In 1859, the Legislature passed an act designed to prevent slaves from obtaining alcohol. The third section of the act provided that the defendant would be tried by a recorder "together with a jury of three slaveholders summoned" by the recorder. Gutierrez was tried and convicted pursuant to the act, but argued that the act was unconstitutional, since he had a right to an impartial jury of the vicinage.
In State v. Gutierrez, 15 La. Ann. 190, two justices of the Supreme Court offer opposing arguments on this issue. Unfortunately for Gutierrez, the majority opinion found it was constitutional. However, the dissent by Chief Justice Merrick serves to clarify the role and power of the Recorders' Courts in New Orleans.
