Ledet v. Fifteenth Judicial District Court

569 So. 2d 1067, 1990 La. App. LEXIS 2508, 1990 WL 174172
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 7, 1990
DocketNo. 89-563
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 569 So. 2d 1067 (Ledet v. Fifteenth Judicial District Court) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ledet v. Fifteenth Judicial District Court, 569 So. 2d 1067, 1990 La. App. LEXIS 2508, 1990 WL 174172 (La. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

KING, Judge.

The sole issue presented by this appeal is whether the trial judge was correct in dismissing plaintiffs suit for failure to state a cause of action.

Felton J. Ledet (hereinafter plaintiff) is a criminal convicted of murder and serving a life sentence at Angola Penitentiary. Plaintiff has filed numerous law suits in state and federal courts seeking redress for alleged wrongs arising from his prosecution as a violator of the criminal laws of this State. This is yet another such action. Apparently, when plaintiff does not obtain the relief which he seeks, his response is to then sue the ruling judge(s) and other court personnel involved in the latest adverse court ruling against him. The trial judge dismissed sua sponte this, his latest suit, for failure to state a cause of action. Plaintiff appeals. We affirm.

FACTS

On October 14, 1983, plaintiff was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to a mandatory term of life imprisonment at hard labor. This conviction was appealed. Plaintiff, acting as his own attorney, filed a supervisory writ application with this Court on or about March 9, 1984 in connection with his conviction. This Court denied the writ because plaintiff’s appeal of his conviction was then pending before us and because his application was premature. See, State v. Ledet, an unreported decision bearing Number K83-1039 on the Docket of this Court rendered March 13, 1984. Plaintiff then applied to this Court for post-conviction relief. Again, because plaintiff’s appeal of his conviction and sentence was pending before this Court, the application was denied. See, State v. Ledet, an unreported decision bearing Number K84-692 on the Docket of this Court rendered July 25, 1984.

Plaintiff next sued Judge Douglas Nehrbass of the Fifteenth Judicial District Court, who was the presiding trial judge at plaintiff’s second degree murder trial, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. United States District Judge F.A. Little, in an unpublished opinion, dismissed this suit on or about August 2, 1984.

On November 7, 1984, this court affirmed plaintiff’s conviction, see, State v. Ledet, 458 So.2d 1024 (La.App. 3 Cir.1984), and the Louisiana Supreme Court denied writs of certiorari on February 4, 1985. See, State v. Ledet, 462 So.2d 1263 (La.1985).

Plaintiff then applied to this court for post-conviction relief. Again, because the district court for the parish in which plaintiff was convicted had original jurisdiction, and because plaintiff had not first sought post-conviction relief in that court, we denied his application as premature. See, State v. Ledet, an unreported opinion bearing Number K85-501 on the Docket of this Court dated June 26, 1985.

Next, plaintiff sued Dale Broussard and Ken Guidry, Court personnel involved in plaintiff’s earlier litigation, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. United States District Court Judge F.A. Little, in an unpublished opinion, dismissed this suit on or about July 1, 1985.

On January 29, 1986, plaintiff filed a suit against Dan Guilliot, the Clerk of Court for the Fifteenth Judicial District Court in Lafayette Parish, Louisiana in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Opelousas Division. In this suit, plaintiff alleged that his constitu[1069]*1069tional right of access to the courts had been violated when Mr. Guilliot returned several documents plaintiff had attempted to file with a note informing him that the papers were not in proper form and to contact his attorney before attempting to refile them. Federal Magistrate Mildred Methvin, in her report and recommendation to the court, recommended that the suit be dismissed as frivolous. Federal Magistrate Methvin noted that the constitution requires prisoners to have reasonable access to the courts and that plaintiff failed to allege a factual or legal basis showing his constitutional rights were violated because of a delay in filing improper documents. United States District Court Judge John M. Shaw reviewed the record and agreed with the recommendation of Federal Magistrate Methvin and, consequently, in an unpublished opinion, this action was dismissed by Judge Shaw on June 3, 1986.

Plaintiff then appealed this decision to the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal. A panel of that Court, comprised of Judges Sam D. Johnson, Jerre S. Williams, and William L. Garwood, found plaintiffs suit frivolous and affirmed its dismissal in an unpublished opinion rendered on September 3, 1986. The Court found that plaintiffs federal court pleadings failed to indicate that he had made a meaningful effort to comply with the state court procedures and rejected plaintiffs contention that the alleged actions inhibited adequate access to the courts.

Ultimately, plaintiff did file an application for post-conviction relief in the Fifteenth Judicial District Court. Judge Douglas Nehrbass, in a per curiam opinion dated March 27, 1986, denied the application because it was not in proper form. Plaintiff then sought supervisory writs to this Court and this Court, not finding error in Judge Nehrbass’ ruling, denied the writ. See, State v. Ledet, an unpublished decision bearing Number K86-384 on the Docket of this Court dated May 27, 1986. The Louisiana Supreme Court denied plaintiffs application for writs from our ruling on November 7, 1986. See, State ex rel. Ledet v. Nehrbass, 496 So.2d 345 (La.1986).

In January, 1987, plaintiff applied to this court for post-conviction relief seeking to compel the trial court to furnish certain trial records to him. The application was deficient and plaintiff was informed by a letter of the steps necessary to correct the deficiencies. Because plaintiff did not timely comply with the Uniform Rules of the Courts of Appeal, we dismissed his application. See, State v. Ledet, an unreported decision bearing Number K87-190 on the Docket of this Court dated March 11, 1987.

Plaintiff then sought an appeal to this court of earlier rulings of Judge Nehrbass; but his appeal did not specify which of the rulings on plaintiffs several earlier post-conviction applications he was appealing. Plaintiff was not entitled to appeal so we treated the matter as an application for post-conviction relief and dismissed the application as repetitious. See, State v. Ledet, an unreported decision bearing Number K86-940 on the Docket of this Court dated July 13, 1987.

Plaintiff then filed a suit, alleging violation of his civil rights, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana against Judge John M. Shaw (who dismissed his 1986 suit against Dan Guilliot, the Fifteenth Judicial District Clerk of Court), Dan Guilliot (the Clerk of Court who “denied him access to the court”) and the panel of United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal Judges, Sam D. Johnson, Jerre S. Williams, and William L. Garwood, who affirmed the decision of Judge Shaw, which dismissed his earlier suit in federal court against Guilliot. United States District Court Judge John M. Duhé dismissed the suit on February 23, 1988 in an unpublished opinion.

Plaintiff appealed Judge Duhé’s ruling to the Fifth Circuit, United States Court of Appeals, and it was on May 16, 1988 affirmed in an unpublished per curiam decision. Ledet v. Shaw, 847 F.2d 839 (5th Cir.1988). The panel, consisting of Judges Thomas M.

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Ledet v. Fifteenth Judicial District Court
573 So. 2d 1139 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1991)

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Bluebook (online)
569 So. 2d 1067, 1990 La. App. LEXIS 2508, 1990 WL 174172, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ledet-v-fifteenth-judicial-district-court-lactapp-1990.