3-27-18
THE TRIAL OF LAFAYETTE CITY MARSHAL BRIAN POPE HAS BEEN DELAYED INDEFINITELY. THAT’S BECAUSE OF MOTIONS FILED BY POPE’S ATTORNEYS THAT INCLUDE QUESTIONS OF ALLOWING POPE’S EMAILS IN THE TRIAL AND SEEKING TO MOVE THE TRIAL FROM LAFAYETTE. JUDGE DAVID SMITH SAYS HE WILL RULE ON THE MOTIONS ON MAY 21ST AND HE EXPECTS MORE MOTIONS TO BE FILED BEFORE THE TRIAL. POPE IS ACCUSED OF PERJURY AND MALFEASANCE IN OFFICE.
THE THIRD CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS HAS THROWN OUT THE CONFESSION OF DENNIS BARTIE OF LAKE CHARLES, WHO ALLEGEDLY MURDERED ROSE BORN IN 1998 AT PARADISE DONUTS ON WEST 18TH STREET. THE COURT DETERMINED THAT POLICE DID NOT HONOR HIS RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT BEFORE BARTIE MADE HIS CONFESSION. DISTRICT ATTORNEY JOHN DEROSIER DISAGREED SAYING BARTIE SAID HE DIDN’T WANT TO TALK ANYMORE BUT THEN, ON HIS OWN, BEGAN TALKING. DEROSIER SAYS THEY STILL HAVE ENOUGH EVIDENCE TO GO TO TRIAL, BUT THEY DO PLAN TO APPEAL THE RULING.
RAYNE HIGH SCHOOL WILL BE UNDER A HEAVY POLICE PRESENCE TODAY AFTER AN ALLEGED THREAT BY A STUDENT. POLICE CHIEF CARROLL STELLY TELLS KLFY TV THAT THE THREAT HAS NOT BEEN SUBSTANTIATED, BUT SOME FELLOW STUDENTS SAY THEY HEARD THE THREAT. STELLY SAYS THEY ARE CONTINUING TO INVESTIGATE AND WILL TAKE PRECAUTIONS UNTIL IT IS COMPLETED. HE SAYS OFFICERS WILL REMAIN ON CAMPUS UNTIL THE MATTER IS RESOLVED AND THE STUDENT WHO ALLEGEDLY MADE THE THREAT WILL BE UNDER SUPERVISION BY OFFICERS BOTH BEFORE AND DURING SCHOOL.
Louisiana lawmakers have jettisoned legislation to ban employers from requiring their workers to sign contracts that keep them from filing sexual harassment lawsuits in civil court. The House voted 50-42 against the proposal Monday. It needed 53 votes to pass. Supporters of the measure by Rep. Robert Johnson, a Marksville Democrat, said contracts that force sexual harassment victims to pursue claims in closed-door arbitration proceedings give too much protection to perpetrators.
A DECISION BY THE LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES TO CLOSE THE REGIONAL OFFICES IN OPELOUSAS AND NEW IBERIA AND CONSOLIDATE THEM IN LAFAYETTE IS ON HOLD. OPELOUSAS MAYOR REGGIE TATUM SAYS A DELEGATION FROM NEW IBERIA MET WITH THE GOVERNOR ON THURSDAY WHO AGREED TO REVIEW THE DECISION. THE DEPARTMENT SECRETARY JACK MONTOUCET TOLD OFFICIALS FROM IBERIA AND ST. LANDRY PARISHES THAT THE DECISION IS DESIGNED TO SAVE MONEY. HE SAID RENOVATING THE BUILDINGS IN OPELOUSAS AND NEW IBERIA WOULD COST 12 MILLION DOLLARS WHILE THE DEPARTMENT PLANS ON PURCHASING A LARGE BUILDING ON DULLES DRIVE IN LAFAYETTE FOR LESS THAN SEVEN MILLION DOLLARS.
A TWO-YEAR-OLD BOY, WHO WAS SHOT AT A HOME IN JENNINGS SATURDAY MORNING, IS SHOWING IMPROVEMENT AT A BATON ROUGE HOSPITAL. THE BOY WAS SHOT AFTER FOUR CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF FIVE FOUND A LOADED GUN IN THE HOUSE, LOCATED ON JEFF DAVIS ACADEMY ROAD. A SPOKESMAN WITH THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE SAYS THE BULLET GRAZED A BONE, BUT NO ORGANS WERE HIT. AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE INCIDENT IS CONTINUING.
LARRY JONES WAS ONE OF TWO RETIRED PATTERSON POLICE OFFICERS WHO HELPED DETAIN A MAN WHO WAS RUNNING FROM POLICE AND ARMED WITH A RIFLE. JONES TELLS KATC TV HE WAS AT CHURCH WHEN HE HEARD SOMEONE SAY “THAT’S HIM. STOP HIM.” JONES SAYS HE MANAGED TO GET HIS HANDS ON 25-YEAR-OLD MARCUS WHITE AND THEY BOTH WENT TO THE GROUND. WHITE, WHO SUFFERED A GUNSHOT WOUND FROM THE PATTERSON POLICE OFFICER WHO WAS CHASING HIM, WAS TREATED AT A LOCAL HOSPITAL AND THEN BOOKED INTO THE ST. MARY PARISH JAIL ON SEVERAL COUNTS INCLUDING ATTEMPTED FIRST DEGREE MURDER OF A POLICE OFFICER.
Louisiana senators have refused to eliminate gender-specific terms from state marriage laws in response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage. A Senate judiciary committee voted 4-1 Monday against the proposal by Sen. J.P. Morrell. Morrell, a New Orleans Democrat, said while the subject might be controversial, the law is irrefutable. Louisiana Family Forum president Gene Mills said the current language referencing a husband and wife and describing marriage as a “between a man and a woman” reflects the view of a majority of Louisiana’s citizens.
