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First signing for my Bobby Jindal book is this Saturday in Denham Springs; two others set for Winnfield, Mandeville

May 10, 2016 by tomaswell

Three book signings have be set for my latest book, Bobby Jindal: His Destiny and Obsession.

Our first book signing will be this Saturday at 2 p.m. at Cavalier House Books in Denham Springs’ Antique Village. It’s the same store where I held my first book signing for my first book, Louisiana Rocks: The True Genesis of Rock & Roll.

Also on hand for this Saturday’s signing will be Del Hahn, author of Smuggler’s End: The Life and Death of Barry Seal. Hahn is the retired FBI agent who successfully pursued Seal. I had a small hand in the book as editor.

Before we go any further, it might be worthwhile to point out that my book about Jindal is not a powderpuff book in the mold of the two books by Jindal which probably resulted in his dislocating his shoulder from repeatedly patting himself on the back.

Please know that this book was undertaken and written in its entirety with zero collaboration or cooperation from anyone in the Jindal camp.

It’s the kind of book that result in my being removed from Jindal’s Christmas card list—had we ever been on that list, which we certainly were not.

This 294-page book is an examination that addresses several issues:

  • How did Jindal become a multi-millionaire after only three years in Congress?
  • Jindal’s claims of a new high standard of ethics are debunked by his own actions as governor.
  • Jindal’s claim of transparency is also belied by his penchant for secrecy.
  • His vindictive nature in firing or demoting anyone and everyone who dared disagree with him.
  • His awarding of prestigious board and commission memberships to big contributors.
  • His sorry record in protecting the state’s environment and the state’s coastline.
  • His mysterious deal to sell state hospitals via a contract containing 50 blank pages.
  • His single-handed destruction of higher education and health care.
  • His near-comical, yet pathetic candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination.

There is much, much more, of course, but you will have to get the book to read it.

Here is the current schedule for upcoming book signings:

  • Cavalier House Books in Denham Springs: Saturday, May 14, at 2 p.m.
  • The Winn Parish Library in Winnfield: Thursday, May 19, at 2 p.m.
  • Barnes and Noble Bookstore in Mandeville, Saturday, June 18, from 2 to 4 p.m.

This schedule will be updated as additional signings are scheduled.

Posted in Book Review, Campaign Contributions, Corruption, Economy, Education, Ethics, Governor's Office, Health Care, Higher Education, PACs, Politicians | 13 Comments »

Rank and file LSP display more integrity than supervisors; how long will Gov. Edwards tolerate Edmonson liability?

May 10, 2016 by tomaswell

75th Anniversary Badge

LouisianaVoice submitted public records request for documents to confirm allegations of payroll fraud. We received a letter of suspension and investigation file on Lieutenant Paul Brady. Brady was issued a 24 hour suspension for violating the code of conduct and ethics. The disciplinary action was in relation to allegations reported to LouisianaVoice of supervisors padding time sheets. The proper time for the day in question was eight hours. Brady was suspended for adding hours or instructing Troopers to add hours.

Integrity among the rank and file

One Trooper interviewed reported he submitted a timesheet with 8 hours and it was changed without his knowledge by Brady to 12 hours.

Two other Troopers reportedly told Brady they worked 8 and 9 hours and Brady told them it was a 12 hour day and instructed them to put 12 hours on the time sheets.

One Trooper admitted to IA he was concerned with claiming 12 hours since he did not work 12 hours. The Trooper reported he discussed it with other Troopers so they spoke to Brady on speaker phone who told them to claim 12 hours.

One Trooper told IA Brady tried coaching him on what to say if someone asked about the time. The Trooper reportedly informed Brady that he was not going to lie.

All these examples are a good reason to remind the public that LSP is full of honest Troopers who want to do the right thing. They have refused to be corrupted by those responsible for their supervision. This should also serve as a reminder for supervisors who mistakenly believe Troopers support unethical practices. They do not.

History of lack of supervision

Brady is the same supervisor who has yet to be held accountable for the actions of recently terminated Trooper Ronald Picou. Brady also supervised Trooper Jimmy Rogers who resigned amid the investigations. We have requested the documents in relation to Rogers’ resignation.

Pertinent aspects overlooked

The letter of suspension states, “You signed the above timesheets knowing that they had worked less hours. You signed the above described biweekly timesheets knowing that the hours related to the firearms transition were not accurate.”

It is the opinion of LouisianaVoice that the investigation file supports a finding of criminal wrongdoing; payroll fraud.

Brady reported he instructed his Troopers to claim the amount of time they actually worked. This contradicts the statements of many Troopers under his supervision. There was no apparent investigation into Brady’s being dishonest. IA investigators proved he was dishonest. If his statement to claim actual time were considered truthful, he could not have been punished.

One witness reported Brady attempted to coach him on what to say if he was asked about claiming 12 hours. The Trooper was asked by Brady why he claimed 12 hours and he said it was because Brady told him to. In an apparent effort to quell a successful investigation, Brady asked if he owed him some time from prior pay periods and suggested he probably did.

The Trooper reported, “LT Brady then told (redacted) that if he was asked about his time, he should say he was owed time from a prior pay period”. The Trooper asked who he was referring to and told Brady he was not going to lie. This appears to be an effort to cover up the allegations. The aspect of interfering with an IA investigation does not appear to have been addressed in the investigation file.

Sources indicate ousted Troop D Commander Captain Chris Guillory knew about the discrepancies and took no corrective action. This is one of the many areas this investigation failed to look at. One thing has held true. Captain Guillory is untouchable when it comes to investigation and discipline regardless of the level of incompetence.

Thanks to the Troopers of Troop D

The majority of personnel at Troop D have shown they are above reproach even in the face of pressure from supervision. Many other supervisors at Troop D have demonstrated the same level of integrity. Their commander has been removed. We are told the practices allowed by the prior administration have been put to a stop. We are sorry you have endured such scrutiny but fully respect your resolve in facing tough decisions. You have held yourselves to the standards expected of public servants even without being required to do so.

Posted in Politics | 6 Comments »

How did convicted rapist gain access to isolation cell in the Union Parish Detention Center to rape teenage girl—twice?

May 10, 2016 by tomaswell

Sometimes you just have to wonder what thought process is employed in the making of incredibly bad decisions.

Take, for example, recent events at the Union Parish Detention Center in Farmerville.

What transpired there in mid-April is incompetence at best and criminal at worst.

The Ruston Daily Leader reported on Tuesday, May 3, that a convicted rapist was admitted into an isolation cell where a 17-year-old girl thought to be high on meth was being held and that he raped the girl twice.

Demarcus Shavez Peyton, 28, of Homer, is being held in the detention center until his scheduled sentencing in Claiborne Parish after his conviction of aggravated rape in that parish.

Union Parish deputies confirmed that the Claiborne Parish Sheriff’s Office had told them that Peyton is known as a serial rapist and that he had been convicted of aggravated rape.

Yet, on April 19, he was allowed inside an isolation cell with the teen after she was booked into the detention center, reportedly high on meth.

An arrest affidavit reported that Peyton admitted to authorities that a detention center staff member opened the isolation cell door for him to enter and again when he was ready to leave. He further admitted to twice having sex with the victim while inside the cell.

A detention center nurse confirmed that the girl was under the influence of meth both at the time of her arrest and when she was raped. And while the victim said she could not remember much of the incident because of the meth influence, she did say that at one time during the encounter, a female guard walked up to the cell and opened the door but did nothing. She said she did not cry out for fear of her life.

As if all that were not egregious enough, Union Parish detectives said that Peyton wrote a letter to the victim following the rape telling her that she could possibly be carrying his child.

The name of the detention center staffer who allowed Peyton into the isolation cell with the girl was not immediately provided.

The Union Parish Detention Center is a public-run facility overseen by an operation committee composed of District Attorney John Belton, Union Parish Sheriff Dusty Gates, the Union Parish Police Jury and the Farmerville Police Chief.

No employee of the sheriff’s office or the district attorney is involved in the day-to-day operations of the jail, the Daily Leader quoted officials as saying.

While this is old news in the strictest terms of current events, this entire episode warrants a thorough investigation—and not just by the local DA and the sheriff’s office. This is an inexcusable tragedy that should be investigated by the Louisiana State Police and the Louisiana Attorney General’s office.

Normally, the attorney general does not intervene in local matters but because the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s office is one of those charged with oversight of the detention center, Belton’s office should recuse itself from the investigation immediately—as should the sheriff’s office—and an outside investigation initiated.

This is far too serious a screw-up to be left to local officials. It would amount to their investigating themselves.

One issue not addressed by local media is the existence or non-existence of video surveillance cameras. There should certainly be surveillance cameras in place that might reveal who the detention staff member was who opened the door to the isolation cell to allow Peyton access to the helpless teenager. Surveillance video might even show if that person stood by the door until Peyton was ready to exit. Video, if it exists, should also reveal the identity of the female staffer who opened the cell door during the assault but did nothing. Was it the same person who allowed Peyton into the cell?

Too many questions to be left to the locals. It was a local screw-up of monumental proportions that screams out for an independent investigation.

Posted in Corruption, Crime, Prison, State Police | 12 Comments »

Another major screw-up in 4th Judicial District Court (and again Judge Larry Jefferson is right in the middle of it all)

May 9, 2016 by tomaswell

 

(The following is another installment on the myriad of problems involving the judges of the 4th Judicial District Court which includes the parishes of Ouachita and Morehouse. Former KNOE-TV investigative reporter Ken Booth, now living in Arizona, returns to his familiar North Louisiana stomping grounds for the story.)

By guest columnist Ken Booth

A 35-year-old West Monroe man is being sought by Ouachita Parish authorities who have charged him on nine counts of sex-related crimes involving a 15-year-old juvenile here.

And Sheriff’s detectives say they have developed additional information linking the suspect and now fugitive David Lee Toler to even more sexual activity with the same child on two occasions in a Shreveport Hotel and one more at a hotel in Coushatta, Red River Parish.

The OPSO detectives acted on a complaint filed by a member of the girl’s family who had confronted her about texts on her phone to Toler. At the time, she confessed that she and the suspect had exchanged sexually explicit photos and text communications.

According to authorities the family member quoted the child as having said this led to sexual relations with the suspect on at least a dozen occasions beginning in December of last year and lasting until the first or second week of last month.

The affidavit in support of the arrest warrant issued on April 30 for Toler said the juvenile later told detectives the same things she had originally alleged but added that sexual contact with Toler had occurred “more than a dozen times over the last couple of months.”

Specifically, the warrant listed four felony crimes: 1 count each of Aggravated crime against nature; indecent behavior with a juvenile; Pornography involving a juvenile; and Computer-aided solicitation of a minor. That warrant was signed by Duty Judge Larry D. Jefferson who set bonds totaling $60,000 on April 30.

Toler’s name and bond information was then placed into NCIC’s data base and following a multi-jurisdictional effort, Toler was detained in Brookhaven, Mississippi after being pulled over by a Mississippi Highway Patrolman.

Toler voluntarily waived extradition and was returned to Ouachita Parish by Sheriff’s Office detectives and booked into the Parish correctional center.

On the same day Toler was extradited back to Louisiana, May 2, the juvenile victim was interviewed by officials at the Center for Children and Families whereupon she provided details of additional crimes of intercourse between her and David Lee Toler, twice at the family’s previous residence, once in his car outside a West Monroe fitness center, once at her grandparent’s home, and once in a deer stand in a “secluded wooded area within West Lakes Subdivision.”

It was during that secondary interview at the Center that authorities learned of the three additional alleged acts at hotels in Caddo and Red River Parishes.

Another arrest warrant was issued, this time by District Judge Carl Sharp who had been officially assigned the Toler case for trial.  On the five new additional charges in Ouachita Parish, Judge Sharp ordered no bond pending an appearance by the District Attorney.

 

Armed now with information on the five new charges, Sharp did not touch Jefferson’s $60,000 bond on the first set of 4 charges—but instead set a new total bond of $2.5-Million on the five new charges.

At some point unknown, Judge Jefferson called to the Correctional Center to see if there were any unsigned 72-hour bond matters that needed to be signed, and although clearly indicating no bond but nevertheless outlining the five additional charges, Jefferson added another $25,000 to bring Toler’s bond up to $85,000 which he posted and was released.

When deputies went out to the Correctional Center to re-book Toler on the newest charges, he had already posted the $85,000 bail set by Jefferson and had been released. He is now the subject of an outstanding arrest warrant for five counts of aggravated crime against Nature with that new bond of $500,000 on each count.

He has not been seen or heard from since. He is scheduled for a May 17 court appearance.

Meanwhile, court officials were questioning how a ‘duty’ or on-call judge can alter bond instructions from a Judge who was already properly assigned to the case at hand.

Add all of this to Jefferson’s inexplicable not guilty ruling in the case of a career criminal indisputably linked by his DNA to the kidnap/robbery of a 76-year-old live-alone Grandmother the other day and before that, a slap on the hand very lenient sentence to a former state police Sgt. who was convicted of stealing dope from an evidence room and enabling an accomplice to sell it on the street for over $1-million.

On top of that, one of the 4th JDC Judges has sued four of her fellow jurists in federal court for allegedly covering up payroll fraud by their law clerk.

That law clerk, Allyson Campbell, apparently has all the right connections to warrant protection from the four jurists named as defendants in the suit filed by Judge Sharon Marchman.

Campbell’s father is George Campbell, an executive with Regions Bank. George Campbell is married to the daughter of attorney Billy Boles who was instrumental in the growth of Century Telephone and who is a major contributor to various political campaigns.

Allyson Campbell is also the sister of Catherine Creed of the Monroe personal injury law firm of Creed and Creed.

As if the courts and judges of the 4th JDC didn’t present enough problems, it was learned this week that the Louisiana Legislative Auditor is reviewing an undisclosed issue with the Ouachita Parish Clerk of Court’s office.

A couple of items state auditor Daryl Purpera’s office could be taking a close look at stem from the latest audit that shows Clerk of Court Louis Bond paid herself more than $238,000 in salary and perks (that’s over $100,000 more than the governor’s salary) in 2014—even as her office incurred a deficit of more than $242,000, the third consecutive year her office has ended the fiscal year in the red. The deficit for the year ended June 30, 2014 was more than $423,000, according to the latest audit figures.

(LouisianaVoice Editor Tom Aswell also contributed to this story)

Posted in Politics | 3 Comments »

Monroe City Court clerk’s office unable to locate appellate court’s 18-year-old reversal of Monroe veteran’s sentence

May 8, 2016 by tomaswell

The American justice system is designed to protect the rights of every citizen with no consideration given to gender, race, or social standing. Even those accused of the most heinous crimes are entitled to legal counsel and a fair trial.

Or so we were told in high school civics class.

But it’s no secret that justice is not dispensed evenly in our court system. Some can afford the very best in legal representation (some even contribute to the election campaigns of judges). Others must rely on understaffed, underpaid public defenders for their legal counsel.

Despite what we learned in school, it’s not a level playing field.

Monroe resident Lester Paster is learning that the hard way.

Before we go any further, it should be pointed out that Paster is not a criminal and his skirmishes with the law are misdemeanors and have been relegated to Monroe City Court.

City court isn’t exactly the Supreme Court, but the court level isn’t supposed to matter. (Sheldon Cooper, everyone’s favorite nerd on The Big Bang Theory, in one of the funnier episodes of that show, referred to a traffic court judge as presiding over “the kiddie table” of his profession, a remark that landed him in a holding cell for a while.)

Paster, who picketed Monroe City Court nearly 19 years ago, on July 9, 1997, was cited for LA. R.S. 14:401, which prohibits “Demonstrations in or near building housing a court of occupied as residence by judge, juror, witness or court officer.”

For violating that obscure law, he was sentenced to a fine of $50. In default of payment, he was sentenced to 30 days in jail with all but five days suspended.

He appealed and the Second Circuit Court of Appeal noted that the offense carries a fine of up to $5,000 or imprisonment of up to one year, or both.

A defendant charged with a misdemeanor in which the punishment may be a fined in excess of $1,000 or imprisonment for more than six months “shall be tried by a jury of six jurors, all of whom must concur to render a verdict,” the First Circuit decision said.

The appeal court further said the defendant “Must have been advised of and waived his right to a jury trial before proceeding to trial” and that the accused in a criminal proceeding “has the right to assistance of counsel for his defense.”

Because the record failed to reflect that Paster was advised of his right to legal counsel or of his right to a trial by jury or that he ever waived those rights, the Second Circuit set aside Paster’s conviction and sentence and remanded it back to Monroe City Court “for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”

That opinion was handed down on Dec. 22, 1997. http://veterans4justice.org/Appeal_Judgement.html

So what has happened to Paster’s case in the ensuing 18 years, four months?

Well, no one seems to know.

Paster has checked with the Monroe City Court clerk but the clerk’s office doesn’t seem to have any record of his case. No record of his trial and no record of the Second Circuit’s decision.

“My entire record has disappeared,” Paster told LouisianaVoice.

It’s not the kind of sloppy record keeping that one would think the Second Circuit would take lightly.

What’s the statute of limitations on a misdemeanor?

Posted in Corruption, Courts, Ethics, Judges, Transparency | Leave a Comment »

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