State v. Fowler
State v. Fowler
Opinion of the Court
ORDER
WRIT DENIED: There is no error in the trial court’s ruling.
dissents and would vote to grant the writ. The Louisiana Constitutional privilege against self-incrimination has been held by the Louisiana Supreme Court to protect an accused from being compelled to testify against himself or otherwise provide the State with evidence of a testimonial or communicative nature. The Louisiana Supreme Court has delineated evidence that is not of testimonial or communicative nature. See State v. O’Conner, 320 So.2d 188 (La. 1975), and the cases cited therein. This has included compelling a criminal defendant to give handwriting samples in a case which was decided before the new Louisiana Constitution of 1974. See State v. Thompson, 256 La. 934, 240 So.2d 712 (1970). However, it is well settled that the Louisiana Constitution of 1974 affords greater protection to a criminal defendant than does the U.S. Constitution. State v. Church, 538 So.2d 993 (La. 1989). The 1974 Louisiana Constitution includes a provision that a criminal defendant does not have to give evidence against himself. In Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757, 86 S.Ct. 1826, 16 L.Ed.2d 908 (1966), the U.S. Supreme Court noted that the U.S. Constitutional privilege against being compelled to testify against oneself “protects] an accused only from being compelled to testify against himself; or otherwise provide the state with evidence of a testimonial or communicative nature ...” “The distinction which has emerged ...” the U.S. Supreme Court noted, “is that the privilege is a bar against compelling ‘communications’ or ‘testimony,’ but that compulsion which makes a suspect or accused the
For these reasons, I dissent from the failure to grant this writ and quash the State’s motion for a subpoena duces tecum to compel relator to give handwriting samples as violative of his rights under Art. 1, § 16 of La. Const. of 1974.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.