Deal v. Perkins

346 So.3d 380

Francis DEAL Plaintiff-Appellee

v.Adrian PERKINS and Caddo Parish Clerk of Court, Mike Spence, in His Official Capacity Defendants-Appellants

No. 54,892-CA

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

Judgment rendered August 8, 2022.

OFFICES OF L. HAVARD SCOTT, III, By: L. Havard Scott, III, MARTZELL BICKFORD & CENTOLA, By: Scott R. Bickford, New Orleans, Lawrence J. Centola, III, New Orleans, Spencer R. Doody, New Orleans, Jeremy J. Landry, Baton Rouge, Counsel for Appellant, Adrian Perkins

HARPER LAW FIRM, APLC, By: Jerald R. Harper, Shreveport, Anne E. Wilkes, HUGO A. HOLLAND, JR., Shreveport, Counsel for Appellee, Francis Deal

BENNETT L. POLITZ, Shreveport, Counsel for Appellee, Caddo Parish Clerk of Court, Mike Spence, in his Official Capacity

Before MOORE, STONE, and THOMPSON, JJ.

MOORE, C.J.

This suit involves the disqualification of a candidate for the seat of Mayor of the City of Shreveport on grounds that the candidate was not a qualified elector and provided false statements on his Notice of Candidacy. Adrian Perkins appeals the ruling of the trial court disqualifying his candidacy in the November 8, 2022, primary election. For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTS

On July 22, 2022, Perkins signed and filed a Notice of Candidacy for Mayor of the City of Shreveport in which he listed his domicile address as 9605 Stratmore Circle, within the City of Shreveport in Ward 00, Precinct 113. Perkins affirmed that he read the Notice of Candidacy, met the qualifications of the office for which he was qualifying, and was a duly qualified elector of Caddo Parish, Ward 00, Precinct 113. It is undisputed that at the time of his qualification, Perkins was also registered to vote at the Stratmore Circle address, while maintaining his homestead exemption at a second residence he owns at 719 Marshall Street, also within the City of Shreveport, but located in Ward 00, Precinct 5B. In that regard, on the Notice of Candidacy Perkins further certified the following:

8) If I am a candidate for any office other than United States senator or representative in congress, that if I claim a homestead exemption on a residence pursuant to Article VII, Section 20 of the Constitution of Louisiana, I am registered and vote in the precinct in which that residence is located, unless I reside in a nursing home as defined in La. R.S. 40:2009.2 or in a veteran's home operated by the state or federal government.

On July 29, 2022, in accordance with La. R.S. 18:1401, Francis Deal, a qualified voter, filed a petition and supplemental petition to object to Perkins's candidacy on two grounds. In his original petition, Deal alleged that Perkins was not a qualified elector of the City of Shreveport: statutory law mandated registered voters to vote only in the precinct where a homestead exemption was claimed, but in his Notice of Candidacy Perkins falsely swore under oath that he was registered to vote in the precinct where he claimed a homestead exemption. In his supplemental petition, Deal alleged that Perkins was not a qualified elector of the City of Shreveport because he had failed to file his federal and/or state tax returns for each of the previous five years; however, this claim was resolved during the hearing on this matter, and is not before this court on review.

Perkins answered the petitions with a general denial, and attached his affidavit, with supporting documentation, attesting to the following.¹ Perkins asserted that he first registered to vote in the City of Shreveport in 2007, and has been registered to vote in the precinct of his Stratmore Circle residence since "at least 2017." He further stated that he purchased the home at 719 Marshall Street in 2019 and claimed a homestead exemption on it. He acknowledged that the two residences are not in the same precinct. He then stated that he "mistakenly signed his Notice of Candidacy on July 22nd given that, as a matter of fact, his homestead exemption was located in a different precinct than the precinct where he was registered to vote."

Perkins argued that the exclusive list of disqualifying events in La. R.S. 18:492 does not disqualify candidates for mistakenly certifying that the candidate's homestead exemption and voter registration are for the same precinct and such mistake should be given "no legal significance as a matter of law." Perkins asserted that he has since "corrected his oversight" and changed his voter registration, on July 30, 2022, to Ward 00, Precinct 5B, in which the 719 Marshall Street address is located. He finally attested that his voter registration has never been cancelled in accordance with La. R.S. 18:193 prior to his signing of the Notice of Candidacy, and thus, he remained a qualified elector on the day he signed it.

The matter was heard on August 1, 2022. The parties stipulated to the following facts: (1) proper service on the defendants; (2) petitioner is a registered voter in Precinct 113; (3) Perkins's voter registration at the Stratmore Circle address in Precinct 113 was accurate until July 30, 2022, at which time it was changed to the Marshall Street address in Precinct 5B; (4) the Notice of Candidacy attached to the petition is a true and correct copy of the one filed by Perkins; (5) the homestead exemption filing attached to the petition is a true and correct copy; and (6) Precincts 113 and 5B are different precincts and that Precinct 5B contains the Marshall Street address, but not the Stratmore Circle address. The attendant voter registrations and Perkins's July 30, 2022, change thereof, homestead exemption documentation, and Notice of Candidacy were introduced into evidence pursuant to the stipulations.

Mayor Adrian Perkins was the only witness to testify.² By way of background, Perkins testified that he is a graduate of Captain Shreve High School (2003), the Military Academy at West Point (2008), and Harvard Law School (2018).³ Further, he was elected Mayor of the City of Shreveport in 2018. Regarding qualification for the 2018 election, the following colloquy occurred:

Q: Did you fill out a Notice of Candidacy in connection with that race?

A: I'm not sure what that document is. I filled out several documents to qualify for that race.

Q: Mr. Mayor, are you telling us you don't know what a Notice of Candidacy is?

A: I filled out several documents for that race.

Q: Do you know what a Notice of Candidacy is?

A: I'm not sure exactly what's on that document ....

Regarding the Notice of Candidacy for the November 8, 2022, election, the following colloquy occurred:

Q: All right. Did you read the Notice of Candidacy before you signed it in 2022?

A: I did not read the entire document on that day. My team reviewed it with me, and we looked over multiple aspects of it. For instance, I had some fines that were outstanding that we had to pay. So, I made sure that we paid those fines.

And as I was reading that document on the day of, there were multiple news cameras in my face, I was in the middle of a workday. And there were some lines that I did get a bit cross with while reading that particular document.

After reviewing the 2022 Notice of Candidacy, Perkins testified that he understood he was under oath when he signed the document. He further testified that "several members of [his] campaign team" helped him review the document and, over strenuous objection of his counsel, Perkins stated that he conferred with his personal attorney before signing the form. Perkins agreed that he had to pay certain fines in order to comply with items 10, 11, and 12 of the form,⁴ but also conceded that he did not personally read the form the day that he signed it, or the week prior. Regarding item 8, concerning voter registration and homestead exemption, Perkins testified that he had conflated items 7 and 8 on the form, both of which begin with the same phraseology.⁵ Perkins explained, "I thought that I read paragraph 8, but I read paragraph 7, and thought that it was paragraph 8, yes, correct."

Perkins also testified that both the Stratmore Circle and Marshall Street residences are within the City of Shreveport and that he has always had just one domicile – the City of Shreveport.

Following argument, the trial court took the matter under advisement and signed a written ruling on August 2, 2022, finding that under this court's recent analysis and holding in Sellar v. Nance , 54,617 (La. App. 2 Cir. 3/1/22), 336 So. 3d 103, Perkins was disqualified from seeking re-election in the November 8, 2022, primary election.

Perkins has appealed. The matter lodged with this court on August 3, 2022, and has been resolved in strict compliance with the time constraints set forth in La. R.S. 18:1409.

DISCUSSION

The issue for review before this court is purely a legal one. Appellate review of questions of law is simply a review of whether the trial court was legally correct or incorrect. Percle v. Taylor , 20-244 (La. App. 5 Cir. 8/5/20), 301 So. 3d 1219, 1224, writ denied , 20-00983 (La. 8/10/20), 300 So. 3d 878 ; Buford v. Williams, 11-568 (La. App. 5 Cir. 2/14/12), 88 So. 3d 540, 545, writ denied , 12-264 (La. 4/27/12), 86 So. 3d 630. To the extent any factual determinations are to be reviewed, such review would be for manifest error. Sealy v. Brown , 53,541 (La. App. 2 Cir. 2/4/20), 291 So. 3d 290, writ denied , 20-00226 (La. 2/7/20), 292 So. 3d 60.

Because election laws must be interpreted to give the electorate the widest possible choice of candidates, a person objecting to candidacy bears the burden of proving that the candidate is disqualified. Landiak v. Richmond, 05-0758 (La. 3/24/05), 899 So. 2d 535 ; Russell v. Goldsby, 00-2595 (La. 9/22/00), 780 So. 2d 1048. Once the party bearing the burden of proof in an objection to candidacy case has established a prima facie case that the candidate is disqualified, the burden shifts to the party opposing the disqualification to rebut the showing. Sealy v. Brown, supra .

A candidate shall possess the qualifications for the office he seeks...