Case Name: STATE ex rel. Gregory Don SEARLS v. STATE of Louisiana
Court: Louisiana Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 2016-06-17
Citations: 195 So. 3d 440
Docket Number: No. 2015-KH-1380
Parties: STATE ex rel. Gregory Don SEARLS v. STATE of Louisiana.
Judges: 
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Third Series
Volume: 195
Pages: 440–441

Head Matter:
STATE ex rel. Gregory Don SEARLS v. STATE of Louisiana.
No. 2015-KH-1380.
Supreme Court of Louisiana.
June 17, 2016.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
| denied. Relator's sentencing claim is not cognizable on collateral review. La. C.Cr.P. art. 930.3; State ex rel. Melinie v. State, 93-1380 (La.1/12/96), 665 So.2d 1172. We attach hereto and make a part hereof the District Court's written reasons denying relator's application.
Relator has now fully litigated three applications for post-conviction relief in state court. Similar to federal habeas relief, see 28 U.S.C. § 2244, Louisiana post-conviction procedure envisions the filing of a second or successive application only under the narrow circumstances provided in La.C.Cr.P. art. 930.4 and within the limitations period as set out in La.C.Cr.P. art. 930.8. Notably, the Legislature in 2013 La. Acts 251 amended La.C.Cr.P. art. 930.4 to make the procedural bars against successive filings mandatory. Relator's claims have now been fully litigated in state collateral proceedings in accord with La.C.Cr.P. art. 930.6, and this denial is final. Hereafter, unless he can show that one of the narrow exceptions authorizing the filing of a successive application applies, relator has exhausted his right to state collateral review. The District Court is ordered to record a minute entry consistent with this per curiam.