NEW ORLEANS — The Louisiana Supreme Court said Tuesday it would take a look at an East Baton Rouge homicide case after two lower courts reached different decisions on whether the accused man was guilty.

In 2023, Judge Eboni Johnson Rose convicted Curtis Stewart Jr. of second-degree murder and sentenced him to life in prison. Last year, the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal said Rose used "speculation" when convicting Stewart, and ordered him freed.

District Attorney Hillar Moore III asked the state Supreme Court to weigh in, and justices voted 7-0 to do so. Their decision Tuesday had nothing to do with Stewart's guilt or innocence.

Stewart was convicted of killing Devonta Ennis, 25, along Prescott Road in 2021. The 1st Circuit said last year the state hadn't proven its case.

"The trial court's determination that the shots were fired by the defendant was based on speculation rather than reasonable inferences," the appellate panel said in a 2-1 decision.

"Most glaringly, no rational trier of fact could conclude, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant was the shooter," the court added.

Prosecutors had said people in two cars blocked Ennis in a driveway and fired 22 shots into his Mercedes, but only three shell casings were found at the scene. Stewart said he wasn't among the three people seen on grainy surveillance video and a geolocation expert said Stewart could have been anywhere in a four-mile radius.

Defense lawyer Ron Haley said police used "tunnel vision" while investigating.