 L.Ed.2d 574 (1997)). We
therefore find the trial court abused its discretion in admitting the videos.
Accordingly, we reverse the rulings of the courts below, and we grant defendant’s
motion to suppress the videos in their entirety . The matter is remanded for further
proceedings.
REVERSED AND REMANDED
03/19/24