What types of cases must be tried by a jury in Louisiana?

In Lousiana, some cases are tried by a judge and some are tried by a jury. The dividing line between the two are that cases in which the defendant may be sentenced to imprisonment at hard labor must be tried by a jury, unless the defendant waives that right and chooses to be tried by a judge. This is solely the defendant’s right to waive. The State cannot force a defendant to give up his right to trial by jury.

In Louisiana, jury trials are also broken down into two types: 6-person juries and 12-person juries.

A defendant is entitled to a 12-person jury trial when the charge for which he is being prosecuted is either capital (meaning he can be executed or imprisoned at hard labor for life) or if the sentence requires that he be sentenced to hard labor. If the potential punishment only carries the possibility of imprisonment at hard labor, then the defendant is only entitled to a trial by 6 jurors.

See Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure Article 782.