State Of Louisiana v. Benson O'Brien, III ( 2021 )

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
COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT
DEPUTY L RK OF COURT
FOR THE COURT