Phillip Allen Wilson v. Liz Murrill, in her capacity as The Attorney General of The State of Louisiana,et al

STATE OF LOUISIANA
COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT

PHILLIP ALLEN WILSON NO. 2025 CW 0929
PAGE 1 OF 2
VERSUS

LI4 MURRILL, IN HER OFFICIAL
CAPACITY AS THE ATTORNEY
GENERAL OF THE STATE OF
LOUISIANA, HILLAR C. MOORE,
Tit, IN HIS OFFICIAL
CAPACITY AS DISTRICT
ATTORNEY FOR EAST BATON

MARCH 19, 2026
ROUGE PARISH

In Re: Liz Murrill, in her official capacity as the Attorney
General of the State of Louisiana, and Hillar C.
Moore, III, in his official capacity as District
Attorney for East Baton Rouge Parish, applying for
supervisory writs, 19th Judicial District Court,
Parish of East Baton Rouge, No. 759216.

BEFORE : MILLER, EDWARDS, AND FIELDS, JJ.

WRIT GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART. The writ is denied
as to the portion of the trial court's August 25, 2025 judgment
which denied, in part, Defendants’, Liz Murrill, in her official
capacity as the Attorney General of the State of Louisiana, and
Hillar C. Moore, III, in his official capacity as the District
Attorney for East Baton Rouge Parish, Exception of Lack of
Subject Matter Jurisdiction. Subject matter jurisdiction is the
legal power and authority of a court to hear and determine a
particular class of actions or proceedings, based upon the
object of the demand, the amount in dispute, or the value of the
right asserted. La. Code Civ. P. art. 2. Subject matter
jurisdiction is created by the constitution or by legislative
enactment; the parties cannot confer or waive it. Christian
Schools, Inc. v. Louisiana High School Athletic Association,
2020-0762 (La. App. ist Cir. 5/18/22), 342 So.3d 1068, 1072,
writ denied, 2022-01015 (La. 10/12/22), 348 So.3d 78, citing La.
Code Civ. P. art. 3. With few exceptions, Louisiana district
courts have original jurisdiction over all civil and criminal
matters. Piazza's Seafood World, LLC v. Odom, 2007-2191, (la.
App. ist Cir. 12/23/08), 6 So.3d 820, 825, citing La. Const.
art. V, § 16(A). It is the district court that has original
jurisdiction to rule on the constitutionality of statutes.
Piazza's Seafood World, LLC v. Odom, 6 So.3d at 825, citing ANR
Pipeline Co. v. La. Tax Com'n, 2002-1479 (La. 7/2/03), 851 So.2d
1145, 1151. We find that the trial court properly denied the
exception of lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

The writ is granted as to the portion of the trial court’s
judgment which denied Defendants’ Exception of No Cause of
Action, and this portion of the trial court’s August 25, 2025
judgment is reversed. The Louisiana Supreme Court has held that

STATE OF LOUISIANA
COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT

NO. 2025 CW 0929
PAGE 2 OF 2

the party challenging constitutionality has a three-part burden:
the constitutional challenge must first be made in the trial
court; the unconstitutionality must be specially pleaded; and
the grounds outlining the basis of unconstitutionality must be
particularized. Labranche v. Landry, 2022-0461 (La. App. lst
Cir. 12/15/22), 357 So.3d 395, 405, citing Istre v. Meche, 2000-
1316 (La. 10/17/00), 770 So.2d 776, 779; see Vallo v. Gayle Oil
Co., 94-1238 (La. 11/30/94), 646 So.2d 859, 864-65. The
allegations made by Plaintiff, Phillip Allen Wilson, in his
petition alleging the unconstitutionality of La. R.S. 14:42,
that La. R.S. 14:42 is vague, the mandatory life sentence
imposed by La. R.S. 14:42 violates the separation of powers, and
La. R.S. 14:42 constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, have
been rejected by various courts in Louisiana. See State v.
Prestridge, 399 So.2d 564, 571 (La. 1981), (rejecting the
argument that La. R.S. 14:42 is unconstitutionally vague); State
v. Berry, 95-1610 (La. App. lst Cir. 11/8/96), 684 So.2d 439,
459-60, writ denied, 97-0278 (La. 10/10/97), 703 So.2d 603,
citing Prestridge, 399 So.2d at 582 (holding that the Supreme
Court has consistently held it is within the legislature’s
prerogative to determine the length of sentences for felony
crimes.); and State v. Ford, 2017-0471 (La. App. list Cir.
9/27/17), 232 So.3d 576, 588, writ denied, 2017-1901 (La.
4/22/19), 268 So.3d 295 (holding mandatory life sentence under
ha. R.S. 14:42 was not unconstitutionally excessive). We find
Plaintiff’s petition contains no allegations against the
Defendants and fails to state a cause of action of
unconstitutionality as to the statute at issue. Therefore,
Defendants’ Exception of No Cause of Action is granted and
Plaintiff's claims against Liz Murrill, in her official capacity
as the Attorney General of the State of Louisiana, and Hillar C.
Moore, III, in his official capacity as the District Attorney
for East Baton Rouge Parish, are dismissed.

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COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT

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