MCGRAW v. HOOPER (2026)

Writ granted. Stay lifted. The trial court lacked jurisdiction to consider defendant's parole eligibility and order his release; therefore, its ruling is vacated. The matter is transferred to the 19th Judicial District Court to adjudicate matters related to defendant's parole as provided for under La. R.S. 15:571.15.

Defendant Clifford McGraw was convicted of first-degree murder in 1975 and sentenced to death. In 1978, his death sentence was later vacated after the United States Supreme Court held Louisiana's then-applicable death penalty scheme unconstitutional. State v. McGraw, 366 So. 2d 1278 (La. 1978), citing Roberts v. Louisiana, 428 U.S. 325, 96 S.Ct. 3001, 49 L.Ed.2d 974 (1976). His resentencing, based on the law otherwise in effect at the time of his conviction, made him eligible to be considered for parole after twenty years.¹ In 1979, La. R.S. 14:30.1 was amended to remove parole eligibility for convictions of the same offense.

In 2024, defendant filed a “Supplemental Application for Post-Conviction Relief” in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, asserting that applying the 1979 amendment to La. R.S. 14:30.1 violated the prohibitions against ex post facto laws under both the federal and state constitutions. This claim is based on the mistaken premise that he was sentenced to life without any parole eligibility. The trial court granted defendant's request for post-conviction relief based on that clearly erroneous presumption and ordered his immediate release. This Court stayed these proceedings on December 3, 2025, to fully consider the merits of the State's writ application.

There is no dispute that defendant is now eligible to be considered for parole, and any administrative entry conflicting with that reality must be corrected. However, the trial court lacked jurisdiction to unilaterally and summarily determine that defendant should be paroled, to amend the sentence to time served, or to order his immediate release. In addition to the ultra vires nature of this relief, the sole venue to “contest the computation of his sentence or sentences, discharge, good time dates, or any action concerning parole shall be in the parish of East Baton Rouge.” La. R.S. 15:571.15.²

Accordingly, the determination of whether defendant is entitled to be paroled is without question beyond the jurisdiction of Orleans Parish Criminal District Court. These proceedings are deemed to serve as an application for parole that must be considered by the Committee on Parole pursuant to the appropriate process under Louisiana law.

Additionally, the sole venue for judicial review of these matters is the 19th Judicial District Court. Therefore, the rulings of the trial court are fully vacated, and this matter shall be transferred without delay to the 19th Judicial District Court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

REVERSED AND TRANSFERRED

FOOTNOTES

1.   State v. McGraw, 366 So. 2d 1278, 1288 (La. 1978) (“The conviction of Clifford McGraw is affirmed, but the death sentence imposed upon him is annulled and set aside, and the case is remanded for a resentencing to imprisonment at hard labor for life without eligibility for parole, probation or suspension of sentence for a period of twenty years.”) (emphasis provided).

2.   See also La. R.S. 15:574.2 (B)(2), which provides parameters for the Committee on Parole:Venue in any action in which an individual committed to the Department of Public Safety and Corrections contests any action of the committee is East Baton Rouge Parish. Venue in a suit contesting the actions of the committee shall be controlled by this Part and R.S. 15:571.15 and not the Code of Criminal Procedure, Title XXXI-A (Post Conviction Relief) or Title IX (Habeas Corpus) regardless of the captioned pleadings stating the contrary. [footnotes omitted].

PER CURIAM

Griffin, J., dissents and would deny. Guidry, J., dissents and would deny.