State of Louisiana v. Joseph M. Melbert

STATE OF LOUISIANA
COURT OF APPEAL, THIRD CIRCUIT

24-675

STATE OF LOUISIANA

VERSUS

JOSEPH M. MELBERT

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APPEAL FROM THE
THIRTY-THIRD JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT
PARISH OF ALLEN, NO. CR-2023-2898
HONORABLE JUDI F. ABRUSLEY, DISTRICT JUDGE

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SHARON DARVILLE WILSON
JUDGE

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Court composed of Jonathan W. Perry, Sharon Darville Wilson, and Charles G.
Fitzgerald, Judges.

APPEAL DISMISSED; REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.

Joseph Green
District Attorney, Thirty-Third Judicial District
P. O. Box 839
Oberlin, Louisiana 70655
COUNSEL FOR APPELLEE:
State of Louisiana

Gregory Cook
Cook & Associates, LLC
1746 Wooddale Boulevard
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70806
(225) 924-1117
COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLANT:
Joseph M. Melbert

WILSON, Judge.

On August 6, 2024, Defendant Joseph M. Melbert entered a no contest plea to

possession with intent to distribute cocaine, a violation of La.R.S. 40:967, and to the

habitual offender bill, which charged him as a second offender pursuant to La.R.S.

15:529.1. Defendant attempted to withdraw his plea on October 2, 2024; however,

that request was denied. Defendant was then sentenced to serve twenty years at hard

labor. Defendant filed a Motion for Appeal on October 17, 2024, which was

subsequently granted. A Motion to Reconsider Sentence was filed on October 24,

2024 and was denied the following day.

Defendant’s appeal was lodged with this court on December 13, 2024.

Counsel for Defendant filed a brief on January 6, 2025, alleging the following errors:

1) the trial court erred when it refused to allow Defendant to speak on his own behalf

and raise objections; 2) ineffective assistance of counsel; and 3) the trial court abused

its discretion when it imposed a sentence of twenty years. Thereafter, this court was

notified of Defendant’s death. Counsel for Defendant subsequently provided this

court with a pathology report reflecting Defendant’s death on January 15, 2025.

In State v. Gleason, 21-1788, p. 8 (La. 11/10/22), 349 So.3d 977, 982–83, the

supreme court held: “[W]hen a defendant dies during the pendency of an appeal,

the appeal shall be dismissed and the trial court shall enter a notation in the record

that the conviction removed the defendant’s presumption of innocence but was

neither affirmed nor reversed on appeal due to the defendant’s death.”

Defendant’s appeal is therefore dismissed, and the matter is remanded to the

trial court to enter a notation in the record that while the conviction removed

Defendant Joseph M. Melbert’s presumption of innocence, it was neither affirmed

nor reversed on appeal due to his death.

APPEAL DISMISSED; REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.