Jacobie Green Versus Jefferson Parish Clerk of Court Office and the District Attorney Paul Connick

JACOBIE GREEN NO. 23-CA-582

VERSUS FIFTH CIRCUIT

JEFFERSON PARISH CLERK OF COURT COURT OF APPEAL
OFFICE AND THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY
PAUL CONNICK, ET AL. STATE OF LOUISIANA

ON APPEAL FROM THE TWENTY-FOURTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT
PARISH OF JEFFERSON, STATE OF LOUISIANA
NO. 843-270, DIVISION "J"
HONORABLE STEPHEN C. GREFER, JUDGE PRESIDING

September 25, 2024

SUSAN M. CHEHARDY
CHIEF JUDGE

Panel composed of Judges Susan M. Chehardy,
Marc E. Johnson, and Scott U. Schlegel

APPEAL DISMISSED
SMC
MEJ
SUS

PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT,
JACOBIE GREEN
In Proper Person

COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLEE,
DISTRICT ATTORNEY PAUL D. CONNICK, JR.
Honorable Paul D. Connick, Jr.
Thomas J. Butler
Darren A. Allemand

COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLEE,
JEFFERSON PARISH CLERK OF COURT
Carey B. Daste

CHEHARDY, C.J.

Appellant, Jacobie Green, appeals the trial court’s October 11, 2023

judgment granting the exceptions of no cause of action and no right of action in

favor of appellee, the District Attorney for the Parish of Jefferson, and dismissing

Mr. Green’s petition for writ of mandamus against the District Attorney with

prejudice. For the following reasons, we dismiss this appeal.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

This matter arises out of a public records request submitted by Mr. Green,

first to the Jefferson Parish Clerk of Court, and subsequently to the Jefferson

Parish District Attorney. In September 2015, a Jefferson Parish grand jury indicted

Mr. Green on two counts of second degree murder and one count of attempted

second degree murder in case number 15-3758.1 A superseding bill of indictment

was filed in October 2015, which adopted the original indictment with respect to

Mr. Green. Following a jury trial in August 2018, Mr. Green was unanimously

found guilty as charged. The court sentenced Mr. Green to life imprisonment for

the two counts of second degree murder and to fifty years imprisonment for the

one count of attempted second degree murder, all without benefit of parole,

probation, or suspension of sentence, to run consecutively. This Court affirmed

Mr. Green’s convictions and sentences. State v. Green, 19-123 (La. App. 5 Cir.

12/26/19), 286 So.3d 1230, writ denied, 21-51 (La. 3/9/21), 312 So.3d 583.

By letter dated June 2, 2023, Mr. Green filed a public records request with

the Jefferson Parish Clerk of Court. The letter contained the following reference:

RE: Vote Count on Grand Jury Indictment

COPY OF THE MINUTES OR DOCUMENTS
REFLECTING A TRUE BILL OF INDICTMENT WAS
FOUND BY NO LESS THAN NINE MEMBERS OF THE
GRAND JURY [Record of Vote Count on indictment by
grand jury]

1
Mr. Green was indicted along with separately tried co-defendants.

23-CA-582 1

In the letter, Mr. Green requested to “inspect and copy: Two (2) counts of

Second Degree Murder and (1) count of Attempted Second Degree Murder … in

Criminal Docket No. 153857-SECTION ‘J.’” The letter further requested that the

Clerk of Court send to Mr. Green “the full costs, including the postage[,]” once the

requested “minutes or documents” were located. Mr. Green indicated that he

would then “promptly submit full payment” to the Clerk of Court’s office.

On June 13, 2023, the Clerk’s Office responded to Mr. Green’s request for

information and/or documents, advising him that he should “contact the DAs office

for [the] requested documents” as the Clerk’s Office does not maintain copies of

the records Mr. Green requested. Accordingly, on June 23, 2023, Mr. Green

submitted a similar request to the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s office,

requesting to inspect and copy, among other things, the “vote count of the grand

jury in this case under the Public Records Act,” but received no response.

Subsequently, Mr. Green filed a petition for writ of mandamus on July 19,

2023, directed to the Clerk of Court and the District Attorney, seeking to compel

documentation of his “true bill of indictment, the grand jury count on the second

degree murder charges, and the return in open court.” In response to Mr. Green’s

petition, on September 25, 2023, the District Attorney filed peremptory exceptions

of no cause of action and no right of action asserting that as a practice, while the

District Attorney does verify with the grand jurors that a quorum of a least nine

jurors voted to return a true bill of indictment, his office does not obtain a

transcript of that exchange. The District Attorney further averred that, to his

knowledge, no such transcript of that portion of Mr. Green’s grand jury proceeding

had ever been generated. Nonetheless, the District Attorney argued that he is not

the proper party to request that such a document be generated, and that Mr. Green

23-CA-582 2

had not shown a particularized need for the document that outweighed the interest

of grand jury secrecy.

The District Attorney’s exceptions came for hearing on September 28,

2023.2 At the close of the hearing, the trial court granted the exceptions of no

cause and no right of action, and dismissed Mr. Green’s petition for writ of

mandamus with prejudice. The trial court issued a written judgment on October

11, 2023, reflecting this ruling. This appeal followed.

In Mr. Green’s brief on appeal, he sets forth three assignments of error as to

why the trial court’s October 11, 2023 judgment dismissing his petition for writ of

mandamus should be reversed: (1) the Clerk of Court failed to produce a public

record of the grand jury vote count of the charged indictment; (2) the Clerk of

Court failed to record the grand jury vote count on any of the charged indictments;

and (3) the Clerk of Court deprived him of his right to a public record, violating his

right to due process and equal protection of law.

Although the Clerk of Court has filed an appellee brief purportedly

responding to the assignments of error raised by Mr. Green, the record on appeal

confirms that the Clerk of Court did not file an answer to Mr. Green’s petition for

writ of mandamus, did not file (nor join in the District Attorney’s) exceptions of no

cause and no right of action, and did not otherwise make an appearance in the trial

court in this matter. More significantly, the Clerk of Court was not a party to the

proceedings resulting in the October 11, 2023 judgment from which Mr. Green

now appeals. In fact, the judgment is completely silent as to the Clerk of Court

and, thus, does not alter the status of the Clerk of Court as a litigant in this case.

Put simply, the judgment appealed from does not dismiss Mr. Green’s petition for

2
The Clerk of Court did not join in the District Attorney’s exceptions or make an appearance at the
hearing.

23-CA-582 3

writ of mandamus as it relates to the Clerk of Court, and only dismisses the

petition with prejudice as to Mr. Green’s claims against the District Attorney.

Mr. Green’s appellant brief, however, does not allege the trial court erred in

granting the District Attorney’s exceptions. In fact, Mr. Green sets forth no

assignment of error regarding the October 11, 2023 judgment as it relates to the

District Attorney, the only defendant that was a party to the proceeding, and the

only party in whose favor the judgment at issue was actually rendered.

Consequently, there is no valid assignment of error in the October 11, 2023

judgment for this Court to review. For these reasons, Mr. Green’s appeal must be

dismissed.

APPEAL DISMISSED

23-CA-582 4

SUSAN M. CHEHARDY CURTIS B. PURSELL

CHIEF JUDGE CLERK OF COURT

SUSAN S. BUCHHOLZ
FREDERICKA H. WICKER
CHIEF DEPUTY CLERK
JUDE G. GRAVOIS
MARC E. JOHNSON
STEPHEN J. WINDHORST LINDA M. WISEMAN
JOHN J. MOLAISON, JR.
FIRST DEPUTY CLERK
SCOTT U. SCHLEGEL
TIMOTHY S. MARCEL FIFTH CIRCUIT
MELISSA C. LEDET
JUDGES 101 DERBIGNY STREET (70053)
DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL STAFF
POST OFFICE BOX 489
GRETNA, LOUISIANA 70054 (504) 376-1400

(504) 376-1498 FAX
www.fifthcircuit.org

NOTICE OF JUDGMENT AND CERTIFICATE OF DELIVERY
I CERTIFY THAT A COPY OF THE OPINION IN THE BELOW-NUMBERED MATTER HAS BEEN DELIVERED
IN ACCORDANCE WITH UNIFORM RULES - COURT OF APPEAL, RULE 2-16.4 AND 2-16.5 THIS DAY
SEPTEMBER 25, 2024 TO THE TRIAL JUDGE, CLERK OF COURT, COUNSEL OF RECORD AND ALL
PARTIES NOT REPRESENTED BY COUNSEL, AS LISTED BELOW:

23-CA-582
E-NOTIFIED
24TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT (CLERK)
HONORABLE STEPHEN C. GREFER (DISTRICT JUDGE)
DARREN A. ALLEMAND (APPELLEE) THOMAS J. BUTLER (APPELLEE) CAREY B. DASTE (APPELLEE)

MAILED
JACOBIE GREEN #736648 (APPELLANT) HONORABLE PAUL D. CONNICK, JR.
LOUISIANA STATE PENITENTIARY (APPELLEE)
ANGOLA, LA 70712 DISTRICT ATTORNEY
SUNNY D. FUNK (APPELLEE)
ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY
TWENTY-FOURTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT
200 DERBIGNY STREET
GRETNA, LA 70053