In the State of Louisiana's First Circuit Court of Appeal, a case has been filed under the ID 2023 KA 0992 & 2023 KW 1125, involving the State of Louisiana as the plaintiff and Clyde R. Joseph Jr. as the defendant. The judgment was rendered on April 19th, 2023, with an appeal and application for supervisory review from the Eighteenth Judicial District Court in Iberville Parish.
The defendant, Clyde R. Joseph Jr., was found guilty of second-degree murder by a jury on September 27, 2001. The crime occurred in 1996 when Joseph was sixteen years old. Following two Supreme Court decisions (Miller v. Alabama and Montgomery v. Louisiana), a resentencing hearing took place but did not grant parole eligibility to Joseph.
The defendant's conviction revolves around the murder of Laura Henson, manager of Fred's Department Store, during a planned robbery in November 1996. Joseph confessed to shooting Ms. Henson after being identified as the shooter.
The plaintiff is seeking further proceedings consistent with their opinion and denies the writ application as moot. They argue that denying parole eligibility to Joseph is unconstitutionally excessive and violates his constitutional rights.