Opinion
NO. 2018 KW 0817
07-09-2018
STATE OF LOUISIANA v. KENNETH P. MATASSA
In Re: State of Louisiana, applying for supervisory writs, 23rd Judicial District Court, Parish of Ascension, No. 36905. BEFORE: GUIDRY, McDONALD, AND McCLENDON, JJ.
GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART. The trial court's ruling denying the State of Louisiana's motion in limine is reversed in part. The trial court erred as a matter of law when it found, "a candidate for Gonzales City Council is one who meets the qualifications for the Gonzales City Council at the time he submits his notice of candidacy." It is a recognized rule of statutory construction that the court must give the words of a law their generally prevailing meaning (except that words which are words of art or technical terms must be given their technical meaning). And "when the words of a law are ambiguous, their meaning must be sought by examining the context in which they occur and the text of the law as a whole." See Cleco Evangeline, LLC v. Louisiana Tax Commission, 2001-0561 (La. App. 1st Cir. 6/22/01), 808 So.2d 740, 744, affirmed by, 2001- 2162 (La. 4/3/02), 813 So.2d 351. Furthermore, the writ application is denied in part to uphold the portion of the trial court's ruling that allows the defendant to present evidence of the alleged candidate's qualifications. See State v. Orange, 2002- 0711 (La. App. 1st Cir. 4/11/03), 845 So.2d 570, 578, writ denied, 2003-1352 (La. 5/21/04), 874 So.2d 161, writ denied, 2003- 2195 (La. 7/2/04), 877 So.2d 137; La. Const. art. I, § 16 (1974). This matter is remanded to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this ruling.
JMM
JMG
McClendon, J., concurs. COURT OF APPEAL, FIRST CIRCUIT /s/_________
DEPUTY CLERK OF COURT
FOR THE COURT