That’s right folks.
Almost two years after being asked to investigate the rape of a 17-year-old girl in the Union Parish jail by a man already convicted of aggravated rape and awaiting sentencing, Attorney General Jeff Landry’s office finally took its case before a Union Parish grand jury.
And guess what?
The grand jury, after reviewing all the evidence provided by Landry’s office, declined to indict Demarcus Shavez Peyton of Homer.
Te refresh you memory, Peyton was awaiting sentencing after being convicted of aggravated rape in a separate case in nearby Claiborne Parish. He was allowed to leave his jail cell and to enter the cell of the 17-year-old, who was being detained after being picked up on meth charges. Peyton was said to have raped the girl not once, but twice
Because the Union Parish Detention Center is run by a commission comprised of the sheriff, the district attorney and several area mayors, the district attorney, rightly claiming a conflict of interest, asked Landry to investigate the matter.
So Landry’s office was handed an investigation of:
- A rape that occurred at a time, date and location known to investigators;
- Allegedly committed by a person known to investigators;
- Committed against a victim also known to investigators.
Yet, the attorney general somehow was unable to build a case against Peyton despite the presence of a witness who said he also was allowed into the victim’s cell with the intent of sexually assaulting her but departed without doing so.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see how the civil suit filed by the victim plays out. While criminal convictions call for proof of guilt beyond reasonable doubt, a civil suit need only show a preponderance of the evidence. An illustration of that is the exoneration of O.J. Simpson on the criminal charges of murdering his wife and Ron Goldman but Goldman’s parents then sued Simpson in civil court and won.
Meanwhile, several questions immediately come to mind regarding the AG’s investigation and the presentation of evidence to the grand jury:
- Was a rape kit was used by investigators?
- Was the rape victim interviewed?
- Was the witness interviewed? Apparently he was, since he admitted that he initially intended to participate.
- Were DNA samples collected?
We probably will never know the answers to these questions because contrary to Landry’s penchant for issuing glowing press releases to trumpet his wonderful work on behalf of law and order and the American way, his press office was strangely mute on this matter. No press releases this time, thank you very much.
Oh, there was one email response to the Farmerville newspaper editor’s inquiry from Landry’s press secretary that said, “…at a hearing on March 15, members of a grand jury in the 3rd Judicial District were given an opportunity to review all the evidence we had in this matter. After our presentation, the grand jury determined that no formal charges should be filed. While we must respect the grand jury’s decision, it is important to note that our office stands ready to act should new credible evidence arise.”
Well, that’s certainly reassuring.
No effort was made to so inform LouisianaVoice which, for 18 months, has dogged Landry’s office for updates on the investigation. We were always told that the investigation was ongoing and that no details could be released.
Of course, when details could be released, the attorney general’s office was strangely quiet. But then, we never really expected Landry to go out of his way to keep us in the loop.
But now that the investigation is over and the matter is closed, there’s no reason for Landry’s office to continue to withhold details of his office’s investigation. Accordingly, LouisianaVoice will be making an official public records request for the AG’s file on the investigation.
And now we can turn our attention to another “ongoing investigation” by Landry’s office—one that a lot of people in Baton Rouge will be watching and one which has a much higher profile.
More than 10 months ago Landry’s office was asked to investigate the shooting of a Baton Rouge black man, Alton Sterling, by Baton Rouge police. Landry appears to be dragging his heels on that probe as well and there is growing pressure from the black community to announce his findings. Their voices are considerably louder than that of a young girl raped in a lonely north Louisiana jail cell.
If that Union Parish “investigation” is any indication….
Louisiana Voice 
Thank you for calling our attention to this miscarriage of justice. Jeff Landry will probably run for governor, and he should never be elected.
Should read beyond reasonable doubt (not shadow of a doubt)
Sent from my iPhone
You are correct. Correction made. Thanks!
Guess he thinks people are idiots. Look we presented it to the grand jury and they didn’t like it! Sounds like a cover up for the parish political people. Just do a shoddy investigation and wait till its out of everyone’s mind.
These folks seem to be all about window dressing, and sadly many take their superficial self promoting rhetoric as gospel, in the meantime, justice is not being served. Can’t explain the level of degradation this 17 year old is experiencing, it’s a double violation,and should be exposed..
In that the Union Parish Sheriff is a Detention Center Commissioner and Landry is already currying favor with the Louisiana Sheriffs Association in his bid to become Governor, it is no surprise that Landry directed his “Investigators” to make certain a “no true bill” would be returned by the Grand Jury.
The findings against Peyton and the actions of the Detention center staff must have been so overwhelming that it took Landry and his staff 18+ months to concoct a story to exonerate all parties.
Sho nuff kept da trans out the bathrooms tho! http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/article_e6fee930-2ed3-11e8-b74a-6b929ff18942.html. You people need to get yo priority strait.
Been practicing criminal defense law for thirty years, both private practice an Public Defender work. I KNOW THE DRILL. If a prosecutor wants an indictment, he will get one. If he doesn’t want one he won’t get one. Grand Jury is secret, the proceedings need not even be recorded. What goes on in the grand jury room, with limited (Brady material vis a vis inconsistent testimony-of witnesses or other Brady material that may develop in the grand jury and that’s only if the prosecutor is honorable and alerts the defense lawyer about it at risk to himself!!) and I mean limited exceptions is secret and forever sealed from public inspection. The presenting prosecutor can go in, read the jurors that morning’s sports and then ask for a vote on the indictment-true or no true and that’s all there is to it. Prosecutor walks off, washed his hands of it and there is a confidential settlement with the insurance company. Sometimes this is good as it protects an innocent man from a marauding local political scene and sometimes it is bad as apparently the case here. In other words, I have become quite cynical in my years and really don’t trust anyone any more to do the right thing except me. Power corrupts pure and simple
Ah, justice. A system best avoided, if possible.
Tom, did anyone conduct an investigation into the actions of the jail staff? Why did the jail staff allow contact between a female arrestee and a male inmate who has been convicted and is awaiting sentencing? Somebody is responsible for this lapse in security.
Good questions. Landry has not answered them.
Ain’t asked a word on Alton Sterling do you