Do former LSP Col. Reeves (facing two contempt hearings) and/or former LSPC Member Calvin Braxton hold the key(s) to what Gov. Edwards knew and when he knew it entailing Ronald Greene’s LSP in-custody death?

At the House Oversight Committee Investigating the In-Custody Death of Ronald Greene of April 28, 2022, Rep. Debbie Villio (R-Kenner) poses some probing questions of LSP Lt. Col. Chavez Cammon regarding when Gov. Edwards may have been informed of the true nature of Greene’s death.

When everything was reaching a crescendo between legislators, the public, and Gov. Edwards entailing the Louisiana State Police (LSP) in-custody death of Ronald Greene, Gov. Edwards held a press conference on February 1, 2022 immediately after having met with the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus.

During that press conference, Edwards stated that he first learned of the nature of Greene’s death by reading material as part of a blog post (almost assuredly this one) which contained extensive details of allegations contained in a Federal Lawsuit filed by Greene’s family entailing his death.

We published that feature on September 10, 2020 before any feature of Greene’s death was published and, through investigative reporting of WBRZ reporter Chris Nakamoto, we later learned that Louisiana State Sen. Jimmy Harris (D-New Orleans) immediately shared it with Gov. Edwards’ Executive Counsel, Matthew Block (see texts here).  Hence, that’s clearly the reference Edwards was making, which would mean that he maintains that the date he first learned of the true nature of Greene’s death would be Thursday, September 10, 2020.

Several events, including one definite and one potential hearing for Contempt Charges lodged against former LSP Col. Kevin Reeves, may very likely shed significant insight into whether Edwards may have possessed knowledge of the true nature of Greene’s death far sooner than when Edwards admitted such knowledge at that February 1, 2022 news conference.

In a stunning development at the April 28, 2022 Louisiana House Oversight Special Committee Meeting on the Death of Ronald Greene, Rep. Debbie Villio (R-Kenner) openly inquired of Lt. Col. Chavez Cammon whether Gov. Edwards may have been told about the nature of Greene’s death far sooner than Edwards admits.

Her line of questioning seemed to catch Cammon off guard, particularly when Villio made reference to Calvin Braxton, a former member of the Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) and on whom we have reported upon extensively concerning his ongoing litigation against the Louisiana State Trooper’s Association (LSTA).  Let’s take just a few minutes to take a look at that fascinating exchange:

4/28/22:  Rep. Debbie Villio (R-Kenner) poses questions to Lt. Col. Chavez Cammon regarding when Gov. Edwards may have first been informed about the nature of Ronald Greene’s death.

The video above speaks for itself, so we aren’t going to elaborate upon it other than to say we would not be surprised to see Braxton appearing before the Committee soon to clarify matters.

Beyond what we anticipate in terms of Braxton testimony, there is a potential hearing before the Louisiana Sen. Judiciary B Committee entailing  potential Contempt charges against former LSP Col. Kevin Reeves.

If and when that hearing transpires, it will entail the House Oversight Greene Committee’s frustration that Reeves, guided by his attorney, Lewis Unglesby, is being quite selective about just what he will and will not release to the Committee Members entailing contents of several journals with handwritten notes he kept on LSP affairs.

Finally, Reeves faces a Contempt of the LSPC in a matter to be considered on Thursday, May 12, 2022.

That hearing will take place at 9:00 a.m.

Let’s take some time to see attorney Jill Craft, who serves as attorney for whistleblower Carl Cavalier (who was terminated by LSP Col. Lamar Davis but is appealing both a 200-hour suspension for writing a book and his termination as separate disciplinary actions) vent at the April 14, 2022 LSPC meeting.

At that meeting, Craft expressed extreme frustration at Reeves, retired LSP Major Jason Turner (both of whom did not honor subpoenas served upon them to appear before the LSPC on that date), and Louisiana State Police, all of whom (which) against Craft seeks to be held in Contempt of the LSPC:


4/14/22:  LSPC Meeting during which attorney Jill Craft seeks Contempt charges against former LSP Col. Kevin Reeves, former LSP Major Jason Turner, and LSP itself.

We’re going to wrap this feature up by outlining a few dates of which we have first-hand knowledge entailing the Ronald Greene matter:

Date of Greene-Related Event.Nature of Greene-Related Event.
May 10, 2019.Greene suffers in-custody death at hands of LSP troopers.
October 12, 2019.Gov. Edwards barely misses re-election for Governor outright and must face 2nd place finisher, Republican Eddie Rispone, in a runoff.
November 16, 2019.Gov. Edwards prevails over Rispone by 1.4 percentage points. Openly declares, "How sweet it is!"
May 6, 2020.Greene family files lawsuit (initially in Pennsylvania) for alleged wrongful death of Greene.
Early May, 2020.Captain Chris Eskew is transferred to Internal Affairs, where he'd previously been detailed in 2011 to oversee allegations of Trooper misconduct.
Soon after May 6, 2020 (exact date not known, but it was quick).Greene litigation transferred to Federal Court for the Western District of Louisiana.
Late May to Early June, 2020.We at Sound Off Louisiana hear reports that an in-custody death may have transpired at the hands of LSP Troop F troopers.
May 25, 2020.George Floyd dies at hands of Minneapolis police.
May 26, 2020.Nationwide riots and protests transpire entailing Floyd's death.
June 5, 2020.Gov. Edwards appoints LSP Chief of Staff Lt. Col. Mike Noel as Chairman of Gaming Commission.
June 16, 2020 at approximately 12:40 p.m.Sound Off Louisiana's Burns engages in conversation with an associate referencing what he's heard about the protests and the fact that he's heard reports of an LSP in-custody death in Monroe that would, "make Floyd seem lightweight by comparison." Burns also speculates on his own with that associate that he could see why officials at the highest level of Louisiana state government would be fearful that, if the details of that death become public and they are as alleged to Burns, Louisiana may have demonstrations similar to those transpiring across the nation regarding Floyd.
June 17, 2020 - early August, 2020.We begin contacting some of our most reliable LSP sources about the nature of the in-custody death.
August 17, 2020.Hearing several duplicate accounts that LSP Trooper Chris Hollingsworth turned off his body camera upon the arrest of Greene, we make public records request for Hollingsworth's disciplinary file.
August 21, 2020.LSP responds with a three-page (for which they insisted that a check for $0.75 be provided before release) irrelevant traffic accident from 2009 and indicates that is all there is in Hollingsworth's file.
September 10, 2020.We publish the Ronald Greene initial feature with the details of the civil suit on prominent display.
September 22, 2020.Days after IA interviewed Hollingsworth and then-Col. Reeves notified him he would be fired for his role in Greene's death, Hollingworth dies in a one-car crash (many said suicide but coroner officially ruled death an accident).
Early to mid October, 2020.Gov. Edwards views Clary video.
Early to mid October, 2020.Gov. Edwards' attorneys visit with DA John Belton and subsequently indicate the Clary video is shared with Belton and members of the Greene family (a claim they would later vehemently deny).
Early to mid October, 2020.Eskew makes apparent conscious decision to withhold Clary video both from the Bureau of Investigations and State District Attorney John Belton.
January 11, 2021.We published feature on former Lt. Col. and Chief of Staff Mike Noel's "sanitized phone."
April 19, 2021Captain Eskew is promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, angering many rank and file troopers because of his past history of theft of satellite/cable TV services, for which he received a 44-hour suspension.
May 19, 2021Associated Press reporter Jim Mustian releases video of Ronald Greene's arrest.
May 20, 2021LSP Col. Lamar Davis, Lt. Col. Doug Cain, Lt. Col. Chavez Cammon, LSP Legal Counsel Faye Morrison all travel to Monroe to visit with DA Belton after the release of the Ronald Greene videos.
May 21, 2021LSP releases all of the videos it claims to have in the Ronald Greene arrest.
June 8, 2021 at approximately 8:30 p.m.We are asked to provide direct evidence that Noel's phone was "sanitized." We complied with the request (stated to be urgent) by supplying those inquiring with this brief email from then-LSP Counsel Faye Morrison
June 8, 2021 at approximately 9:00 p.m.We are informed that Gov. Edwards is "meeting with an influential legislator" about the next day's confirmation hearing for Noel. We learn later that night that the hearing is going to be called off and that Noel will announce his retirement rather than face "a grilling about his knowledge of what all transpired in the Greene death."
June 9, 2021.Noel's confirmation hearing is abandoned as he abruptly retires.
September 10, 2021Responding to public outcry, LSP's Col. Lamar Davis hosts a press conference to address concerns over lack of transparency at LSP and communicate results of investigation of Clary video's delayed discovery by LSP.
September 15, 2021.Gov. Edwards stuns listeners during an interview with Jim Engster when he continued to describe any LSP coverup as "media hype or just plain false."
February 1, 2022Gov. Edwards states that he first learned of the true nature of Greene's death on September 10, 2020 via the above-linked blog post and its details of the Federal lawsuit filed by the Greene family.

The coming days and weeks could get very interesting indeed!

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SMPG’s Cedars scores resounding court victory as Broussard TRO extended to Preliminary Injunction; also celebrates Army Corps purportedly indicating permit required for LCG’s spoil bank removals.

One of the first growths of mushrooms on Billy Broussard’s farm in Broussard, Louisiana.  Pursuant to court action yesterday converting a Temporary Restraining Order to a Preliminary Injunction, Broussard is now enjoined from engaging in any further activities to promote his long-term goal of having a mushroom farm on his 33-acre tract of land in Broussard, Louisiana.

One thing we’ve never been accused of doing is sugar-coating features we publish, and we have no intent to do so in this feature.

Although Billy Broussard’s attorney, Heather Duhon-Moore, indicated at the conclusion of a court hearing yesterday, May 3, 2022, in which St. Martin Parish Government’s (SMPG) Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) was converted to a Preliminary Injunction, that a future court hearing would transpire to block the Injunction from becoming Permanent, the court hearing yesterday can only be described as a complete and total shellacking of Broussard by SMPG President Chester Cedars.

We will provide more details in a subsequent feature, but the cliff notes version of events yesterday is that the existing TRO was converted to a Preliminary Injunction.  As a result, Broussard is now indefinitely prohibited from engaging in any of the activities originally itemized in the first and subsequent TROs.

Both sides appeared to hold back firepower to save for a Permanent Injunction hearing.  In the case of SMPG, LSP Trooper Scott Lopez, despite being present and sequestered as a witness for SMPG, ultimately was not called.  Neither was Evan Mautrin, an employee of Blake Dubroc, even though he too was present and sequestered.

In the case of Broussard, Duhon-Moore, for technical reasons, was blocked from posing arguments on certain matters, the most significant of which was challenging the constitutionality of the ordinance SMPG passed enabling the TRO to be issued in the first place.  She indicated to the judge that she would assert those arguments, along with others, at the hearing for a Permanent Injunction when that transpires.

Even though both sides may have withheld firepower for a later date, the victory on the part of SMPG was nothing short of resounding.  In fact, Judge Suzanne deMahy went so far at the conclusion of the proceeding to inform Broussard that he was prohibited from permitting a truck loaded with tree debris to remain at his property even merely overnight (if a commercial dump had closed before Broussard could take a load to the dump) even if he did not dump it!

deMahy indicated that keeping the debris in the truck overnight to take it to a commercial dump the next morning would constitute, “temporary storage,” which is something that is, “prohibited by the court-ordered injunction which you are under.”

deMahy further admonished Broussard that, if he has any questions whatsoever entailing what he can and cannot do on his property, he should contact parish officials for guidance.  She admonished him that, “otherwise, neighbors are likely to complain, and you may end up in violation of the Injunction.”

The preceding cliff notes version of events is why we have described yesterday’s hearing as an utter and complete shellacking by SMPG over Broussard.

Subscribers and site visitors may recall our football analogy we made way back when Broussard’s former counsel, Michael Adley, opted to postpone the original September 14, 2021 hearing.  We indicated that Adley opted to toss a bubble screen to try and score from the one-yard line rather than handing the ball off to a fullback we believed was all-but-certain to bulldoze his way into the end zone.

Well, given yesterday’s courtroom events, not only has Adley’s bubble screen now been intercepted, but SMPG turned that interception into a pick-six!

While some of the fourth quarter remains to be played, the undeniable fact is that Broussard, who still remains on defense because SMPG essentially opted to attempt an onside kick following the pick-six and gained possession of the football, now has little choice but to claw at the ball (even at the expense of missing tackles) because time is rapidly expiring.  The bottom line is that any score to try to win the game first necessitates obtaining possession of the football.  We’ll certainly see if that can be done when the Permanent Injunction hearing is scheduled (or perhaps by any other filing between now and then).

So, that’s the update on the SMPG litigation on Broussard.  As we said, we don’t sugar-coat features, and we believe anyone would agree we certainly did not sugar-coat our summation of yesterday’s proceedings.  In due time, we’ll provide more of a play-by-play of what all transpired at yesterday’s hearing which managed to take six (6) hours (although there were various criminal matters that Judge deMahy had to tackle which caused a few interruptions).

When we do so, we’ll be dissecting SMPG attorney Lee Durio’s Pre-Trial Memorandum Response.  We will point out at this time, however, that his filing, which transpired only 45 hours before the Court Hearing (filed on 5/1/22 at noon) was replete with more grammatical errors than we believe we have ever encountered in reading a court filing!

We will also point out at this time that, because Chester Cedars essentially served as representative for SMPG, Duhon-Moore’s Motion to Sequester him was unsuccessful.  As a result, Cedars essentially served as counsel for SMPG (trust us, Durio was just along for the ride).  Cedars managed to assert himself as de facto counsel to such an extent that he frequently chimed in while on the witness stand even though he was not being asked a question nor was he part of the discussions transpiring between the attorneys and the judge.

As we indicated, we’ll provide a play-by-play of yesterday’s hearing in the near future.  Nevertheless, we feel compelled to make just one verbatim quote Cedars made directly to Duhon-Moore while he was on the witness stand.  It was one of many, many occasions Cedars chose to publicly chastise Duhon-Moore and even try to belittle her.  That quote follows:

You are not going to stand there and insult my intelligence by indicating that Mr. Broussard’s property is anything but a full-fledged landfill.

We will also note that Cedars lost his temper on several occasions; nevertheless, in the end, he clearly emerged victorious.

On another front, Cedars was able to celebrate (spike the football again, we guess) for a second time yesterday as he gave the SMPG Council an update on the Lafayette Consolidated Government (LCG) litigation entailing what SMPG alleges was the improper removal of spoil banks along the Vermillion River.  Let’s take a look at his presentation to the SMPG Council last night:


5/3/22:  St. Martin Parish President Chester Cedars provides update on spoil banks litigation with LCG.

As we’ve emphasized on many occasions, our conservative estimate of attorneys (whom we know of) subscribing to our distribution list is about 20 percent, so let’s provide the following table of Federal Court filings since the matter was removed from 15th JDC in Lafayette to the Federal Court for the Western District of Louisiana (Lafayette Division) for their (or anyone else’s) viewing pleasure:

Date of Federal FilingFiling
April 27, 2022Removal Notice
April 28, 2022Removal Order (unsigned).
April 28, 2022U. S. Army Corp of Engineers Consent to Removal.
April 29, 2022Removal Order (signed).
May 2, 2022SMPG Motion to Dismiss (or State More Definite Statement)
May 3, 2022Notice of Motion Setting (tentatively June 29, 2022).

We will emphasize the paragraph that Cedars read to the Council Members yesterday (Document 5 above):

St. Martin Parish Government has been advised by counsel for the Corps that an Administrative Order has been issued by the Corps, notifying and advising LCG that a Corps Permit was required for LCG’s spoil bank destruction activities in St. Martin Parish; defendant herein is seeking to confirm the information from the Assistant United States Attorney, and upon such confirmation, will obtain the Administrative Order (or Orders) and, via a formal filing, will ask the Court to take judicial notice as per Fed. R. Evid. 201 of the Corp’s administrative ruling. In light of the Corps finding, LCG cannot obtain a Declaratory Judgment “that it complied with all lawful regulations, ordinances, rules, procedures and laws with the spoil bank project.” The Corps’ determination shows LCG has failed to state a claim for the Declaratory Judgment it seeks.

So, while the Broussard and LCG legal matters are obviously not fully resolved, St. Martin Parish President Chester Cedars scored an unquestionable resounding victory against Billy Broussard yesterday in court.  Furthermore, he certainly appears to have justifiable reason to revel in his update to SMPG Council Members yesterday evening on the LCG litigation.

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