Provides relative to the grounds for post conviction relief for inmates convicted by a non-unanimous jury. (gov sig)

Senate Bill 215 enacts Louisiana Revised Statutes 15:574.2.2 to create a specialized post-conviction relief mechanism for inmates convicted by non-unanimous jury verdicts. The statute establishes the Special Committee on Parole for Non-unanimous Jury Convictions within the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, composed of three retired appellate or supreme court judges, one retired district attorney or assistant district attorney, and one retired public defender or assistant public defender, all appointed by the governor. The special committee is authorized to review applications from incarcerated persons alleging conviction by a non-unanimous jury and to determine whether such a conviction resulted in a miscarriage of justice. If the committee unanimously finds both that the conviction was non-unanimous and that the non-unanimous verdict resulted in a miscarriage of justice, the petitioner becomes eligible for parole. Applicants must establish the non-unanimity of their conviction by clear and convincing evidence using the certified trial or appellate record, and the committee may consider illustrative factors including the strength of the state's case, deliberation length, juror voting patterns, quality of legal representation, and any indicia of racial animus in prosecution.

The practical effect of this legislation is to provide a pathway to parole eligibility for potentially thousands of Louisiana inmates convicted before 2018 under the non-unanimous jury standard that was struck down by the United States Supreme Court. Incarcerated individuals currently serving sentences for offenses convicted by non-unanimous juries, regardless of sentence length, may now petition for relief through this mechanism without requiring traditional post-conviction proceedings. District attorneys in relevant judicial districts will receive notice of applications and may submit written responses, but victims and their families cannot be compelled to testify. The statute applies a one-year filing deadline from the effective date, meaning eligible petitioners must submit applications within that window or lose their opportunity for relief through this exclusive remedy. The committee is required to meet at least monthly and must schedule hearings within a reasonable timeframe after receiving complete case records from court clerks, who are directed to provide certified copies to indigent petitioners within ninety days at no cost.

This legislation operates within the constitutional framework established by Ramos v. Louisiana, 2020, which held that jury verdicts in serious criminal cases must be unanimous under the Sixth Amendment as incorporated through the Fourteenth Amendment. Senate Bill 215 creates a remedial structure for those convicted under the prior Louisiana law permitting ten-to-two jury verdicts in felony cases. The statute functions as a narrowly tailored, exclusive alternative to traditional post-conviction relief petitions under Rules of Criminal Procedure and existing parole law, and a petitioner's use of this remedy does not preclude pursuit of other post-conviction remedies unrelated to the non-unanimous verdict issue. The special committee's decisions are final determinations not subject to appeal or reconsideration, and the statute includes a sunset provision terminating the committee's authority three years after enactment. The legislation is contingent upon appropriation of funds by the legislature and applies only to convictions rendered before 2018, thus affecting a defined cohort of inmates eligible for reconsideration under modern constitutional standards.