People v. Daly

Opinion by

Judge BERNARD.

We address here the applicability of the doctrine of abatement ab initio-abatement "from the beginning"-in a criminal case. This is a court-created common law doctrine, see United States v. Estate of Parsons, 367 F.3d 409, 414 (5th Cir.2004), which requires criminal convictions to be vacated and charges to be dismissed when defendants die while their cases are pending.

In this case, defendant was convicted at trial of a felony, and he died while his direct appeal was pending. Citing authority from other jurisdictions, the Attorney General asks us to abandon the doctrine…