Louisiana Voice

Relative to the death of Ronald Greene back in May of 2019, maybe, they really are circling the wagons over at Louisiana State Police headquarters, as that retired state trooper said on Saturday.

Otherwise, why try to shield an internal report by LSP some 16 months after the fact? How long does it take to complete an investigation, anyway? And why not release the report to the public and even the attorneys for Greene’s family?

The explanation by LSP legal counsel Faye Morrison that the report is “pending review with the Lincoln/Union Parish District Attorney’s Office just doesn’t wash. (Greene’s death at the hands of six state troopers and a sheriff’s deputy occurred in Union Parish and both Union and Lincoln parishes comprise the 3^rd Judicial District.)

Morrison also explained in denying a public records request by LouisianaVoice that LSP’s “administrative investigation into the same is ongoing.” Seriously? After 16 months? Tom Clancy wrote his 700-page spy novels in something like three months.

And why did it take LSP 15 months to decide to place one of those involved – that’s right, only one – on leave? And was it paid or unpaid leave?

Why was Greene’s autopsy performed out-of-state? That’s a really interesting question that needs to be answered. Perhaps there’s a perfectly logical reason but we’ve yet to hear an explanation.

Why did officers inform Greene’s family that he’d been killed when his car struck a tree when in fact, he only sideswiped a tree, causing minor damage to the rear driver’s side of his vehicle and despite it being learned later that he’d exited his vehicle under his own power and attempted to apologize for not stopping when State Trooper Dakota DeMoss first tried to pull him over in Ouachita Parish?

For that matter, what prompted DeMoss to initially try and pull Greene over? We’re told it was after DeMoss observed Greene commit “a traffic violation”? What, specifically was that violation?

Why did officers claimed that Greene was intoxicated when a post-mortem toxicology examination revealed there were no drugs or alcohol in Green’s system?

Why did officers continue to tase and beat Greene after he was handcuffed and lying on the ground, presenting no threat? A retired state trooper told LouisianaVoice that procedures call for a suspect, once cuffed, to be taken immediately to a patrol car.

Finally, and this is a really curious question that no one has asked yet: Why was an LSP captain (John Peters) involved in the pursuit at midnight? Pursuits are not that uncommon, according to a second retired state trooper interviewed by LouisianaVoice and almost never involve command-level personnel.

A lot of questions remain unanswered, but we’ll see how well officials respond now that CNN is taking an interest of the story in light of other reports of deaths and beatings of Blacks at the hands of law enforcement personnel.

Of course, Ronald Haley of Baton Rouge and Mark Maguire of Philadelphia, attorneys for Greene’s family, having now filed a wrongful death action in Louisiana’s Western District federal court, will demand all the pertinent documents, including reported text messages between Union Parish sheriff’s deputies and state police under the rules of discovery.

Other answers will likely come when the six troopers and Union Parish deputy Christopher Harpin are deposed.

In the meantime, the wagons have been circled.