State of Louisiana v. Darrell Toubya Thomas

Summary

The Supreme Court of Louisiana vacated the district court's grant of a new trial for Darrell Toubya Thomas, reinstating his conviction and sentence because the lower court misapplied the deferential Strickland standard, found no newly discovered evidence, rejected the factual innocence claim, and correctly held that counsel had no basis to object to the State’s cross‑examination. The Court noted that successive post‑conviction filings are barred absent a narrow exception.