Month: January 2023

Portrait of “Sister Khadijah Rashad”‘s grandson, Shabba, and his family.  Rashad asserts that Iberia Parish law-enforcement claims that her grandson committed suicide by hanging himself days before his scheduled release from the New Iberia Parish jail are “a lie.”

On Tuesday, January 24, 2023, Sound Off Louisiana‘s Robert Burns, along with Belinda Parker-Brown, were, for the second time in about five weeks,  invited as a guest on The Carl Nelson Radio Show, which is a four-hour daily broadcast originating in Baltimore, Maryland and heard throughout the Washington, DC area.  Anyone is welcome to listen to the show featuring Burns and Parker-Brown (and subsequently joined by former LSP Trooper Carl Cavalier) by clicking here.

The show focused on Ronald Greene’s death and, in particular, the current standing of former Louisiana State Police trooper Carl Cavalier, who was fired for speaking out to the media about Greene’s death.  Cavalier himself joined the second half of the show and revealed some stunning details which we’d not heard before being on the broadcast, and we’d recommend listening to Nelson’s feature to hear Cavalier tell his story!

Upon the conclusion of the broadcast, Nelson reached out to a colleague in Lafayette, Louisiana, Leroy “Brother Jay” Vallot, and indicated to him that he felt his Wednesday weekly broadcast, which he co-hosts with “Sister Khadijah Rashad” (which is the radio name she likes to go by and we’re honoring her request), would be intrigued to have Burns and Parker-Brown appear on their broadcast.  Here is the information for those who may wish to follow their weekly broadcast (no podcasts):

KIEE 88.3 FM and AOC Community Media (Cable TV: Cox 15 & LUS Fiber 3) Lafayette every Wednesday from 9 – 11 am CST.

So, the next day, Wednesday, January 25, 2023, Parker-Brown and Burns appeared on Brother Jay and Sister Khadijah’s show.  They were introduced to Sound Off Louisiana for the first time, and Sister Khadijah Rashad said she would really love to go on Sound Off to communicate to a wide audience her concerns about law-enforcement practices in Iberia Parish.  We set it up for today, Monday, January 30, 2023, and we’re presenting her presentation at this time:

 1/30/23:  “Sister Khadijah Rashad” voices her concerns over law-enforcement operations in Iberia Parish.

Here is some of the material referenced throughout the video which we indicated we’d supply:

Photos of mold in the jail:

Photo of the newspaper referenced in the video:

Here is the Sound Off Louisiana feature which contains the Victor White video, and here is a repeat of the video itself:

Brief video of Victor White, Sr. speaking on the 2014 death of his son while in the custody of the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office derived from the NBC News feature above.

AND….Last but CERTAINLY not least:

S

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Steak and rice and gravy provided to Sound Off’s Burns by Sister Khadijah!

Burns’ plate not long after he was served the above meal.  As Burns said on via text, “When you meet me, you’ll see I don’t miss many meals!”

As we indicated, we anticipate having Sister Khadijah back on Sound Off Louisiana to explain more concerns she has about law-enforcement operations in Iberia Parish soon!

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.

Kim Powell, who is scheduled to be sentenced for second-degree murder in front of 19th JDC Judge Fred Crifasi on Friday, February 3, 2023.

At the age of fifteen (15), Kim Powell was convicted of aggravated rape and sentenced to life in prison.  His conviction was on April 28, 1983.  Almost thirty-three (33) years later, on October 15, 2015, Powell was released from prison.  Powell would appear to owe an “assist” (to use a basketball analogy as “March Madness” rapidly approaches) to fellow Louisiana prisoner Henry Montgomery, who was responsible for this critical U. S. Supreme Court ruling, which itself expanded upon a ruling in Miller v. Alabama entailing life sentences for juvenile offenders.  From the previous link:

…..this Court decided that mandatory life without parole for juvenile homicide offenders violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on “ ‘cruel and unusual punishments.’ ” Miller v. Alabama, 567 U. S. ___, ___. Montgomery sought state collateral relief, arguing that Miller rendered his mandatory life-without-parole sentence illegal. The trial court denied his motion, and his application for a supervisory writ was denied by the Louisiana Supreme Court, which had previously held that Miller does not have retroactive effect in cases on state collateral review.

A State may remedy a Miller violation by extending parole eligibility to juvenile offenders. This would neither impose an onerous burden on the States nor disturb the finality of state convictions. And it would afford someone like Montgomery, who submits that he has evolved from a troubled, misguided youth to a model member of the prison community, the opportunity to demonstrate the truth of Miller’s central intuition—that children who commit even heinous crimes are capable of change. Pp. 14–21.

2013–1163 (La. 6/20/14), 141 So. 3d 264, reversed and remanded.

So, as mentioned above, Powell was released from prison on October 15, 2015, and his niece, Kimberly Burbank, indicates that he was a very productive citizen with everything going well in his life.  Nevertheless, upon his release from prison, Powell was required to register as a sex offender and Powell complied with that requirement.

The life Powell was living post-prison-release all changed, however, when, on Saturday, June 13, 2020, the Baton Rouge Fire Department responded to a brush fire just off Spanish Town Road in Baton Rouge.  What they encountered was a 25-year-old young lady, Courtney Lee, who had been shot in the head twice and set on fire.  Four days later, on Wednesday, June 17, 2020, the Baton Rouge Police Department arrested Powell and charged him with second-degree murder in connection with Lee’s death.

Powell faced trial before 19th JDC Judge Fred Crifasi in August of 2022 with the trial lasting three (3) days.  In a little over three (3) hours, much to the shock of Powell’s relatives (most notably his niece Kimberly Burbank and her father, Ron Wright), who were expecting a quick acquittal (they allege Powell’s defense attorney told them before trial the State had “no case”), were shocked to hear that Powell was found guilty.

On Friday, January 20, 2023, Burbank and Wright sat down with Sound Off Louisiana founder Robert Burns to express their concerns entailing Powell’s prosecution and problems they noted during trial regarding the “credibility” concerns they have regarding the State’s “expert” witnesses.  Here’s what all Burbank and Wright had to say on those matters:

 
January 20, 2023 video of Kimberly Burbank and her father, Ron Wright, expressing their concerns about the prosecution of Kim Powell, who was convicted of second-degree murder and is scheduled to be sentenced for that murder on Friday, February 3, 2023.  CLICK HERE for the complaint filed with the Baton Rouge Police Department Internal Affairs Department and CLICK HERE for the complaint filed with LSP’s Internal Affairs Department.

We want to wrap this feature up by focusing on a comment made on our last feature.  Here is the comment wherein the writer criticizes both Sound Off Louisiana and Tom Aswell, publisher of Louisiana Voice:

 

Yawn. I’ve never seen people regurgitate the same things over and over and over. Meanwhile, people are getting killed in New Orleans and Baton Rouge by the dozen, yet Tom Aswell and Sound Off are too scared to do real journalism and grill the failures of leadership in those cities.

We would suggest to Mr. Hawk that, upon Sound Off Louisiana’s founding, we stated in no uncertain terms that the blog is intended to provide a means for, “Louisiana citizens, from the ‘small guy’ to the VIP, to Sound Off on Louisiana governmental issues of concern to them.”

That is what we have done, and it is what we will continue to do!

In the case of the feature for which Mr. Hawk complains of “regurgitation,” Dinelle Hardin, with literally only a few hours notice of the matter being on an agenda, booked a flight from Orlando to New Orleans in order to attend an LSPC meeting (in Baton Rouge, thus necessitating the additional expense of obtaining a rental car) and Sound Off on the matter of LSP Troopers’ York and Clary being able to avail themselves of a massive amount of annual leave which would otherwise be forfeited if LSP Col. Davis did as Dinelle and Mona Hardin desire and, “fired them both.”  That’s a classic prospective individual with “concerns about a Louisiana government operation” for whom we like to provide the means to Sound Off.

That’s even more the case given the incredible resolve of both Dinelle Hardin and her mother, Mona, to traverse repeatedly from Florida to Louisiana for various public meetings on the death of Ronald Greene.  So, Mr. Hawk can “yawn” all he wants to!  We’re going to cover such dedication and desire to Sound Off irrespective of whether he or anyone else finds it “regurgitating” and material to “yawn” at or not!

Likewise, Burbank and Wright sought an opportunity to Sound Off regarding what they allege are inadequacies in the investigative acts of the Baton Rouge Police Department and Louisiana State Police, and also for them to further express their concerns about the impacts of those alleged inadequacies regarding the conviction four months ago of their relative, whom they firmly believe is innocent of the murder for which he has now been convicted and is scheduled to be sentenced on February 3, 2023.

If Mr. Hawk wishes to reach out to Sound Off Louisiana and Sound Off on his contentions that there are “failures of leadership” in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, we stand ready, willing, and able to set up our video camera and let him Sound Off just as we did for the folk referenced above (and many others throughout this blog’s history).  In fact, we would love for him to do so because, as we’ve stated, that is precisely why we formed the blog!

We’ll see if we get a response to this open challenge to Mr. Hawk, or whether he may be “too scared” to follow through on our challenge!  We’re fully prepared for whatever choice he may make.

Aswell is welcome to address the allegation that he (Aswell) is “too scared” to report on the matter of “failures of leadership” in New Orleans and Baton Rouge on his own blog if he may be so inclined.

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.

Dinelle Hardin, younger sister of Ronald Greene, who flew in from Orlando, Florida mere hours after learning that the Louisiana State Police Commission would take up the matters of LSP Troopers Kory York and Lt. John Clary (both of whom have been indicted criminally in the LSP in-custody death of Ronald Greene) to express her sentiments regarding their abilities to burn through thousands of hours of accumulated leave as their criminal matters progress in Union Parish.

Today, January 12, 2013 was another meeting of the Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC), and it was frustrating to watch one Commissioner, Brian Crawford, just flat-out make an inaccurate statement in what he characterized as an effort on his part to, “be clear to the public.”

The primary matter on today’s agenda was a request by LSP to place two troopers, Kory York and Lt. John Clary, on “suspension without pay.”  We knew what that item would boil down to was the troopers’ ability to deplete any remaining administrative leave, followed by their annual leave, followed by their K-time (compensatory time), and their 1.5 K-time (overtime compensatory time).

As the matter was initially taken under consideration, the amount of such time in York and Clary’s payroll account was outlined, and those balances are outlined in the following table:

So we are talking about an enormous ability to burn through leave, no?  In fact, Clary’s annual leave balance represents two (2) years and four (4) months worth of leave.  That’s a long time to be able to draw a check while Clary’s criminal matter plays out in Union Parish.

What was frustrating about Crawford’s statement?  Well, in his extreme lack of knowledge, he indicated that the State of Louisiana would have to pay the troopers in full for their leave balances in the event of any separation of service (retire, termination, etc.).

Unfortunately, Crawford’s ignorance of the fact that, upon separation of service, the amount of hours for which any state employee can be paid entailing annual leave is capped at 300, caused his efforts to, “be clear to the public” to end up making nothing clear beyond his own profound ignorance of the subject matter about which he was speaking!

As a result, LSPC Attorney Lenore Feeney had to have a brief consultation with Chairman Simien and Vice Chairman Crawford to give them a quick crash course in the maximum number of hours any state employee may be paid as it pertains to accumulated annual leave balances.

Why is Crawford’s false portrayal significant?  Simple.  LSP Col. Lamar Davis could (in theory, we know) terminate both Troopers York and Clary.  If he had, each trooper would receive payment for only 300 hours of that annual leave balance.  In Clary’s case, that would result in a whopping 94 percent of his accumulated annual leave essentially evaporating.  In York’s case, the evaporation would approximate 89 percent.

With that backdrop, let’s take a few minutes to view Dinelle Hardin’s  frustration at the whole situation and also watch Vice Chairman Crawford’s ill-advised effort to, “be clear to the public:”

 1/12/13 LSPC Meeting:  Dinelle Hardin voices her frustration at the employment status of Clary and York, after which Chairman Simien explains what’s transpiring, followed by Vice Chairman Brian Crawford’s ill-advised attempt to, “be clear to the public.”

Now, during an Executive Session of the meeting, WBRZ’s Chief Investigative Reporter, Chris Nakamoto, who produced this usual Nakamoto-stellar feature on today’s meeting, interviewed York’s criminal defense attorney, J. Michael Small.  Let’s take a look:

Nakamoto interviews York’s criminal defense attorney, J. Michael Small (CLICK HERE for Nakamoto’s WBRZ feature).

Nakamoto also interviewed Dinelle Hardin during that Executive Session.  Let’s take a look:

 Nakamoto interviews Dinelle Hardin (CLICK HERE for Nakamoto’s WBRZ feature).

Given the speed with which the Greene matter has progressed so far (yes, that’s sarcasm), we think Louisiana taxpayers can now rest assured that they’ll be providing checks for Clary and York for a rather protracted period, but hey, Crawford insists that we can all take comfort from the fact that these won’t be the taxpayer-funded vacations which have provoked the ire of activist Belinda Parker-Brown.

Okay, Mr. Crawford.  If you say so!

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.