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Archive for the ‘Crime’ Category

Iberia ex-deputy resigns from restructured New Iberia PD after release of video showing him attack, choke prisoner

Posted in Corruption, Crime, Ethics on September 11, 2018| 2 Comments »

Louis Ackal just can’t seem to get it right, though he does seem to get his kicks from having deputies rough up black prisoners and attacking them with vicious DOGS.

Oh, he prevailed in his federal trial on charges of civil rights violations while throwing a few deputies under the bus a couple of years back but the bad news just seems to keep coming out of his office in New Iberia.

Last week, The Advocate newspapers and Lafayette TV station KTAC failed in their effort to UNSEAL THE SETTLEMENT AMOUNT between Ackal’s Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office and the family of a man who died of a gunshot wound in March 2014 while in the custody of sheriff’s deputies.

The settlement stemmed from a lawsuit against the sheriff’s office following the death of Victor White III, who was shot in the chest while seated in an IPSO patrol car—with his hands cuffed behind his back. The coroner ruled that the gunshot wound was self-inflicted after deputies claimed that White had somehow managed to get his hands on a gun and to shoot himself.

Ackal personally was not opposed to the release of the settlement amount, but the decision by U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick Hanna nevertheless did nothing to mitigate the cold hard numbers that show Ackal’s office has paid out about $3 million in settlements and judgments during his 10-year tenure—a rate of $25,000 for every month he has been in office.

Though sealed, the settlement amount in the White case is believed to be in the range of $600,000.

Nor did Judge Hanna’s ruling do anything to soften the image of Ackal—real or perceived—as a man to be feared by the Iberia Parish African-American community, especially in light of last week’s RESIGNATION of a New Iberia city police officer after video of him slamming a black prisoner was made public.

The officer, James Andrews, was an Iberia Parish sheriff’s deputy at the time the video was taken on August 5, 2017. New Iberia Mayor Freddie DeCourt said he was unaware of the existence of the video until August of this year, a year after the incident.

A Lafayette television station, KADN aired a partial VIDEO of the incident but redacted the face of the unidentified man who was arrested for simple possession of marijuana. There is no audio with the aired clip.

LouisianaVoice, however, obtained an unedited video of the ENCOUNTER, complete with audio. During the exchange between Andrews and the prisoner, Andrews slapped a cup from the prisoner’s hands and then physically attacked him by grabbing him by the throat, forcing him to a sitting position.

Andrews accused him of resisting even though the man, while failing to immediately comply with the order to sit, was never aggressive nor did he actually resist Andrews. The deputy can be heard telling the man, “I gave you five warnings to sit down,” but can actually be heard only twice telling him to sit—with virtually no time to comply after the second command before attacking the prisoner.

At least two other deputies were present during the entire altercation, one of whom appears to be an undercover officer. It was not clear who was taking the video but because Andrews and the prisoner were followed down a corridor and into a booking room, it would appear it was taken by a body cam worn by a law enforcement officer, possibly another deputy.

When the man complained that he’d been choked, Andrews responded, “Damn right. I sat you down by force.” When asked his name, he said, “James Andrews. I’d love to go to court today.”

The man was also booked for resisting arrest following the attack by Andrews though there was never a time when he appeared to pose a threat to officers.

By resigning prior to any disciplinary action being taken, Andrews theoretically could obtain employment with another law enforcement agency unless his police commission is revoked.

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Conrad Appel says we don’t show proper respect to our LIC (Liar in Chief); maybe he should purchase Trump U. stock

Posted in Corruption, Crime, Economy, Education, Ethics, Finances, Fraud, Jobs, Legislators, Politicians, Senate, TV News on August 29, 2018| 18 Comments »

Conrad Appel must have the attention span of a moth.

Appel is the Republican state senator from Metairie whose political leanings are slightly to the right of Rush Limbaugh and maybe, just maybe, a tad left of Alex Jones. But then, that’s the nature of elected officials who ooze out of David Duke’s stomping grounds (see Steve Scalise).

You may recall that he’s also the one who, back in November 2010, just seven days before Louisiana, Indiana and Oregon adopted the Discovery Education Science Techbook being offered by Discovery Communications, purchased Discovery Communications stock and made a QUICK KILLING.

As Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, he was in a unique position to realize the value of Discovery Communications was primed for a significant increase, so he shelled out between $5,000 and $24,999, according to his financial report filed with the State Ethics Board.

That stock opened at $40.96 per share on Nov. 30, 2010, the day of his purchase and by Jan. 2, 2014, it hit $90.21 per share.

Insider trading? All I know is that on the day of his purchase—again, just seven days before three states announced a major investment in the Discovery Education Science Techbook, more than 7.5 million shares of Discovery Communication stock were traded. The next highest day was Aug. 1, 2011, when 3.1 million shares were traded. Normally, trading volume ran between 1.1 million and 1.9 million shares, according to a monthly review from December 2010 through March 2014. It sure looks like somebody knew something in advance.

So, why am I dredging up this old story again?

Well, Appel has penned a GUEST COLUMN on The Hayride blog in which he admonishes me (and everyone else) that we should, by golly, show a little respect to the creep who presently occupies the Oval Office.

I’m not picking a fight with The Hayride. They have their agenda and I have mine, a right that each of us possesses as free Americans. And while I may disagree with their positions—and most times, I do—I would never deprive them of their right to voice them, just as I’m certain they would do nothing to stifle mine. That’s the way it’s supposed to work in this country.

But for someone like Appel, who attacked a witness in a Trumpian-like profanity-laced tirade during a legislative committee hearing earlier this year, to presume to tell me whom I should respect is beyond the pale and quite frankly, it makes my blood boil just a bit. His utter contempt for that African-American witness, by the way, shone through like a lighthouse beacon on a clear night.

I can respect the office, but why would I respect the man who occupies it seems incapable of respecting anyone or anything, including the very office itself?

Appel calls Trump the “leader of our nation” and “the very symbol of our great Republic.”

Seriously? You’re going to go with that? If he is truly the “symbol” of our country, then we’re in far more trouble than I ever imagined. This is a man who is most accurately described as a pathological liar—on his best day. He lies about the size of his inauguration crowd, about how big his tax cut was (REAL TAX PICTURE: it was pretty big for the wealthy, but nowhere near the biggest tax cut in history, as he boasted), about how North Korea was no longer a nuclear threat, about what a great leader Putin is, about his knowledge of payoff money to a porn star….and on and on ad nauseam. He has single-handedly created an entire new cottage industry: fact checking.

You name it, he’s lied about it.

Sorry, Appel, that doesn’t warrant my respect.

He’s a man who insulted John McCain during the 2016 campaign, saying he only admired those who didn’t get captured. Pretty safe, since there wasn’t much chance of Trump’s being captured, what with all those bone spurs. And even following McCain’s death, this blustering ass couldn’t even bring himself to pay the late senator a modicum of respect.

He’s a man who boasted about assaulting women.

That doesn’t earn my respect. Ever.

He’s a man who mimicked a physically handicapped reporter and who encouraged his adoring, frothing-at-the-mouth followers to physically attack protesters at one of his rallies.

Sorry, Appel, that doesn’t warrant anyone’s respect.

He’s a man who called the press the enemy of the American people.

The only ones to do that previously were people like Hitler, Stalin, Idi Amin, and…well, you get the picture—despots who cemented their hold on power by diminishing the influence of the only independent governmental watchdog: the press.

Let me pose a question to you Appel (you don’t like it for newscasters to refer to the president as simply “Trump,” so I’ll try it out on you): When, during the entire eight years of the Obama administration, did you show Obama one scintilla of respect? He was a president who, like every president, had his failures but who, in eight years, did not have a single member of his administration indicted. He inherited yet another expensive, unwinnable war and he assumed office just as the horrible recession of 2008 was kicking in (thanks to an out-of-control banking industry that Trump has again loosed upon us). But when he left office, the stock market, as I recall, was doing pretty well, employment was up—all despite his having to fight a Republican congress every step of the way. Yet, he was pilloried and vilified for no other reason than his skin was darker than yours. There, I said it. Barack Obama is hated by Republicans because he is black. You can deny it all you like, but that won’t change the facts.

So, did you ever once, in all those eight years, say one good thing about Obama? Ever? One time?

Didn’t think so.

So, spare me your holier-than-thou judgmental posturing because you think I’m being nasty by not respecting a spoiled, bigoted bully who you so obviously admire but who, given the chance, would spoon with Putin.

And Appel, you say protesters “think it’s cool” to kneel during the national anthem. But fact is, you just don’t get it. The kneeling was never done to be cool. Only a damned fool would think that. Nor was it done to dishonor the country or the flag. In fact, it has nothing to do with the flag; it has everything to do with growing evidence of a police state where blacks are fair game for bad cops who like to run up the score. Yes, there are many, many good cops. I know that. And there are blacks who disobey the law—just like there are whites who disobey the law. But sometime, when you can come down out of your ivory tower, senator, run the numbers on the blacks who are shot by cops as opposed to the number of whites committing similar offenses but who somehow don’t get shot.

If Trump is really so offended at players kneeling for the anthem, instead of calling for their firing, why doesn’t he call upon the patriotism of the TV networks that broadcast the games? Sure, it’ll hurt them financially, because there’s big bucks in NFL broadcasts, but Trump should suggest that as a show of patriotism, the networks who carry the games will simply cease doing so the moment a player kneels. Just don’t show the games. That’ll get the attention of players, owners, and fans alike and would go a long way in making Trump’s case for….

Oh, wait. Sorry, I forgot. Fox is one of the networks carrying the games.

Never mind.

I guess that idea is worth about the same as a degree from Trump University.

I don’t suppose you have any of that stock…

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More interesting developments in ongoing saga of 16th JDC DA’s office: potential conflict in Chitimacha Tribe theft case

Posted in Attorney General, Campaign Contributions, Corruption, Courts, Crime, Ethics, Fraud on August 1, 2018| 1 Comment »

LouisianaVoice may have to move its operations to Iberia Parish just to keep up with the shenanigans of Sheriff Louis Ackal, District attorney Bofill Duhé and Assessor Ricky Huval.

We might as well for any information we might pry out of the office of Attorney General Jeff Landry about his investigation of a criminal case in Iberia involving the son of a supporter of both Landry and Duhé.

Landry is so preoccupied with his dual role as Donald Trump’s leading Louisiana lackey and Gov. John Bel Edwards’ primary adversary, it’s going to be interesting to see how he manages to do his job as attorney general.

Meanwhile, there’s the question of Duhé’s First Assistant District Attorney Robert C. Vines and his part in the investigation of the illegal manipulation of the Cypress Bayou Casino’s employee and payroll databases.

The Cypress Bayou Casino is run by the Chitimacha Indian Tribe in St. Mary Parish and in June 2016, the tribe’s chairman, O’Neil Darden, Jr., was ARRESTED by State Police on charges of felony theft, accused of stealing from the tribe by tinkering with the casino’s data bases that resulted in his receiving and “annual bonus” of several thousand dollars to which he was not entitled.

Duhé’s office is handling the prosecution and Vines was named lead prosecutor.

The problem with that is Vines is also the prosecutor for the Chitimacha Tribal Court. He was appointed to the post in January 2016 by….(wait for it)….Darden.

That case was originally set for trial last January but was removed from the docket and continued to May 1. But that trial date also was continued and the matter is now set for trial August 29.

Meanwhile, LouisianaVoice has received a non-response response to our public records request into the status of its investigation of Taylor Richard, accused of sexually molesting toddler siblings, daughters of his girlfriend.

Taylor Richard’s father, James Richard is a political supporter of both Duhé, having contributed $2600 to his campaign in 2014 and 2015, and Landry.

Landry got the case because Renee Louivere, who had previously worked as an assistant district attorney for the 16th Judicial District which includes the parishes of Iberia, St. Martin and St. Mary. She left the DA’s office and enrolled as Taylor Richard’s legal counsel while in private practice.

But then she returned to the DA’s office and currently works in the St. Martinville office. That created a conflict which allowed Duhé to punt the case to Landry and the AG’s office in Baton Rouge.

Last Thursday, we received the following email from Landry’s office:

From: LADOJ – Public Records Center <louisianaag@mycusthelp.net>
Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2018 2:21 PM
To:
Cc: wisherr@ag.louisiana.gov
Subject: [Records Center] Public Records Request :: R000178-070918

RE: PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST of July 09, 2018, Reference # – R000178-070918

Dear Mr. Tom Aswell,

In response to your public records request pursuant to La. R.S. 44:1 et seq, which our office received on July 09, 2018, the information you requested has been processed. You sought records related to the following:

“The AG’s investigative file for Taylor Richard of Iberia Parish.”

Louisiana’s Public Records Law, specifically La. R.S. 44:3(A)(1), exempts records held by the office of the attorney general which pertain “to pending criminal litigation or any criminal litigation which can be reasonably anticipated, until such litigation has been finally adjudicated or otherwise settled…”

As the matter of Taylor Richard is pending criminal litigation, the file you seek is not subject to disclosure and our office must respectfully decline to produce these records at this time.

Louisiana Revised Statutes 44:3(A)(4), however, allows release of the initial report for this matter. Copies of these records are invoiced below.

After a diligent search, our staff have (sic) identified three (3 ) pages of records which are responsive to your request. The records are not electronic. If you wish to receive physical copies of these records, pursuant to La. R.S. 39:241 and La. Admin. Code Title 4, Part 1, Section 301, there is a charge of .25 per page. The billing is as follows:

3 pages @ .25 per page = $0.75 

TOTAL:  $0.75

If you have any questions or need additional information, please feel free to contact our office. 

Best regards,

Luke Donovan
Assistant Attorney General

Besides brushing up on grammar, Landry’s office could also stand a remedial course in math.

What we got was two, not three, pages of a heavily-redacted report (a third page was blank) that confirmed that the AG’s office was indeed investigating a complaint of the sexual battery (redacted) against a female of (redacted) age in a New Iberia home by Taylor Richard.

The only way it could be determined that the battery was against a child was that the complaint was made by an employee of the “Department of Child Services” (actually, the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services).

The report had one other grisly revelation. It noted that the sexual battery was “completed” and not simply attempted and after the words Criminal Activity on the complaint form was the word “Other.”

We can hope it won’t take Landry two years to complete this investigation the way it did for him to finish up the probe of the Union Parish jailhouse rape. But this is Jeff Landry and if he can’t see a political advantage, he just doesn’t give a rat’s behind.

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Where do you go with a juvenile rape case when accused’s father is political supporter of AG Landry and DA Duhé?

Posted in Attorney General, Corruption, Courts, Crime, Ethics on July 20, 2018| 3 Comments »

Attorney General Jeff Landry, that staunch opponent of all things indecent and relentless publicity hound, just doesn’t seem to have much of a stomach for prosecuting rape cases.

Remember the jailhouse rape of that 17-year-old girl in Union Parish a couple of years ago? Because the jail is run by a consortium of public officials that included the local district attorney, the case was turned over to Landry’s office for prosecution.

Nothing came of it. After two years of “investigation,” no indictment, even though someone (we don’t know who, exactly) allowed a convicted rapist into her cell where she was assaulted not once, but twice. The criminal part of the case may be over, but the civil lawsuit against the parish remains active.

And now an even more repulsive rape case has landed in Landry’s lap and it’s going to be interesting to see how his office handles this one. The accused, after all, is the son of a Landry supporter who also just happens to be a campaign contributor to the local district attorney.

And that local district attorney is none other than Bo Duhé over in the 16th Judicial District that includes Iberia, St. Martin and St. Mary parishes.

Back in November 2015, it was learned that one Taylor Richard may have sexually assaulted the 3- and 5-year-old daughters of his 34-year-old girlfriend. He was finally arrested and charged in April 2016.

Renee Louivere, who had previously worked as an assistant district attorney but who was by then in private practice, enrolled as Taylor Richard’s attorney. Shortly after then, she returned to the district attorney’s office where she is currently employed in the DA’s St. Martinville office.

Obviously, her connections to Richard created a conflict of interest for Duhé, so he punted the matter to Landry’s office in Baton Rouge.

But then there is also the matter of James Richard, Taylor Richard’s father who (a) contributed $2600 to Duhé’s campaign in 2014 and 2015 through his company, Angel Rentals, Inc., and who (b) posted several pro-Landry messages on Facebook, along with photos of cookouts for Landry’s campaign. One unconfirmed report said that three weeks after Landry got the Taylor Richard case, James Richard worked on Landry’s campaign.

 

 

 

Moreover, James Richard is said to have attended school with Iberia Parish Sheriff Louis Ackal’ son which, of course, would not be unusual for a small town like New Iberia. Still, it would seem to complete the Ackal-Duhé-Richard connection rather conveniently.

Taylor Richard’s trial, meanwhile, has been continued on five different occasions. The most recent, scheduled for June, has been rescheduled for September.

In the meantime, efforts have been made on Taylor Richard’s behalf to plea bargain the matter down to counseling—for sexual assault of two toddlers.

LouisianaVoice made a public records request of Landry’s office on July 9 as to the status of the case. We received the following response that same date:

“Our office is in the process of determining what, if any, records are subject to this request and, if so, whether any privileges or exemptions apply. This may take some time. You will be notified within 30 days whether records have been located that are responsive and approximately when they will be ready for review.”

Thirty days? Really?

Why don’t you try matching Landry’s efficiency in ginning out self-serving press releases?

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Ex-state trooper Jimmy Rogers writes rambling Facebook indictment of LSP after pleading guilty to 2 felony counts

Posted in Corruption, Crime, Ethics, Fraud, Media, State Police, TV News on July 9, 2018| 15 Comments »

Former state trooper Jimmy Rogers, according to his attorney Ron Richard, “probably sang the NATIONAL ANTHEM at more events in this town (Lake Charles) than anyone else.” Now Rogers is singing again but this time his singing is confirming the existence of TICKET QUOTAS in Troop D first reported by LouisianaVoice as far back as September 2015.

Senate Bill 799 of the 2008 legislative session breezed through the Senate by a 37-0 vote and the House by an 86-18 count to become ACT 479. The bill by Sen. Joe McPherson, theoretically at least, prohibited quotas for law enforcement officers. Of course, if you think that stopped the practice in small towns scattered over the state that depend on ticket revenue to balance their budgets, I have some surplus Scott Pruitt Public Servant of the Year nomination forms for you.

Rogers, who was ARRESTED on 74 criminal counts, first resigned ahead of a State Police Internal Affairs investigation, and then requested to be DISCIPLINED AND REINSTATED.

But thanks to the efforts of the Metropolitan Crime Commission, the Calcasieu Parish DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE pursued the matter and Rogers eventually pleaded guilty to two felony counts of malfeasance in office, which automatically disqualifies him from working in another police department.

But if you thought Rogers would go quietly, you would be wrong. As his law enforcement career circled the drain, he decided he would pull others down with him and his manifesto, published on Facebook, only served to validate what LouisianaVoice wrote about Troop D over a period of at least two years.

The Lake Charles AMERICAN PRESS published a story about his lengthy Facebook statement but did not publish the actual 10-paragraph bitter, self-serving post.

So, here it is in its entirety (with punctuation and spelling corrected):

My name is Jimmy Rogers. As most of you have seen on the news lately, I used to be a Louisiana State Trooper, note that I have not been a Trooper since 2015. As a result of a “VERY LIMITED” investigation into the LACE program, I was recently arrested and I pled guilty to 2 counts of malfeasance in office. I have stayed quiet for the duration of this situation. However, I feel like it is time to share my side of the story. My hope is not that you will feel sorry for me, but that it would spark an outcry for justice, an outcry for a REAL investigation. That investigation would reveal that Jimmy Rogers is only one of hundreds, if not thousands of Troopers who have done the same thing. I’m sure certain people and the guys from the LouisianaVoice and other media outlets will expect me to be angry and lash out at them. But I’m not! The public is tired of dirty cops, dirty prosecutors, a dirty system and, specifically, a dirty state police office! Ladies and gentlemen, SO AM I! 

Let me start out by saying, I am GUILTY. I am guilty for participating in what is, in my opinion, a gross violation of YOUR constitutional rights. You are being taxed without your knowledge. 

The District Attorney’s office dangles a few dollars in front of police officers and in turn those officers write a required amount of tickets. It is well-known that the DA only cares that you give him 2 tickets for every hour he pays for. To answer the question everyone always asks, (YES THAT IS A QUOTA)!! If you do the math, he gives the cop 1/3 and pockets the rest of the money. (The temptation to double your salary is just too hard to resist)! 

John Derosier and his office have made millions of dollars on the backs of hard working, innocent Americans. I never thought of overtime this way until I married my beautiful wife only a year ago. I’ve listened to her stories of struggle as a single mother. How one ticket could literally bury a person who struggles in poverty to feed their children. They are then forced to choose between paying a ticket or a light bill! Lose your lights or be buried under tickets that continue to pile up until you have no other recourse than to sit in jail or make payments for years! Why you ask? For money!!!! 

There is no requirement as to the location of these detail. The DA will lie to you and say that the LACE detail is to reduce crashes, however, police officers write the overwhelming majority of tickets in only a few “speed trap ” areas. If your reading this and you have ever received a ticket with a little pink sticker on it, I bet my next paycheck that you either received the ticket near the I-10 or I-210 bridges, I-10 between the 210 interchange and Hwy 171 or I-10 near the Pete Maneana exit to Westlake. As a matter of fact, the Trooper who “investigated me” was even known for working lace in that exact spot. However, he used a car that didn’t have a video recorder, as did most detectives and supervisors! So, I’m sure he will get away with his indiscretions. 

Would you like to guess why we did that in those locations? Because it was easy. Troopers get the required amount of tickets quick, steal your money, then watch movies on the side of the road. Which is exactly what I did and what I was arrested for (and I should have been arrested for)! 

A thorough and detailed investigation into EVERY Trooper in the entire state over the life of the LACE program will prove that I was far from the only offender. In fact, it is literally a common practice. A practice literally taught to me as a rookie Trooper. As a Trooper, you are taught to stop working an hour or two before shift! Every trooper worth his salt will tell you that they heard the phrase, “a good trooper is in his driveway by 3”! You better not break this rule and start making traffic stops after 3! If you did, you would be verbally reprimanded by your supervisors and your peers! 

The LACE program is the program with the spotlight, however, it is absolutely not the only program in existence. Take the overtime DWI detail for instance. Did you know that the DAs office pays police officers overtime to sit at DWI checkpoints? They don’t have to even show an arrest. They get to show up and participate a little bit then go home with your money. Of course, they say they are looking for insurance and other violations, but they specifically call it the DWI detail. As many as 20 cops will show up to these details and collect money then go home without breaking a sweat!! 

How about the seat belt detail?!? Bet you never heard of that one! Same story, you must get 2 seat belt tickets an hour to earn your overtime. The crappy thing, again, is, no one sits in areas high in crash statistics….they sit in Moss Bluff or Lake Charles or Westlake so they can catch you driving out of McDonald’s without your seat belt on! It’s literally the only way to even catch a seat belt violator because they are going slow enough for you to see! 

I know that I risk a backlash from the DA and the “system”, but it’s worth it to me! I can imagine “my brothers in blue ” will be quite upset with me, none of whom were standing in line behind me to admit their wrong doing while I was forfeiting my rights and taking my lick!

I can only tell you that I am truly sorry for being a part of a system that has failed you! I am truly sorry for allowing greed to control my actions as a person who was supposed to protect you from people like that! Who knows, maybe they silence me! Maybe you are ok with them sacrificing me as tribute to cover up a massive injustice! Or, maybe you say enough is enough and demand real change! 

I know I’ve typed a lot, and I have so much more! Maybe I will bore you more in the future! However, I urge you to share this story. Demand your constitutional rights be defended!

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