State Of Louisiana v. Benson O'Brien, III

• Court: Louisiana Court of Appeal
• Decided: August 16, 2021
• Docket: 2021KW0741
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

STATE OF LOUISIANA

COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT

STATE OF LOUISIANA NO. 2021 KW 0741

VERSUS

BENSON HARRISON O' BRIEN, III AUGUST 16, 2021

In Re: Benson Harrison O' Brien, III, applying for supervisory writs, 22nd Judicial District Court, Parish of St.

Tammany, No. 521, 288.

BEFORE: McDONALD, LANIER, AND WOLFE, JJ.

WRIT DENIED. A judge is presumed to be impartial. The

burden is on the defendant to prove otherwise. State v. Kitts, 2017- 0777 ( La. App. 1st Cir. 5/ 10/ 1. 8), 250 So. 3d 939, 956- 57, writ denied, 2018- 00872 ( La. 1/ 28/ 20), 291 So. 3d 1057. The tantamount duty of a judge is to conduct fair and impartial proceedings. If he cannot conduct a fair and impartial

proceeding because of bias or prejudice, he cannot hear the case. Covington v. McNeese State Univ., 2010- 0250 ( La. 4/ 5/ 10), 32 So. 3d 223, 224 ( per curiam). This court conditionally affirmed relator' s conviction and sentence and remanded this case for a nunc pro tunc hearing solely on the issue of

competency. However, as noted by this court in the opinion, if the trial court concludes relator was competent, no withdrawal

of the guilty plea is required. If the trial court finds a

meaningful inquiry cannot be had, or if it determines, after the

hearing, that relator was not competent at the time of his guilty plea, relator shall be entitled to withdraw his guilty plea. See State v. O' Brien, 2014- 0899 ( La. App. lst Cir. 12/ 23/ 14), 168 So. 3d 627, 632- 33. Accordingly, the fact that Judge William H. Burris currently presides over the same

division of court that his father, William J. Burris ( retired),

did does not automatically indicate that he would be unable to conduct the competency hearing in a fair and impartial manner

nor should it create a presumption of prejudice or the appearance of impropriety when the record does not show that such exists.

JMM WIL EW

DEPUTY L RK OF COURT FOR THE COURT