State v. Warren

Supreme Court of Louisiana

Decided October 26, 1983

Supreme Court of Louisiana · decided 1983-10-26

Cited by 1 later decisions — most recently May 1994

1 state decisions

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

“inherent power and duty to weigh evidence and judge the credibility of a witness,”

quoted by 1 later decision, including 643 So. 2d 719 - State in Interest of AC

Relies on 384 So. 2d 773 - State v. Boutte · 437 So. 2d 836 - State v. Warren · 354 So. 2d 530 - State v. Jones

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1983-10-26

View the full empirical analysis of this case →

¶1For majority opinion of the Court, see La., 437 So.2d 836.

DENNIS, Justice.

¶2I respectfully dissent.

¶3The excluded witness, William Jackson, is the defendant’s uncle. Naturally there is some suspicion that an accused’s relative, called as a defense witness, is not as reliable as an independent witness. However, this suspicion does not empower an appellate court to classify an erroneous disqualification as harmless error. This does violence to the standard of review this court approved in State v. Jones, 354 So.2d 530 (La.1978) and State v. Boutte, 384 So.2d 773 (La.1980) and essentially strips the trier of fact of its inherent power and duty to weigh evidence and judge the credibility of a witness.