Louisiana Voice

If you don’t remember John Belton by name, you’ll probably recall that he is the district attorney who decided against pressing charges against a state trooper who was among those who killed handcuffed motorist Ronald Greene back in 2019.

He just happens to also be the district attorney who seems to be dragging his heels in bringing charges against a drunk driver who struck and killed a pedestrian last October.

Last October. Hey, that just happens to be the same month that one of those state troopers was allowed to PLEAD TO REDUCED CHARGES and walk.

Of course, now that Belton’s a LAME DUCK and no charges have yet been filed against Abby Sterling, 20, who struck two pedestrians, one of whom later died, the case is languishing. Sterling appeared to the investigating officer “to be intoxicated.” She was initially arrested and booked on two counts of first degree vehicular negligent injury.

The two pedestrians were identified as Hahn Bridges and Jackson Mitcham, both 21 and both of whom were apparently walking away from a local bar, though Bridges denied they were coming from the bar, according to the accident report. He said, however, that he had no recollection of the crash.

The investigating officer said speed did not appear to be a contributing factor in the crash, but rather impairment of Sterling “which contributed to her not being able to operate a motor vehicle safely.”

Mitcham later died as a result of his injuries.

Now, eight months later, the district attorney’s office appears reluctant to pursue the matter for whatever reason. The original assistant district attorney assigned to the case has moved on and is no longer the prosecutor. In fact, he lashed out at Mitcham’s mother when she attempted to get him to move the case along, telling her he would not let her dictate how he ran his office.

There was a court appearance scheduled for last Tuesday but has been reset for September 16 which, coincidentally, is Mitcham’s birthday and almost 11 months since the Oct. 19 accident.

Interestingly, there is a difference between a crash report and a police report and an arrest affidavit. The investigating officer has yet to sign off on the investigation report. Because of that, Hahn Bridges’s father, Richard Bridges, has been denied a copy of the police report and Hahn Bridges has never been interviewed by anyone from the district attorney’s office.

Bood tests show Sterling’s blood alcohol content (BAC) as 0,169, which is more than twice the limit to be considered intoxicated.