Louisiana voted to change its Constitution to require unanimous verdicts in non-capital cases where they were not required before. In 1997 and 1998, without amending the Constitution, the Legislature amended La. R.S. 14;42(C) and (D) to give prosecutors a unilateral power to procure aggravated (first) degree rape convictions without unanimous verdicts; This case involves non-unanimous verdicts leading to the following questions:

Can Louisiana 's 1997 and 1998 legislative amendments to La. R.S. 14:42 (C) and (D) qualify, absent a constitutional amendment, as the attendant provision necessary to change the classification of a charged capital offense?

Was Kiger 's Sixth Amendment right to a unanimous verdict, protected by the Fourteenth Amendment, contravened because La. R.S. 14:42(D) (2)(b) unlawfully gave the State the authority to violate the constitutional and statutory mandates of La. Const. Art. I, § 17(A) and La. C. Cr. P. art. 782?

Can Louisiana's 1997 and 1998 legislative amendments to La. 14:42 (C) and (D) qualify, absent a constitutional amendment, as the attendant provision necessary to change the classification of a charged capital offense?