State v. Ward

Supreme Court of Louisiana

State v. Ward

249 So. 2d 921, 259 La. 317, 1971 La. LEXIS 4280

CourtSupreme Court of Louisiana

DecidedJune 28, 1971

DocketNo. 51023

StatusPublished

Cited by7 cases

This text of 249 So. 2d 921 (State v. Ward) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

State v. Ward, 249 So. 2d 921, 259 La. 317, 1971 La. LEXIS 4280 (La. 1971).

Pincite

Opinion

TATE, Justice.

This appeal is from the trial court’s denial of a motion to re-sentence the defendant to life imprisonment.

The defendant had previously been sentenced to death. See 246 La. 766, 167 So.2d 359 (1964). Such sentence was set [319]*319aside on collateral review, for reasons not here pertinent.

By a plea of moctness, our attention is called to the circumstance that, following the trial court denial of the motion, the defendant’s death sentence was commuted to a term of ten years and six months.

The plea is well founded. The courts will not rule on questions of law which become moot, since their decree will serve no useful purpose and can give no practical relief. Spinato v. Lowe, 239 La. 604, 119 So.2d 480 (1960); State v. Melerine, 238 La. 847, 116 S.2d 689 (1960). The defendant has already received by executive clemency the relief sought by these proceedings; therefore, the question presented is moot.

For these reasons, the appeal is dismissed.

Appeal dismissed.

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