State ex rel. Cronvich v. Wilkes

SANDERS, Justice. By Bill of Information filed in the First Parish Court of Jefferson Parish, the State charged Helen J. Minor with a violation of LSA-R.S. 32:123: failing to stop at a stop sign. Then, the State instituted action in the district court for a writ prohibiting J. A. Wilkes, Justice of the Peace, from holding a preliminary hearing in the pending traffic case. *57 The district court granted the writ of prohibition. The Justice of the Peace ap^ pealed to the Court of Appeal. That court concluded it had no jurisdiction of the appeal and transferred the case to this Court. See 187 So.2d 519 . The basic prosecution here is for a traffic offense, carrying a maximum penalty of a $100 fine and thirty days imprisonment. See LSA-R.S. 32:57. No sentence has been imposed, and the appeal is from a judgment of the district court regulating procedure. Section 10 of Article 7 of the Louisiana Constitution provides: “The following cases only shall be appealable to the Supreme Court: * * * “(5) Criminal cases in which the penalty of death or imprisonment at hard labor may be imposed, or in which a fine exceeding three hundred dollars or imprisonment exceeding six months has been actually imposed.” Since this is a misdemeanor case in which the trial court has imposed no penalty and the appeal involves only a question of procedure, this Court is without appellate jurisdiction. See State v. Green, 247 La. 824 , 174 So.2d 644 ; State v. Scallan, 231 La. 471 , 91 So.2d 761 ; and State v. Newman, 216 La. 236 , 43 So.2d 593 . For the reasons assigned, the appeal is dismissed.