Duncan v. Louisiana

391 U.S. 145 (1968)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Gary Duncan (D), a Negro, was 19 years of age and saw his two younger cousins engaged in a conversation by the side of the road with four white boys. The cousins had recently transferred to a formerly all-white high school and had reported the occurrence of racial incidents at the school. D stopped the car, got out, and approached the six boys. D and the white boys spoke to each other. D encouraged his cousins to break off the encounter and enter his car. When D was about to enter the car, he allegedly slapped Herman Landry, one of the white boys, on the elbow. The Negroes testified that D had not slapped Landry, but had merely touched him. The trial judge concluded that the State had proved beyond a reasonable doubt that D had committed simple battery, and found him guilty. Under Louisiana law, simple battery is a misdemeanor, punishable by a maximum of two years' imprisonment and a $300 fine. D sought trial by jury. The Louisiana Constitution grants jury trials only in cases in which capital punishment or imprisonment at hard labor may be imposed. The trial judge denied the request. D was convicted and sentenced to serve 60 days in the parish prison and pay a fine of $10. D sought review in the Supreme Court of Louisiana, asserting that the denial of jury trial violated rights guaranteed to him by the United States Constitution. The Court, finding 'no error of law in the ruling complained of,' denied appellant a writ of certiorari. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1257(2) D sought review in the Supreme Court, alleging that the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution secure the right to jury trial in state criminal prosecutions where a sentence as long as two years may be imposed.