LSP Trooper Michael Lynn Satcher, II
On the very day of the primary of last year’s race for Governor of Louisiana, October 12, 2019, Louisiana State Police (LSP) Trooper Michael Lynn Satcher, II was arrested on a complaint of domestic abuse. Let’s take a look at the 47-second news clip of Satcher’s arrest:
Original news feature of Satcher’s arrest, which aired on Monday, October 14, 2019.
Satcher, who is a helicopter pilot for LSP, was charged with unauthorized entry into an inhabited dwelling; intentional damage to property in an amount less than $1,000; and intentional use of force or violence against two victims, one of whom, Cynthia Chapman, was identified as his “dating partner.”
In the last several weeks, we have received considerable inquiry and correspondence from LSP troopers and public members with integral LSP ties asking us to research the Satcher criminal case. Our first step was to make a public records request to examine Satcher’s disciplinary file and to see his two most recent time sheets. We were told that he has no disciplinary file whatsoever; however, our interest peaked when we received his two most recent time sheets and uncovered that he has been taking “forced annual leave” for the payroll periods in question.
Next, we visited the Rapides Parish Clerk of Court’s Office to see what we could uncover entailing Satcher’s criminal prosecution. The first thing we observed is that Rapides Parish DA Phillip Terrell wasted little time filing a motion to recuse himself from the prosecution by citing a very close friendship with Satcher and stating that they are also “hunting partners.” Accordingly, the matter became the responsibility of Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry’s Office to prosecute.
Our next observation concerned us because there is a minute entry on the Clerk’s system indicating that Landry’s Office has moved to Nolle Prosse (i.e. not prosecute) the domestic abuse charge. Here’s that minute entry of August 12, 2020 highlighted (click on the image to enable better viewing):
For obvious reasons, that minute entry disturbed us. Accordingly, we reached out to the Assistant Attorney General handling the matter for Jeff Landry’s Office, John Russell IV, who quickly told us that assertion is “incorrect.” Let’s take a look at our email correspondence with Russell:
As is evidenced by Russel’s correspondence above, he indicates, “the lesser charges were technically nolle procssed because I upgraded them to felony offenses.” We certainly are willing to accept Russell at this word; however, we found it interesting that the two Bills of Information pertaining to Satcher’s offenses were filed one minute apart (the first filed on May 28, 2020 at 10:02 a.m., and the second filed on May 28, 2020 at 10:03 a.m.) and only one felony is indicated (unauthorized entry), with the others specifically identified as misdemeanors. Here are those Bills of Information:
We could find no documented evidence in any publicly-recorded file on Satcher’s prosecution that indicates any of the above three misdemeanors have been upgraded to felonies (and, going strictly by the minute entry alone, the domestic abuse count is indicated to be “nolle prossed”); however, as we said, we’re willing to accept Russell’s word. Nevertheless, in a sign of respect to former President Ronald Wilson Reagan, we’ll certainly “trust but verify,” as we continue to monitor this matter and update our subscribers entailing the ultimate disposition on Satcher’s prosecution.
We also made a follow-up public records request to obtain all time sheets for which Satcher is claiming “forced annual leave” since his arrest on October 12, 2019 through the date of our request. LSP Legal Counsel Faye Morrison responded that we should expect the records on or before Monday, January 4, 2021. What we expect to find, however, is that Satcher has been forced to take annual leave as a result of the Court placing him under this protective order effective July 29, 2020, which specifically prohibits him from carrying a firearm “through the disposition of the charges.” Since carrying a firearm is a condition of employment with LSP, that would make performing his duties impossible. Hence, we expect to see that Satcher has been placed on “forced annual leave” since July 29, 2020 forward.
As indicated in the minute entry and as referenced by Russell above, Satcher has a pre-trial hearing tomorrow (November 5, 2020). We commit to our subscribers to monitor the outcome of that hearing along with any further developments that transpire in Satcher’s prosecution and any future disciplinary action (if any is ever taken after the criminal matter is resolved) and report same to our subscribers.
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