Duncan v. Louisiana

On 18 October 1966, Gary Duncan, an African American teenager, saw two of his younger cousins talking to four white boys, while driving through Plaquemines Parish in Louisiana. Because his cousins had told him of racial incidents that occurred at the predominantly white high school to which they transferred, Duncan stopped the car and got out to see what was happening. The testimony of the various witnesses conflicts after this point, however. Nonetheless, they all agreed that Duncan spoke to the four white boys and told his cousins to get in the car. But the white witnesses testified in trial that before getting into his car, Duncan slapped one of the four boys, Henry Landry, on the elbow, whereas the Duncan's cousins testified that he only touched him. Despite the inconsistencies in the testimonies, the trial court believed the state of Louisiana had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Duncan had assaulted Landry and convicted him of simple battery.

Duncan appealed the decision to the Louisiana Supreme Court, but it refused to hear the case, maintaining that the trial court made no error in its ruling and violated no constitutional rights of Duncan's. The Louisiana Constitution granted trials by jury only in cases where capital punishment and hard labor may be imposed. Louisiana law also considered simple battery a misdemeanor carry the maximum penalty of two years in prison and a $300 fine.