Sound Off Louisiana

Ronald Greene shortly after his death on May 10, 2019.  The photo was released by his family to social media outlets in frustration over the family’s contention that Louisiana State Police (LSP) had not been forthright concerning Greene’s manner of death.

On September 10, 2020, Sound Off Louisiana was first to publish a feature on LSP secrecy surrounding the death of Ronald Greene.  As was easily predictable, our initial feature was followed by numerous features by other local, state, national, and even international media outlets.

On September 22, 2020, one key trooper involved in Greene’s death, Chris Hollingsworth, died in a one-vehicle crash mere hours after being informed by former LSP Col. Kevin Reeves that he would be terminated over the incident.  We’ll note that this action on Reeves’ part took place a full 501 days after Greene’s death but only 12 days after our feature linked above!

On October 1, 2020, former Advocate and now Associated Press journalist Jim Mustian broke a feature entailing Hollingsworth being recorded as saying he “beat the ever-living f—” out of Greene.

On October 8, 2020, LSP Commission Chairman Eulis Simien and LSP legal counsel Faye Morrison sparred over the circumstances and lack of communication of Greene’s death.  Let’s take a look:

10/8/20:  Simien and Morrison spar over Greene’s death.

Though many have characterized Hollingsworth’s death as a suicide, it should be noted that Hollingsworth’s death certificate officially classified his death as an accident.

On November 8, 2020, Sound Off Louisiana published this feature wherein we informed the public that, in Greene’s Federal civil litigation, former LSP Col. Kevin Reeves was added as a defendant in the litigation; furthermore, we stated our belief that it was likely that action and the filing’s allegations entailing why Reeves was added that caused Gov. Edwards to lose confidence in Reeves.  Reeves retired mere days after he was added as a defendant to the lawsuit notwithstanding Gov. Edwards’ very public proclamations made only days before that he had the “utmost confidence” in Reeves.

In the feature linked in the preceding paragraph, we outlined the defendants’ efforts to get the lawsuit tossed or, “in the alternative, provide a more definite statement” regarding a cause of action against the defendants.  In responding (i.e. making such a more definite statement), Greene’s attorneys outlined Hollingsworth’s words on the recording referenced above.  Reeves, while still serving as LSP Colonel, was added with allegations that he “conspired” with the troopers to conceal the nature of Greene’s death.  The amended pleadings also stated that all defendants, including the newly-added Reeves, wanted to “deny access” for a lawsuit to be filed seeking redress for Greene’s death.

That’s the history prior to today’s feature, in which we’re going to focus on the latest developments in Greene’s civil lawsuit.  We’re going to do so in table format, and that table follows:

We’ll let the attorneys on our distribution list and/or those who came to this feature by reference have a field day reading the detailed court filings above, but we’re just going to cut to the chase on what’s in the filings:

Greene’s attorneys assert the following in seeking to substitute Chris Hollingsworth’s wife, Darby, for him in the lawsuit (from the first document linked in the table):

The death of Defendant Hollingsworth has been suggested upon the record, and Plaintiff is entitled to substitute Hollingsworth’s successor, Darby Hollingsworth, as a Defendant in this action.  Accordingly, Plaintiff, respectfully requests that this Honorable Court Grant her Motion.

Meanwhile, from the fourth document linked above, Hollingsworth’s attorney argues:

The Supreme Court in Robertson noted that “ ‘the survival of civil rights of actions under § 1983 upon the death of either the plaintiff or defendant’ ” was an area not covered by federal law….

Hollingworth’s attorney further argues that, in the absence of Federal law covering the matter, the Court has to revert to Common Law to ultimately make the following argument (again, from the fourth document in the table):

Thus, under article 428, Greene’s claims against Trooper Hollingsworth were strictly personal and abated upon his death. Therefore, the claims are extinguished, so Darby Hollingsworth cannot be substituted as a defendant.

Likewise, there is no evidence that Darby Hollingsworth accepted the succession of the deceased Trooper Hollingsworth. Under Louisiana law, “[a]n action to enforce an obligation, if the obligor is dead, may be brought against the heirs, universal legatees, or general legatees, who have accepted his succession, except as otherwise provided by law.” LSA-C.C. art. 427. In the absence of any evidence that Darby Hollingsworth (1) is an heir; (2) who accepted the succession, she is not a proper party to this action.

In response to Hollingsworth’s attorneys arguments as outlined above, Greene estate attorneys replied (fifth document in the table above):

An action does not abate on the death of a party. The only exception to this rule is an action to enforce a right or obligation which is strictly personal. La. C.C.P. Art. 428. The statute makes no distinction between Plaintiff’s and Defendants and Hollingsworth cites no authority where Louisiana Courts have interpreted the statute to apply only to Plaintiffs. Instead, Hollingsworth argues that his obligation is strictly personal and therefore abated. An obligation is strictly personal when its performance can be enforced only against the obligor.  Moreover, a victim’s action for recovery of tortious damages is not strictly personal because it is a right to recover money damages.

It is undisputed that Darby Hollingsworth, was the spouse of Chris Hollingsworth at the time of his death. Accordingly, she is his heir and presumptive universal legatee. Specifically, where a deceased spouse is survived by a descendant, the surviving spouse has a usufruct over the decedent’s share of the community property to the extent that the decedent has not disposed of it by testament. La. C.C. Art. 890. Accordingly, Darby Hollingsworth, is Chris Hollingsworth’s successor. In the absence of a renunciation, a successor is presumed to accept succession rights.

Greene estate attorneys conclude by stating that, in the event the Court does not grant its Motion to Substitute Darby Hollingsworth for Chris Hollingsworth, that (again, from the fifth document in the table):

To the extent that Darby Hollingsworth claims to not be an heir to Chris Hollingsworth, Plaintiff requests that this Honorable Court grant Plaintiff limited discovery to discover the heirs to Chris Hollingsworth estate.  To the extent that Darby Hollingsworth claims to renounce succession, Plaintiff requests that this Honorable Court Order her to do so explicitly and formally.

What’s likely at stake here may be any life insurance proceeds obtained from Hollingsworth’s unfortunate death, and that may be especially the case given that the manner of his death was officially classified as “accident,” and many life insurance policies have a double-indemnity clause which kicks in for accidents.  Of course, the insurance company may opt to dispute the declared manner of death listed on Hollingsworth’s death certificate and, if the manner of death is ultimately deemed to be suicide, the benefit amount would drop to the policy’s face amount (assuming the policy had been in place for a minimum of two years).

Once the Motion to Substitute Darby Hollingsworth for Chris Hollingsworth is ruled upon, we’ll certainly alert our subscribers and other casual readers/viewers of Sound Off Louisiana of the Court’s ruling.

In the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation, she, Karen Hayes, concludes that, partially relying upon “common sense” (perhaps utilized from Hollingsworth’s recording of admitting to, “beating the ever-living f—” out of Greene?), that Plaintiff’s complaint, as amended (from the third document linked in the table):

states a plausible claim for relief (as to all counts, save her access-to-courts claim), sufficient to afford defendants fair notice of the claims against them.

Hence, the Motions to Dismiss were all denied except for the Denial of Access claim, which was dismissed without prejudice.  As the table above indicates, Defendants appealed the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendations, but the Judge ultimately affirmed that Report’s Recommendations and reduced same to a Judgment.

Importantly, the “access” claim argued by Defendants was granted.  Accordingly, Reeves’ attorney (see the ninth document in the table) filed a Motion to Dismiss him from the litigation based on Judge Hayes’ Report and Recommendation.  As of the date of this feature, Greene’s estate attorneys had not filed any Opposition Memorandum to Reeves’ Dismissal Motion into the court record.

It should be noted that Reeves implemented something unique at LSP in that he established a committee to evaluate potential disciplinary action against Troopers accused of wrongdoing.  Also remember that, in our recent feature on LSP Chief of Staff Doug Cain, our sources indicated that the Chief of Staff is essentially the de facto LSP Colonel.

The Chief of Staff under Reeves for the critical time period entailing the Ronald Greene matter was then-Lt. Colonel Mike Noel.  Our LSP sources indicated that Noel should have been a crucial player in the Greene incident.  They encouraged us to seek any correspondence or voice recordings, text messages, emails, etc. in which Noel may have referenced the word “Greene.”  We did so, but unlike the response we received when seeking documentation on any separation of service for Cain in the feature linked above, we essentially struck out with Noel upon receiving this response to our request.  Well, maybe we didn’t totally strike out.  From that response:

we have completed the search and have identified nothing responsive to your request related to Ronald Greene incident.  We have identified emails with the term “greene” in them however, they are in no way associated with the Ronald Greene incident.  Many of these emails deal with department matters that would still require me to review and redact the emails.  In this circumstance, the work necessary to do that is overly burdensome considering that although responsive to your request to search for “Greene” these emails in no way related to what I think you are looking for based on your date range.

 

There were no text messages or voicemails to search because LTC Noel turned in his phone when he left LSP and at that time his phone was sanitized pursuant to policy. 

 

Finally, LTC Noel’s letter correspondence was searched without any results.

We presented this response to our LSP sources, and to say that they are dubious would be a huge understatement!  They indicated that most folk would have likely preferred to keep his/her phone along with the data on it.  Further, in Noel’s new role as Chairman of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, he remains under the huge umbrella of the Louisiana Department of Public Safety.  At any rate, we note some interesting commentary regarding Noel’s responsibilities in his bio on the Board’s website, to wit:

As Assistant Superintendent/Chief of Staff, Lt. Colonel
Noel was responsible for carrying out the executive level responsibilities and day-to-day operations of the Department overseeing 1,700 employees.

Noel assumed his present role on June 8, 2020, some 13 months after the Greene incident, so he had plenty of opportunity to be involved in the Greene matter.  Nevertheless, based upon the results of our public records request, it would appear Greene’s attorneys will have to work hard in deposing Noel to dispel the notion that he was “out of the loop” as George Hebert Walker Bush famously said.

After all, the person named to serve as Chairman of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board is expected to have character which is beyond reproach due to the fact that credibility and honesty are paramount to assure no improper activity transpires in gaming activities, lest a major source of Louisiana tax revenue suffer  a decline should revelations of any improper activity surface.  It goes without saying that anyone playing an active role in the cover-up of a murder would fail that criterion, so Noel certainly needs to be fully out of the loop entailing any alleged Greene murder cover-up.

Based upon the results of our public records request, Noel would certainly appear insulated from any alleged murder cover-up, thus leaving the only logical conclusion being that the sole upper-brass responsibility for any such alleged cover-up rests solely with Reeves.  Whether Reeves may have anything to say on that assertion, however, will likely be an interesting line of questioning during his depositions of the Greene civil trial!

Morrison asked us if the response she provided above would suffice, and we indicated that it would.

In concluding this feature, some folk associated with LSP were curious to whether Kory York (the other LSP Trooper on the scene immediately with Hollingsworth) would have anything in his file to indicate any discipline was handed down to him for the Greene matter.  Accordingly, we made a public records request for his file as well, and the content of that file revealed only a traffic accident transpiring in 2009, so the one-word answer would certainly appear to be “no.”

If you would like to be added to our Sound Off Louisiana email list to be notified of future posts, simply go to our home page and scroll to the bottom (mobile devices) or to the top of the right-hand column (desktops).  Supply your email address within the subscribe box.  You’ll then receive an automated email from Word Press, and all you have to do is click on the blue “confirm follow” bar contained within that email, and you’ll begin receiving great posts such as the preceding one above.

Former Lt. Col. Jay Oliphant, whom newly-installed LSP Colonel Lamar Davis demoted to Major effective Monday, January 4, 2021.

Sound Off Louisiana subscribers may recall that, near the end of the video associated with our feature entailing the resignation of alleged domestic abuser Michael Lynn Satcher II, we stated that we saw “encouraging early sings” from newly-installed LSP Col. Lamar Davis.  We also indicated that our LSP sources indicated that a realignment of LSP upper brass was imminent, but we indicated that it would be inappropriate for us to comment on the prospective moves prior to Col. Davis making the moves official.

On Monday, January 4, 2021, Col. Davis made the alignment official.  Let us first provide the folk involved in the realignment, after which Sound Off Louisiana founder Robert Burns will, via video, provide his rationale for why he deems these moves encouraging, especially the demotion of former Lt. Col. Jay Oliphant back to Major.

Captain Chavez Cammon transferred and promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, Deputy Superintendent/Patrol.

Captain Kenneth VanBuren transferred and promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, Deputy Superintendent/Investigations.

LTC Jay D. Oliphant transferred and reassigned as Major, Command Inspector, Executive Officer

Now, for the video discussion of the above:

Sound Off Louisiana founder Robert Burns provides his take on the two promotions and one demotion announced by Louisiana State Police Col. Lamar Davis effective Monday, January 4, 2021.  [Note:  Burns inadvertently stated that Cammon’s promotion was to be over “parole.”  He is actually be over “patrol.”  Also, on one segment of the video, Burns stated that VanBuren now occupies the position previously held by Robert Brown.  That isn’t correct as it is Doug Cain who now holds the position previously occupied by Robert Brown.  We regret those minor errors.] 
Links for episodes referenced by Burns for areas overseen by former Lieutenant Colonel Jay Oliphant follow:

1.  Kasha Domingue.
2.  Jacob Brown.
3.  Ronald Greene
4.  August McKay (A) and August McKay (B)
5.  Kaleb Reeves (Note:  CLICK HERE for documentation on all of Kaleb Reeves’ fleet accidents during his LSP career).
6.  Michael Lynn Satcher, II.

The full January 9, 2019 feature for Oliphant’s key role in the transfer of former Col. Reeves’ son, Kaleb, to a detective position is here.  Relevant segments pertaining to Oliphant from that feature are replicated below:

Level 3 Approval:  Jay Oliphant, whom Reeves promoted to Region 3 Major on June 27, 2017.  Incredibly, and from what we are told by our LSP sources, Oliphant THEN RECEIVED A SECOND PROMOTION (to a highly-prestigious position of Lieutenant Colonel)  as Deputy Superintendent of Patrol (the position now occupied by Cammon) sometime after June 27, 2017.

Lieutenant Colonel Oliphant is perhaps the most intriguing player in the mix.  As long-time Sound Off Louisiana subscribers are aware, it is Oliphant who is the central focus of former Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) member Calvin Braxton’s defamation lawsuit against the Louisiana State Trooper’s Association (LSTA).  In essence, Braxton alleges that the material contained in a report authored by Oliphant, which can be viewed beginning on page three (3) at this link, constituted an orchestrated attempt by the LSTA to have him removed from the LSPC by having Oliphant produce a “fake” incident report which Braxton claims is completely false.  He also asserts in the lawsuit that the content of that incident report has defamed his character.

Experts with whom we’ve spoken with ties to LSP have told us that the incident report, which is dated June 2, 2016, is highly suspicious as to its credibility because the actual incident transpired on December 5, 2015.  These experts have informed us that it’s unheard of for an LSP Trooper to draft an incident report some 180 days after the incident, and they’ve told us that the norm is for such a report to be prepared within 24 hours of the incident or 48 hours at the latest.

The timing of Oliphant’s report is also suspicious in that Braxton was known to be working with former LSPC Executive Director Cathy Derbonne regarding irregularities at the LSPC.  Most noteworthy among those irregularities were illegal campaign contributions into Gov. Edwards’ (and others) campaigns in 2015 by the LSTA.  A consent agreement was reached with the State Board of Ethics entailing those illegal campaign contributions which called for a $5,000 fine to the LSTA.

Another interesting aspect of Lt. Colonel Oliphant is a Facebook post he made in early 2017 which follows:

Because LSP is itself law enforcement, Oliphant’s social media post seems particularly inappropriate and may have warranted disciplinary action because of the horrendously bad message that it sends to the public.  Specifically, it sends the message that someone citizens have entrusted to be brave when being called upon to help them resolve their insecurities or fears actually openly admits in a wide-open, available-to-the-world Facebook post that he struggles to manage his own insecurities and fears.  His reference to doing “whatever is necessary to protect those who are near and dear to me; including myself” could very easily be interpreted as an LSP Trooper willing to take the law and legal process into his own hands, which is something any LSP Trooper would warn any citizen against doing.

Braxton has denied any such focus on Oliphant.  Also, his attorney, Jill Craft, who also represents Derbonne in her LSPC litigation, states in the following interview with WWL in New Orleans, how Oliphant should have handled any such concerns on his part (for which we wholeheartedly agree with Craft’s statements in that regard):

Craft comments on Oliphant’s alleged fears of Braxton and Braxton’s contention that he was the victim of a smear campaign orchestrated by the LSTA designed to have him removed from the LSPC.

Stay tuned, folks!  We’re about to embark on a multi-part series entailing the depositions recently filed into the court record entailing Calvin Braxton’s ongoing civil litigation against Oliphant, Louisiana State Police ( added after the original lawsuit), and the Louisiana State Trooper’s Association (LSTA).  We think you’ll find many of the quotes from those depositions to be quite intriguing!

If you would like to be added to our Sound Off Louisiana email list to be notified of future posts, simply go to our home page and scroll to the bottom (mobile devices) or to the top of the right-hand column (desktops).  Supply your email address within the subscribe box.  You’ll then receive an automated email from Word Press, and all you have to do is click on the blue “confirm follow” bar contained within that email, and you’ll begin receiving great posts such as the preceding one above.

Louisiana prison inmate Errol Victor, Sr.

M. L. Lloyd, III.

Sound Off Louisiana subscribers will recall our late 2020 feature entailing prison inmate Errol Victor Sr. complaining about the conditions at the prison where he was being housed in St. Charles Parish.  Well, as the old saying goes, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease.”  Victor’s loud complaints may have led to what he describes as a five-hour junket into the State of Mississippi to be relocated to another prison only to ultimately end up in prison at, “some place called Catahoula.”

We can only assume he references Catahoula Correctional Facility.  From the sound of Victor’s frustration, it would appear that junket and ultimate destination was not exactly what he had in mind.  Let’s listen to a three-minute recording provided to us by Louisiana United International (LUI)’s founder, Belinda Parker-Brown, wherein Victor describes his junket, which he states transpired on Wednesday, December 29, 2020:

Errol Victor, Sr. explains his December 29, 2020 five-hour junket for prison officials to locate a new place to house him.

We’ve had a few subscribers asking to be fully apprised of the Victor matter.  Since we’ve now published several features in which LUI has openly advocated for his immediate release, it probably would be a good idea to provide a table with bullet-like statements of what all has transpired.  Pre-2015 table entries are derived from this feature.

So, why the headline of today’s feature?  Because all of this incredible turmoil in the lives of everyone involved, the massive cost to Louisiana taxpayers, etc. all resulted from discipline allegedly inflicted for enjoying an ice cream bar without permission.  From the preceding feature:

The sons — now ages 16, 18, 20 and 21 —  each testified before a St. John the Baptist Parish jury that M.L. was whipped and beaten by Errol Victor, or whipped by one of Victor’s biological sons under his instructions, on March 31 and April 1, 2008, for taking an ice cream bar without permission.

Brandon Williams, 20, later testified that Errol Victor asked M.L. if he was sorry as he whipped him.

“(M.L.) said, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Williams said. “(Errol Victor) said, “No, you’re not sorry because you’re not crying.”

At one point, they say, Errol Victor poured alcohol on the bleeding wounds on M.L.’s buttocks and whipped him some more. Victor also called Tonya Victor upstairs to watch the whipping, they said.

“She said ‘Stop, I don’t want to see this’,” Brandon Williams said. She was crying, but she didn’t try to intervene, he said.

Only a select few people know for sure what took place on March 31 and April 1, 2008, but one thing is for certain.  If the 10 jurors who voted to convict got it right (or, we guess, even if they may have gotten it wrong since we all are where we are on this thing), that was a massively-expensive ice cream bar, both from an emotional standpoint and especially from a cost standpoint on the taxpayers of Louisiana!

If you would like to be added to our Sound Off Louisiana email list to be notified of future posts, simply go to our home page and scroll to the bottom (mobile devices) or to the top of the right-hand column (desktops).  Supply your email address within the subscribe box.  You’ll then receive an automated email from Word Press, and all you have to do is click on the blue “confirm follow” bar contained within that email, and you’ll begin receiving great posts such as the preceding one above.