5-31-17
PROSECUTORS HAVE DISMISSED DRUG CHARGES AGAINST SETH FONTENTOT OF LAFAYETTE ON THE DAY HE WAS SET TO GO TO TRIAL. FONTENOT WAS ACCUSED OF SELLING PRESCRIPTION DRUGS TO TWO U-L STUDENTS IN 2012, BUT DISTRICT ATTORNEY KEITH STUTES SAYS THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH EVIDENCE TO PROSECUTE HIM. FONTENOT IN 2013, WHEN HE WAS 18, SHOT AND KILLED 15-YEAR-OLD AUSTIN RIVAULT AND WOUNDED TWO OTHER TEENAGERS. HE FACED A SECOND DEGREE MURDER CHARGE BUT A JURY FOUND HIM GUILTY OF MANSLAUGHTER AND JUDGE EDWARD RUBIN SENTENCED HIM TO 13 MONTHS IN PRISON.
CALCASIEU PARISH SHERIFF’S DEPUTIES ARRESTED ONE SUSPECT IN THE SHOOTING OF ATTORNEY JONATHAN BROWN AT HIS HOME IN IOWA EARLY SUNDAY MORNING, BUT ANOTHER SUSPECT MANAGED TO ESCAPE CAPTURE AFTER A FOOT CHASE. DEPUTIES SPOTTED THE VEHICLE OF 27-YEAR-OLD ROBERT J. HANDY OF LAKE CHARLES IN SULPHUR MONDAY NIGHT, AND CHASED HIM IN THE VEHICLE FOR FOUR MILES, BEFORE HE STOPPED AND FLED ON FOOT. DEPUTIES MANAGED TO CAPTURE HIS PASSENGER AND THE OTHER SUSPECT, 27-YEAR-OLD KENNETH PATTUM OF JENNINGS, WHO HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH TWO COUNTS OF ATTEMPTED SECOND DEGREE MURDER AND RESISTING AN OFFICER BY FLIGHT. SHERIFF’S OFFICE SPOKESWOMAN KIM MYERS ASKS ANYONE WHO KNOWS THE WHEREABOUTS OF HANDY TO CONTACT DETECTIVE ROLAND JONES.
IBERIA PARISH SHERIFF’S DEPUTIES RESPONDED TO CALLS OF SHOTS FIRED JUST BEFORE MIDNIGHT. JULIE DARCE HAS MORE.
VOICER Q :11
Key pieces of Louisiana’s planned criminal justice overhaul have passed the House, five days after they were unexpectedly shelved amid a wider political feud.
House lawmakers approved five bills Tuesday that are part of Gov. John Bel Edwards’ push to decrease Louisiana’s highest-in-the-nation incarceration rate and save millions annually. Among the measures now headed to the Senate include Rep. Walt Leger’s proposal to reinvest 70 percent of the estimated $262 million of savings over the next decade into efforts to keep lawbreakers from re-offending.
Other bills aimed at easing the financial burden offenders face upon their release also passed but were met with some resistance from lawmakers who said the bills were too easy on criminals.
FOUR LAFAYETTE RESTAURANTS HAVE CLOSED OR WILL SOON BE CLOSING THEIR DOORS. HURRICANE GRILL AND WINGS ON AMBASSADOR CAFFERY CLOSED EARLIER THIS MONTH, WHILE GUIDRY’S REEF CLOSED OVER THE MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND AFTER FORTY YEARS OF BUSINESS. KATC REPORTED THAT COUNTRY CUISINE, WHICH OPENED ON PINHOOK ROAD IN 1978, WILL SOON BE CLOSING FOR FINANCIAL REASONS. AND RADIO STATION KTDY ANNOUNCED THAT MELLOW MUSHROOM, LOCATED IN FRONT OF THE GRAND THEATRE ON JOHNSTON STREET, WILL CLOSE ON SUNDAY.
A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD, WHO WAS ACCIDENTALLY SHOT AT MOSS BLUFF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, IS HEADING HOME AGAIN. GAGE MECHE HAD TO HAVE A THIRD SURGERY AT A LAFAYETTE HOSPITAL LAST WEEK. HIS FAMILY ANNOUNCED YESTERDAY, ON THE GAGE’S ROAD TO RECOVERY FACEBOOK PAGE, THAT HE’S PACKING TO GO HOME, AND THEY ARE DETERMINED THAT THE NEXT VISIT WILL BE FOR A CHECK UP. GAGE WAS SHOT WHEN ANOTHER STUDENT BROUGHT A GUN TO SCHOOL IN HIS BACKPACK AND THE GUN FIRED WHEN IT FELL OUT.
A CROWLEY MAN WAS SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS IN PRISON FOR PRODUCING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY. 35-YEAR-OLD BLAKE DAMIAN RODGERS WAS ACCUSED OF USING HIS CELL PHONE TO RECORD HIMSELF DOING INDECENT ACTS WITH A MINOR. RODGERS WAS INITIALLY ARRESTED IN FEBRUARY OF LAST YEAR AFTER THEY WERE TOLD HE WAS HAVING EXPLICIT CONVERSATIONS WITH A 14-YEAR-OLD. LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENTS THEN FOUND THE VIDEOS AFTER RECOVERING HIS CELL PHONE.
Critics of Louisiana’s state education superintendent have filed a lawsuit challenging his validity in the position. They asked a judge Tuesday to require Superintendent John White to be reconfirmed by the state Senate by June 8, the end of the legislative session, or to declare his job vacant. White has been superintendent since 2012, when he was appointed by the 11-member state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and approved by the Senate. The Advocate reports that White’s supporters say since he hasn’t been reappointed by the education board, Senate confirmation isn’t required.
