Month: February 2023

Billy Broussard, on Friday, February 10, 2023, provides a succinct summation of his court hearing on Broussard v. LSP Trooper Scott Lopez and his son, Benjamin, which was held on Thursday, February 2, 2023 and also provides a preview of his upcoming court hearing entailing Broussard v. Mendy “Mob Boss” Girouard and Melissa Dubroc.

It wasn’t long ago that we presented this feature on Billy Broussard’s then-upcoming court hearing entailing Billy Broussard v. LSP Trooper Scott Lopez and his son, Benjamin.

In today’s feature, Broussard gives everyone a very brief recap of what transpired at that hearing and also gives a preview on the first courtroom hearing of February 15, 2023 in the matter of Billy Broussard v. Mendy “Mob Boss” Girouard and Melissa Dubroc.  Broussard, who seemed more relaxed and at-ease than for any interview we’ve conducted entailing him so far (and we’ve conducted plenty) covered everything both succinctly and with lazer focus.  Because we already discussed Broussard’s Motion to Compel Facebook posts made to “Mob Boss'” Facebook group, no focus was placed on that matter, which has been scheduled for hearing on March 9, 2023.

So, what we’re going to do is merely present Broussard’s video interview (which contains clips from videos of others to include “Mob Boss” and Blake Duborc, husband of Defendant Melissa Dubroc) along with support documents and photos Broussard references in the video.  Here’s that video interview:

2/10/23:  Broussard recaps court hearing on Broussard v. LSP Trooper Scott Lopez and son, Benjamin, and previews 2/15/23 court hearing for Broussard v. “Mob Boss” Girouard and Melissa Dubroc.  Note, the day after publication of this feature, Broussard received this Order from the Court substantiating everything that Broussard relays in the first two minutes of the above video. 

1.  10/19/22 Peremptory Exception of No Cause of Action.

2.  Video of “Mob Boss” presenting “petition,” which Broussard has asserted, among other irregularities, contains numerous forgeries (see video above) on March 2, 2022:

March 2, 2022 53-second presentation of a “petition”  by Mendy Girouard to the SMPG Council entailing Billy Broussard’s request for a zoning variance.

3.  Website for Dr. Gannon J. Watts’ counseling contact information.

As Broussard said in the video above, Dr. Watts has a ton of initials after his name!

It should also be pointed out that Broussard, on December 2, 2022, sent attorney Haik this email stating a definitive intent to depose Dr. Watts; however, as is evidenced in Haik’s response, Haik gave Broussard attitude and questioned him on why Assistant District Attorney Michael Caffery was copied on the email (for the record, Watts was also copied, as was Sound Off Louisiana founder Robert Burns).

Perhaps this is the reason Caffery was copied on the email:

From: Michael Caffery <[email protected]>
Date: October 25, 2022 at 11:36:47 AM CDT
To: Billy Broussard <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Material Requested to Assist With Your Investigation of Potential Illegal Notary
Act(s) by Melissa Dubroc

Thank you for the email Me. Broussard. It definitely has been busy, but I’m determined to get a Motion filed on this before Thanksgiving. I apologize for the delay and feel free to contact me anytime.

Michael Caffery
Sent from my iPhone

4.  Zillow link to Dr. Watts’ home, with the Zillow estimated value of $730,000.

5.  Photos of Dr. Watts’ home from Zillow:

Dr. Gannon Watts home from the front.

Dr. Gannon Watts home from the rear.

Dr. Gannon Watts’ formal dining room at his home.

Dr. Gannon Watts’ kitchen at his home.

Dr. Gannon Watts’ living room at his home.

Bedroom for Dr. Gannon Watts’ home.

Broussard indicated that it would indeed be disheartening to learn that Dr. Watts personally signed the petition given what Broussard indicates have been extensive efforts on his (Broussard’s) property to develop his 33 acres to provide beautiful scenery for Dr. Watts vs. the overgrown, trash-filled (with hazardous materials like old tires) drug-infested property (complete with makeshift tents to house drug-addicted vagrants) which existed prior to Broussard’s acquisition of the property.

In fact, Broussard supplied current photos of his property as it abuts Dr. Watts’ property.  Here they are:

Now, we’ve provided the link for the so-called “petition” above.  Let’s focus in on the alleged signatories # 53 (there are two even though it’s counted as one — would a PhD do such and apparently have difficulty spelling his own first name? — not to mention that, for some odd reason, no last name is even provided).  Here are those alleged “signatures”:

Gee, no wonder Broussard wants to depose Dr. Watts and question him not only about the signature but also what all he may have been told that prompted (presumably) his name to be associated with the so-called “petition.”

We would note that Broussard received the personal assurance of District Attorney Duhe’ that he (Duhe’) would personally call Dr. Watts, who has a contractual relationship with Duhe’s office, and ask him if Watts did in fact sign the petition.

Additionally, Duhe’ provided the assurance that his office would submit a letter to the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office indicating that Notary Melissa Dubroc is in need of remedial training regarding fundamental obligations of a Louisiana Notary given all of the glaring issues Broussard presented to Duhe’ regarding the so-called “petition.”  Broussard was also told that Duhe’s office would provide Broussard with a copy of that letter.  As of the time of this publication, Broussard indicated that he has not yet received his copy of that letter.

6.  February 9, 2023 complaint from Broussard to Sheriff Becket Breaux entailing allegations of forgeries on the so-called “petition.”  The complaint was filed based on the DIRECT guidance of District Attorney Bo Duhe.

The complaint speaks for itself, so we’re not going to highlight even a portion of its contents.  However, we will, at this time, supply the incident receipt Broussard obtained from Breaux’s office.  Here it is:

Now, as referenced on the video, Broussard’s Motion to Compel discovery of “Mob Boss'” Facebook Group posts is covered on the above link.  However, we do reproduce at this time a few of those Facebook posts which were included with that feature:

It ought to prove interesting to see just how far Dr. Watts, with all of those initials after his name, is willing to associate himself with “Mob Boss'” so-called “petition” given it would mean he’s directly associating his name with someone (Girouard) who would so brazenly state that Broussard, “has a criminal case pending against him” when there was no such criminal case whatsoever!

Further, it will be interesting to see if Dr. Watts, again with all of those initials after his name, wants to associate his name with someone so uninformed as to state that Broussard was “violating a TRO” which had been dissolved by operation of law (at Parish President Chester Cedars’ direct instruction) for approximately 120 days prior to the above post.

Perhaps Girouard has no idea what the acronym “TRO” even stands for, and it will be interesting to see what degree, if any, Dr. Watts wants his name associated with someone that deficient in intellect.

As is evidenced by the video at the top of this post, according to Broussard, Parish President Chester Cedars is now going to great lengths to disassociate himself with these fine folks, with Cedars, as stated by Broussard on the above video, even telling Broussard, “Contrary to what you may hear, I am not involved with them and don’t get involved in these types of neighborhood spats.”

We can certainly see why Cedars would state, “Contrary to what you may hear………” because, as is depicted on the video at the outset of this feature, these folks sure are throwing Cedars’ name about plenty enough indicating that Cedars told them to this, that, or the other.

Perhaps we’ll find out either from the Sheriff / DA investigation of the allegations of forgeries on that so-called “petition” and/or Broussard’s deposition of Dr. Watts as to whether he wishes to follow Cedars’ lead entailing distance between certain residents of that neighborhood or whether he in fact has their backs regarding his “signature” on that petition.

We’ll wrap this feature up with a couple of links for those who like to read legal filings.

7.  Broussard’s 10/28/22 Opposition Memorandum to Haik’s Peremptory Exception of No Cause of Action which he supplemented on 2/6/23.

8.  Broussard’s 2/6/23 Motion and Order to Reset Hearing on His Motion to Compel Facebook Posts.  Broussard has indicated that the hearing for his Motion to Compel is set for March 9, 2023.

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Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) Member Eulis Simien, Jr., who wrote a letter of apology to 19th JDC Judge Don Johnson for providing false testimony at a November 3, 2022 trial of the Louisiana State Troopers Association (LSTA) v. LSPC wherein Simien falsely testified that his law firm had not made any political contributions since he became a member of the LSPC.

Sound Off Louisiana has been the only media outlet to cover the bitter court battle between the Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) and the Louisiana State Troopers Association (LSTA) over whether the LSTA can engage in political activities to include making campaign contributions.

This entire battle began seven (7) years ago when several retired members of the LSTA, the most vocal of whom has been retired Lt. Leon “Bucky” Millet, filed an official complaint with the LSPC when they noticed television ads running which were paid for by the LSTA supporting the candidacy of Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards in his 2015 campaign.  The LSTA almost immediately terminated the memberships of the four (4) retired troopers, including Millet and another retired Captain, Jesse Scott Perry, for having filed the complaint.

While the average Louisiana citizen may feel this is small potatoes, the reality is that an enormous amount of collateral damage has transpired over that one incident of a complaint being filed.  The most notable examples of collateral damage entail former LSPC Executive Director Cathy Derbonne and former LSPC Member Calvin Braxton.  Rather than providing the whole history of what all transpired and all of the fallout in this feature, we’ll merely refer everyone to this March 9, 2021 feature which outlines the enormous tolls that action took on the lives of Derbonne and Braxton.

Millet, Braxton, and Derbonne may have all felt vindicated on January 27, 2023 when 19th JDC Judge Donald Johnson signed this Judgment drafted by the LSPC (along with written reasons for judgment) denying the LSTA’s quest for a Declaratory Judgment enabling them to engage in political activities to include making political campaign contributions.  That judgment arose from this November 3, 2022 trial wherein the LSTA and LSPC squared off.

As indicated on the title of that feature, Sound Off Louisiana‘s founder, Robert Burns, who observed the trial, credited LSPC attorney Lenore Feeney with bringing her “A Game” for that trial; however, Burns also predicted that Johnson would ultimately side with the LSTA notwithstanding the fact that Feeney’s courtroom arguments seemed far more persuasive than did the LSTAs.  Clearly, Burns has to eat crow on that prediction, but he’s only too happy to do so.

On the video for coverage of the trial on November 3, 2022, Burns indicated that there were a few surprises at trial.  The first of those surprises was the testimony of Jesse Scott Perry, who was one of the original filers of the complaint.  Perry’s testimony did substantiate that he filed the complaint; however, his testimony also revealed that he’d basically had a complete change of heart, and his sympathy for the LSTA literally was overflowing from the witness stand.  In fact, though he was an LSPC witness, his testimony was nearly entirely sympathetic to the LSTA.

Burns provided an overview of Perry’s testimony from the stand on the video of the feature linked above, and that video included an approximate 3-minute telephone interview segment with Millet wherein Millet voiced his extreme displeasure with Perry for his testimony.  We want to provide everyone with the opportunity to read any segment of that trial for themselves, so we requested and received this full transcript of that November 3, 2022 trial of LSTA v. LSPC.  At this time, let’s highlight some of Perry’s testimony, shall we?:

Q. AND CAN YOU DESCRIBE FOR ME THE ACTIVITIES OF THE L.S.T.A. WHEN YOU WERE A MEMBER?

A. THEY WERE AN ASSOCIATION IN SUPPORT OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE TROOPERS, SUPPORTED TROOPERS FAMILIES, SUPPORTED CHARITIES, AND ANY TIME OF NEED THAT A TROOPER HAD SOMETHING CATASTROPHIC HAPPEN THEY WERE ALWAYS THERE. THERE WAS ONE TIME I NEEDED LEGAL ASSISTANCE, THEY PROVIDED ME WITH LEGAL
ASSISTANCE ON A MATTER INVOLVING THE DEPARTMENT. I BELIEVE THEY WERE VERY USEFUL. THEY ALSO ARE VERY HELPFUL — WERE VERY HELPFUL IN CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS ON BENEFITS SUCH AS MAKE-A-WISH AND GRANT-A-WISH FOUNDATIONS.

Q.  AND THAT WAS FOR SICK CHILDREN?

A.  YES, MA’AM, AND NOT ONLY JUST FOR SICK CHILDREN BUT FOR OUTSIDE OF THAT IF A TROOPER’S CHILD, SOMETHING CATASTROPHIC THAT HAPPENED, THEY WERE ALWAYS THERE.

Q.  AND SO WHY DID YOU CEASE BEING A MEMBER?

A.  I WAS REMOVED FROM THE MEMBERSHIP.

Q.  BY WHOM?

A.  I ASSUMED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, I WAS NOTIFIED BY U.S. MAIL THAT I WAS NO LONGER A MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATION.

Q. AND DO YOU KNOW WHY YOU WERE REMOVED?

A. I PRESUME IT WAS BECAUSE I FILED A COMPLAINT IN REGARDS TO POLITICAL ACTIVITY WITH THE STATE POLICE COMMISSION AS WELL AS THE LOUISIANA BOARD OF ETHICS.

Q. AND WHY DID YOU REACH OUT TO HIM?

A. I WAS SEEING (sic) TO BECOME A MEMBER AGAIN.

Q. AND WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO BE A MEMBER AGAIN?

A. ALTHOUGH I DISAGREED WITH THE ASSOCIATION ON THE POLITICAL ENDORSEMENT AS WELL AS THE MANNER IN WHICH THEY CONDUCTED THE CONTRIBUTIONS, I STILL VERY MUCH BELIEVE IN THAT ASSOCIATION AND THAT HELPS TROOPERS, IT HELPS PEOPLE, IT WORKS FOR THE BENEFIT OF TROOPERS. ALTHOUGH I DISAGREED WITH THEIR POSITION ON THIS, I WORK WITH THE STATE POLICE AT MY CURRENT JOB ON A WEEKLY BASIS, SOMETIMES ON A DAILY BASIS, AND FROM A PROFESSIONAL STANDPOINT I REALLY BELIEVE IN THAT ORGANIZATION ALTHOUGH I DISAGREED WITH THE WAY SOME OF THESE POLITICAL ENDORSEMENTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS TOOK PLACE I FELT THE TIME HAS LAPSED, AND THAT IT WAS TIME TO MOVE ON.

Q. AND SO WHAT DID MR. OXLEY ADVISE YOU?

A. HE ADVISED ME THAT HE WOULD LET THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS KNOW THROUGH THE PRESIDENT AT THE TIME, WHICH WAS MR. JAY AUCOIN, OF MY INTENTIONS AND SHORTLY THEREAFTER MR. AUCTION (sic) REACHED OUT TO ME WITHIN SEVERAL DAYS AND WE EXCHANGED CONTACT INFORMATION AND THEN COVID HAPPENED AND

Q. SO WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?

A. SOMETIMES IN 2021, LATE 2021, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER, MR. AUCOIN REACHED OUT TO ME TO SEE IF I WAS STILL INTERESTED IN SPEAKING WITH THEM ON BECOMING A MEMBER AGAIN.

Q. AND DID YOU MEET WITH THEM?

A. YES, MA’AM, I MET WITH THEM.

Q. WHO WAS IN THE MEETING?

A. TIRED (sic) LIEUTENANT COLONEL, MARK OXLEY, SECRETARY TREASURER, RODNEY HYATT, MR. AUCOIN AND MR. HACK WILLIS.

Q. AND WAS THERE ANYTHING DECIDED IN THAT MEETING?

A.  NOTHING DECIDED ON ME BECOMING A MEMBER THEN. THEY SAID THAT THEY WOULD TAKE ANYTHING THAT I SAID BACK TO THEIR BOARD AND THEY WOULD GET BACK WITH ME.

Q.  DID THEY SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THE PENDING LITIGATION?

A.  THEY DID NOT. THEY DID NOT BRING UP ANYTHING AT THAT MEETING REGARDING THE PENDING LITIGATION.

Q.  SO DID YOU HAVE ANY CONVERSATIONS AFTER THAT?

A. SEVERAL WEEKS LATER MR. WILLIS FOLLOWED UP WITH ME JUST SAYING, LOOK, WE DID EVENTUALLY MEET AS A GROUP AND WE ARE GOING TO HONOR YOUR REQUEST ON ALLOWING YOU TO ATTEND CERTAIN FUNCTIONS AT THE TROOP LEVEL, HOWEVER, YOU BEING ACTIVE IN THE MEMBERSHIP AND ATTENDING BUSINESS MEETINGS WOULD BE HELD OFF UNTIL THIS LITIGATION WAS DECIDED UPON.

Q. MEANING THIS LITIGATION, THIS CASE?

A. WHAT’S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW, YES, MA’AM.

Well, given the ruling, perhaps Perry may not want to rush to his mailbox to look for his new membership card anytime soon, no?

We reached out to retired Lt. Millet for comment, and he stated, “I really feel sorry for him that his need to be a member of the LSTA apparently outweighed his integrity.”

The other big surprise from the November 3, 2022 trial was LSPC Chairman Eulis Simien, Jr.,’s apparent amnesia regarding his law firm’s political contributions to Gov. Edwards and others.  We’ll reproduce at this time Millet calling for Simien and two other members to resign over the contributions:

1/10/19:  Millet reads into the record his complaint against Simien and two (2) other LSPC Members and their reactions thereafter.

Forgive us for being cynical, but we believe that, when your resignation is called for as above, and you provide an official response to the complaint, and your picture is on prominent display on the front page of a major newspaper entailing the incident, and the matter is covered by a major television outlet in New Orleans, we find it a little difficult to swallow the whole, “I forgot,” routine.

Nevertheless, six days after the trial, on November 9, 2022, Simien executed this affidavit saying that’s exactly what happened (i. e. that he “forgot” about the contributions of his law firm).  We should point out that we received anonymous emails directly accusing Simien of “perjury,” but, technically, if he really did “forget,” it would not be perjury.  Again, please pardon our cynicism about Simien’s convenient amnesia.

At any rate, Simien’s authoritative pronouncement that his firm had not made political contributions prompted the LSTA, on January 13, 2023, to file this Motion to Supplement the Record to include Simien’s testimony as part of the official court records.  The motion contains a letter of apology dated November 9, 2022 from Simien to Judge Johnson (see page three of the filing) for his inaccurate testimony.  Another nugget in the LSTA’s filing follows:

Exhibit 3 attached shows that Chairman Simien is an officer of the law firm, Simien & Simien, LLC. In addition to the contributions made by Chairman Simien’s law firm during the relevant period described above, Exhibit 2 also reflects a contribution made by Tamara Simien, Chairman Simien’s spouse, during the relevant time period. Mrs. Simien reportedly donated
$500.00 to Preston Castille on 9/17/2019.

Simien’s wife’s contribution would seem significant given that former LSPC Member William “Bill” Goldring had to resign over his wife’s $200 campaign contribution.  Although any contribution is supposed to not happen by LSPC members or their spouses, the last time we checked, $500 was considerably larger than $200.

Again, in reaching out to Millet for comment, he stated, “It’s my personal opinion that Chairman Simien has reached the height of hypocrisy.  As Chairman of the LSPC, it was and is his sworn duty to uphold the Constitution and Commission Rules and Regulations.  He has apparently violated that oath, and he failed to prevent his wife from engaging in the very same activity that caused a prior member to have to resign.  To quote T. Taylor Townsend entailing Goldring’s resignation, ‘Barring a voluntary resignation, I see no alternative but for the Governor to call a public hearing.'”

That hearing would be for the removal of Chairman Simien from the Commission.  Unlike most other Boards and Commissions, wherein members serve at the pleasure of the Governor, LSPC Members cannot be removed by the Governor except by the Governor calling a special hearing over which he presides and he makes the decision of whether the LSPC member is removed or not.

At any rate, the LSTA’s filing, in turn, prompted the LSPC, only six (6) days later, on January 19, 2023, to file this Motion to have Simien’s testimony entailing his law firm’s political contributions stricken from the record.

Given Judge Johnson’s ruling, Simien’s testimony would seem moot except for purposes of appeal, which the LSTA is guaranteed to pursue.  Accordingly, a court hearing will transpire on March 13, 2023 to resolve the issue of whether Simien’s testimony will be included or excluded from the official trial testimony of November 3, 2022.

See what all anybody can miss by counting only upon the mainstream media to stay informed?

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On October 22, 2022, attorney Michael Antoon, representing Troop D Master Trooper Daniel Fontenot, prepared to voice his objection to members of the Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) for their failure to summarily dismiss LSP Col. Lamar Davis’ discipline of Fontenot for turning ON his body camera.

By now, anyone not living in a cave with no modern communications is aware that Ronald Greene’s mother, Mona Hardin, is an invited guest for President Biden’s State of the Union Address tomorrow (Tuesday, February 7, 2023) evening, and she will be recognized during his address.

Obviously, the spotlight will be placed on Louisiana and the fact that Louisiana State Police (LSP) Troopers acted in a totally irresponsible manner entailing Greene’s death.

What many Louisiana residents and others across the nation may not be aware of, however, is that, even as President Biden places the national spotlight upon Louisiana entailing Greene’s death, LSP Col. Lamar Davis has punished a 20+ year veteran trooper, Daniel Fontenot, for turning ON his body camera!

What we printed above is not a misprint on our part!  So, here we have a disgraced LSP Colonel (Lamar Davis), who shows absolute reckless disregard for public safety in going 92 MPH over a dangerous portion of Louisiana’s Interstate system for which the speed limit is 60 MPH and is notorious for deaths resulting from motorists speeding and, upon him being caught, made matters much, much worse by stating, “Once a trooper has assessed a situation as non-combative, he has the prerogative to turn his body camera off.”

That too is NOT a misprint and, as is obvious by the previous link, it absolutely infuriated us when Davis made that quote!  Any decent Governor should have demanded that Davis make an immediate apology AND, more importantly, retraction for uttering such an absolutely asinine statement!

One former LSP Trooper stated point-blank to us regarding Davis’ quote entailing the body cameras:  “What he was really saying is that, ‘when it’s me, it’s fine to turn your body camera off.'”  The problem in Davis making such an utterly asinine statement is that he has provided a green light for any trooper under his command to blatantly violate LSP’s body-cam policy and merely state, “Col. Davis said that I could!”

We also want to reiterate that we firmly believe that AP reports that Davis went to DA Belton’s Office and lobbied Belton NOT to pursue criminal charges against any LSP Troopers involved in Greene’s death are 100 percent, T-totally accurate!  One person knows for sure, however, and that would be DA Belton.  If Davis engaged in that act (and we believe that he most certainly did), Belton can certainly provide that information to the Feds, no?  It should get interesting to see if Belton does in fact reveal to the Feds any initiative Davis made in that regard because, as we just stated, we firmly believe that he did!  Furthermore, wouldn’t that be the ultimate irony that Belton ignored Davis’ pleas and proceeded forward with criminal charges anyway?

We cannot overemphasize the fact that we have FULL faith and confidence in the Associated Press article contained in the just linked-feature above and its emphatic declaration that Davis did engage in that action of lobbying Belton against filing criminal charges notwithstanding Davis’ public denial of same on camera when Sound Off Louisiana‘s Burns asked Davis point-blank if he had done so, and he indicated, as clearly shown on the video of the above link, that the AP reports are “inaccurate.”

As if all of this isn’t bad enough, we now have the fact that Davis, whom we believe just may be the most incompetent LSP Colonel to ever hold that position, has now disciplined Troop D Master Trooper Daniel Fontenot for turning his body camera ON!!!!  That action by Davis just may constitute one of the most outrageous acts of which we are aware (with the notable exception of former LSP Col. Kevin Reeves’ obvious cover-up actions regarding Ronald Greene’s death, but Davis appears determined to continue Reeves’ initial cover-up actions with as much, if not more, vigor than Reeves did) being done by any LSP Colonel since body cameras came into existence.  From the above-linked documentation:

Please allow this letter to serve as a notice of appeal on behalf of MT Daniel Fontenot as provided for in Commission Rule 13 2. MT Fontenot appeals and complains of the decision of the Department which was made on December 28, 2021 to impose discipline, to-wit:  a twenty-four (24) hour suspension, in the above captioned IA case number.   The subject of the investigation and basis for the decision to discipline MT Fontenot arose from him recoding a conversation that he had with TPR Summer Robertson using his body worn camera (BWC).

MT Fontenot found out that other troopers felt that Tpr. Robertson was ducking crashes, a perception that is corroborated by SIT Anthony Efthemes. Even though MT Fontenot had authority under the LSP Commission Code as a Master Trooper to exercise functional supervision over Tpr. Robertson and to address the issues with her, MT Fontenot took care to ask his supervisor, Sgt. Willis, to intervene.  MT Fontenot recalls that Sgt. Willis communicated that he was not allowed to address the issue with Tpr. Robertson.

The Department incorrectly found that MT Fontenot violated PO 901, Section 4 – Conduct Unbecoming of an Officer. As explained above, Lt. Odom did give an “order” to Sgt. Willis, a supervisor, to not intervene and MT Fontenot was reasonable and correct to interpret it as an order.  Even if he did misinterpret the context, this is not conduct unbecoming. Further,  MT Fontenot was concerned that Tpr. Robertson would have her pride hurt when he counseled her and that she might retaliate by levying false allegations against him. He took prudent steps to document the conversation to protect himself and the department. He correctly determined that policy allowed him to utilize his BWC under these circumstances. She ultimately proved his concerns to be legitimate when she later filed EEOC complaints to retaliate against fellow troopers for holding her accountable for deficient performance on other matters. Regardless, conscientiously evaluating policy and developing a reasonable interpretation that his actions were allowed and appropriate under the circumstances is not conduct unbecoming of an officer but rather the prudent actions of a conscientious officer.

On October 22, 2022, Master Trooper Fontenot, acting through his Lake Charles attorney, Michael Antoon, filed a Motion for the LSPC to summarily dismiss the entire matter.  To us, that would seem nothing more than common sense given the absolute absurdity of this discipline being handed down by what has now become apparent as a full-blown incompetent LSP Colonel in Lamar Davis!  Here is the full video of Antoon making Fontenot’s request of the LSPC on October 22, 2022:

October 22, 2022:  Antoon pleads his case with the LSPC for the matter of LSP v. Daniel Fontenot to be summarily dismissed with a finding in favor of Fontenot without the need for a formal hearing.

One of the reasons this blog is video in nature is because we have extreme difficulty believing people would believe some of the absolute absurdities of some of the LSP matters upon which we report were it not for the fact we supply the proof through public records requests (which are becoming more and more difficult to obtain under this administration), or videos.  The above video is a perfect example of what we mean.  The LSPC meeting was about to move on to the next item on the agenda, but Antoon sought an opportunity to make one final concluding remark about the LSPC’s decision.  Let’s take a look:

October 22, 2022:  Antoon makes formal objection to the ruling by the LSPC entailing Master Trooper Daniel Fontenot.

Now, on October 24, 2022, we made formal public records request for the actual body camera of Fontenot.  One-hundred (100) days later, we received this response from LSP Attorney Gail Holland dated February 1, 2023.  Our request is “denied,” which is understandable given that Fontenot is appealing Col. Davis’ decision.  What’s baffling, however, is that, given that the appeal has been outstanding for well over a year now, why did it take LSP 100 days to issue a simple denial letter?

Now, there is far, far more to this story than what meets the eye!  What do we mean?  Well, as everyone should recall, we published this feature on October 27, 2022 expressing concerns of white male LSP Troopers that Davis is essentially prioritizing race and gender in making promotional decisions to the near-exclusion of white males.  We began a table which we’ve been gradually working on concerning all of the promotions under Davis’ watch, and we’ll produce that table at this time to show its current progress:

Of the promotions listed above (and we still have many more to place in the table as this is a gradual and painstaking process), by FAR, and we do mean BY FAR, the one that garnered the most criticism of Davis was newly-appointed Sergeant Julia Amanda Willis.  We were told of past arrest(s) of Willis and even told what some of those arrests entailed and the fact that LSP top brass knew full well about those prior arrest(s) and promoted her anyway!

Because Sgt. Willis has resided in multiple locations throughout the state, our task to try and substantiate what we were being told was made more difficult.  Nevertheless, we contacted the Grant Parish Clerk of Court (they have no online capability!), and officials there confirmed an arrest but provided few other details aside from the fact the District Attorney permitted her to enroll in the Pre-trial diversion program.  So, we followed the instruction’s on the Grant Parish Sheriff’s Office’s website wherein the webpage says “click here for public records requests.”  That link, in turn, USED to take one to a page which has now been removed and instead (test it for yourself!) takes one back to the Sheriff’s homepage.  They’ve got some real computer gurus working at the Grant Parish Sheriff’s Office, no?

Trust us, the Grant Parish Sheriff’s Office, in sharp contrast to the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office (we’ve repeatedly praised their efforts in bending over backwards to accommodate public records requests), clearly DOES NOT want the public making public records request.  The page for doing so (which now appears to be gone), instructed us that it was mandatory that we had to mail in the request and provided far more specificity to make life difficult.  Nevertheless, we complied with their absurd criteria for making the request.  What did we get back?  We got back this tersely-worded three-page letter from the Metairie law firm of Blue Williams dated October 27, 2022 letting us, in essence, know that they would fight tooth and nail the release of any such records!

So, that’s where we are in terms of LSP and the level of recklessness which is now so pandemic under the “leadership” of Col. Lamar Davis.

Regarding the subject matter of body cameras and law enforcement, the experts with whom we have consulted have stated:  “That body camera should remain active anytime the trooper is interacting with the public to commence upon him (her) exiting the unit until the point at which he (she) has returned to the unit and is leaving the scene.”  Doesn’t that about expressly sum it up?  Too bad we have an LSP Colonel who would give instructions to the contrary and that we’re also stuck with both an LSPC and Governor unwilling to call Davis on the carpet for making such an asinine proclamation and demand a retraction!

Obviously, the public has a healthy distrust of law enforcement, and the body camera is designed both to allay public concerns about police engaging in inappropriate conduct AND to serve to protect the trooper.  Not only is it appropriate for the public to have a healthy distrust of law enforcement, but we believe it is also fully appropriate for a law enforcement official who is also distrustful of his or her work environment to safeguard himself (herself) and LSP (and by virtue thereof, Louisiana taxpayers), and it is truly unfortunate to have an LSP Colonel who is so incompetent that he fails to recognize what, to us at least, ought to be common sense, and further, that we have a useless LSPC comprised of political hacks who equally cannot see the logic why this matter should have been summarily dismissed as being absurd on its face!

Interestingly enough, the next matter on the agenda was the complaint lodged with the LSPC by former prominent attorney Ashton O’Dwyer, which had been heard on June 9, 2022.  Let’s take a look at just how easy it was for the LSPC to summarily dismiss that sucker, shall we?

October 22, 2022:  LSPC has little difficulty summarily dismissing charges lodged by Ashton O’Dwyer which focus on alleged perjury committed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as LSP investigated allegations made by O’Dwyer that he was brutally beaten by LSP Troopers from Troop F soon after the storm devastated New Orleans residents where O’Dwyer resided at the time (he now resides in Houston).

So, let’s sit back and see just what all President Biden has to say tomorrow night about Louisiana LSP operations, Ronald Greene’s death, and Police Reform in general, which is supposed to the focus of Federal Legislation filed to assist in preventing some of the travesties we’ve seen aired as being so widespread when we turn on our nightly news broadcasts.

We could provide plenty of material for Biden to incorporate into his speech where it concerns LSP, but that would likely cause his speech to extend into the wee hours of the following day!

We also commit to cover Fontenot’s appeal before the LSPC, at which time we expect the body cam footage to be played before the members of the Commission, and we’ll capture that footage with our own camera as part of our follow-up to this feature.

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