State ex rel. Burnham v. Blackburn

Relator was charged by grand jury indictment with first degree murder in violation of La.R.S. 14:30. The crime was committed on January 28, 1978, after the amendment of Louisiana’s second degree murder statute in 1977, Acts No. 121. Relator was found guilty as charged following a jury trial in April of 1978, or before this Court’s decision in State v. Payton, 361 So.2d 866 (La.1978), became final in August of 1978. In the sentencing hearing that followed, the jury returned a recommendation of life imprisonment at hard labor without benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. This…