The Third Circuit Court of Appeal upheld the pleas and sentences of a man who broke into an Oakdale apartment and beat a female who had a protective order against him.

Tyler John Clause, 27, will continue to serve his original 20-year sentence handed down last April in the 31st Judicial District Court.

Clause was charged in October 2021 with home invasion, attempted second-degree murder, remaining in a place after being forbidden and simple criminal damage to property under $1,000.

He initially plead not guilty to the charges, but later withdrew the plea and pled no contest to home invasion and attempted second degree murder. Prior to being sentenced, Clause withdrew his no contest pleas, claiming they were not knowingly and intelligently entered and were entered under stress.

The motion was denied by the trial court and Clause was sentenced to five years at hard labor for home invasion and 15 years at hard labor without the benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence for attempted second degree murder. The sentences were to run consecutively and no objections were made at the time of sentencing, according to court documents.

Clause, represented by the Louisiana Appellate Project, appealed the sentences, alleging they were excessive. The trial court denied the motion which led the defendant to file an appeal.

In his appeal, Clause claimed that the trial course abused its discretion in not allowing him to withdraw his pleas of no contest and that the no contest pleas were not knowingly, voluntarily or intelligently entered. Clause also called the sentence excessive and claimed the trial court abused its discretion in running them consecutively because he was convicted by plea and the acts arose from a single course of conduct.

In its opinion, the Third Circuit found that the pleas were entered “knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently.” It further contends that Clause failed to show any infringements on his Constitutional rights or procedural irregularities in entering the pleas.

The court also concluded that Clause failed to prove the trial court abused its discretion in sentencing him to 15 year for attempted second-degree murder. It further found that the claim of excessive sentence lacked merit.