On February 17, 2017, then-Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) Chairman T. J. Doss leans back and smirks at his then-colleague, Jared Caruso-Riecke, upon hearing that another then-colleague, Lloyd Grafton, had just resigned soon after citing, “a total lack of integrity” on the Commission.

We preface this feature with the famous words “pride comes before a heavy fall.”  Perhaps no words are more appropriate than those when it comes to former LSPC Chairman and former LSP Trooper T. J. Doss.

According to former LSPC Member Lloyd Grafton, Doss openly called for his then-fellow Louisiana State Troopers Association (LSTA) Members to elect him to the LSPC so that he could, “get rid of (Executive Director) Cathy Derbonne.”

Grafton did not reference Doss by name, but everyone who knew anything about the corrupt practices of the LSTA and the LSPC (which continue unabated to this day) knew precisely who he meant.  Let’s take just a brief moment to watch Grafton calling Doss out for his efforts to oust Derbonne (again without referencing Doss by name):

2/17/17:  Grafton (without naming him) openly states former LSP Trooper J. J. Doss sought to be elected by Troopers to the LSPC to, “get rid of (Executive Director) Cathy Derbonne.”

Later in that same meeting, Grafton would announce his resignation from the LSPC, and those words prompted Doss to lean back in his chair, smirk toward then-Commissioner Riecke as if to silently say, “another mission accomplished.”  Let’s take just a brief moment to see Doss with that brash smirk on his face:

2/17/17:  Citing a “total lack of integrity on this Commission,” Grafton resigns, after which then-LSPC Chairman T. J. Doss leans back in his chair, looks over toward then-colleague Jared Caruso-Riecke and smirks.

Doss, in tandem with Riecke, succeeded in strong arming a resignation out of Derbonne, after which Derbonne sued the LSPC alleging “constructive discharge,” a suit which ultimately cost taxpayers $272,000 in settlement proceeds and legal fees.

Perhaps emboldened by his accomplishment of getting Derbonne to resign from the LSPC, Doss openly flaunted his perceived extreme power by prominently checking into the Watermark Hotel along with then-Vice Chairman Monica Manzella.  Here’s that video which was filmed by Sound Off Louisiana founder Robert Burns (in tandem with still photos taken by another blogger):

Then-LSPC Chairman, T. J. Doss, checks into the Watermark Hotel in Baton Rouge with then-Vice Chairman Monica Manzella hours after an LSPC Meeting earlier that day.

The hotel check in occurred after Manzella and Doss first enjoyed a feature movie at Movie Tavern in Baton Rouge, which was their first destination after the LSPC meeting.  Here’s video of them departing the theater, again taken by Burns:

Then-LSPC Chairman, T. J. Doss, accompanied by then-Vice Chairman, Monica Manzella, exit the Movie Tavern theater in Baton Rouge after enjoying a movie (and judging by Doss’ large mug, at least one beer for him) shortly after an LSPC meeting.

Once these two videos were viewed far and wide, then-Governor John Bel Edwards sought Manzella’s resignation and then-LSP Col. Kevin Reeves, showing at least a small modicum of integrity, demanded that Doss too resign. Both Doss and Manzella reluctantly complied and tendered their resignations from the LSPC.

We never really heard much more out of Doss after the above incidents until September 30, 2025, at which time we received communications from a rock-solid reliable source that T. J. Doss had “retired.”  The source added details to what prompted Doss’ abrupt “retirement;” however, we are refraining from publishing those details for reasons which become obvious very soon.

Being perfectly candid, we have been hit with so many alleged acts of LSP trooper wrongdoing within the last three months that the Doss matter actually slipped through the cracks for us.  Nevertheless, upon reviewing older communications, Burns realized that he had not followed up with the communication pertaining to Doss (for which Burns apologized to his source).

On December 18, 2025, Burns reached out to LSP Public Information Officer Captain Russell Graham.

Burns’ inquiry was simple:  “Does T. J. Doss remain employed by LSP and, if not, can you provide the date of his retirement?”

Graham replied that it was his “understanding” that Doss “retired.”  He added:  “Lt. (Jared) Sandifer reached out to IA yesterday to get that date for you and I’m sure will reach out once he gets it.  Mr. Doss retired after many years of service and was eligible to do so.”

Lt. Sandifer contacted us the next day, December 19, 2025, and stated this:  “I can confirm that TJ Doss retired effective 8/23/2025.  Thank you.”

Less than two (2) hours later, however, Sandifer contacted us again to ensure this matter is accurately reported.  He had this to say: “I’ve had additional conversations with IA and HR, and I wanted to clarify one point for accuracy.  Doss did not technically retire.  He resigned.”

The repeated references to IA prompted us to submit a Public Records Request to LSP on that same day, December 19, 2025.  Specifically, we requested:

“All documentation pertaining to any Internal Affairs investigation into former LSP Trooper Thomas “T. J.” Doss which took place from the period of January 1, 2025 through August 25, 2025.”

As could easily be predicted, on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, we received the following response from LSP:

“The Louisiana Department of Public Safety, Public Safety Services has reviewed your request and has determined that the records requested are exempt from disclosure under FOIA for the following reasons:

Letters of counseling or other investigations that do not result in discipline – LSP Comm Rule 12.9 provides that Letter of Counseling are not considered “public.” Any investigation that does not result in discipline is not considered “public.”

So, apparently the Doss investigation entailed a matter so serious that he would end up feeling a need to “technically resign,” yet nothing exists other than a “letter of counseling” entailing the matter.  Okay.  That sounds about like what so many troopers told us to expect once they learned that Gov.-Elect Landry had reportedly selected a team of Hodges and Besson to run the show!

What this boils down to is Gov. Jeff Landry’s top-down approach of blocking public records almost from the very second he was sworn into office.

Further, knowing his past similar history during his entire eight-year tenure at the AG’s Office, we expected nothing short of that attitude and approach by Landry, which is precisely why we gave him a “back-handed endorsement.”

Here’s one thing anyone can take to the bank:  That is the absolute last endorsement of Landry we will ever make, and Burns has resolved himself that he will never vote for Landry again in his lifetime.

As outlined at the start of this feature on widespread law enforcement corruption and favoritism, Burns’ long-time friend and former FDIC coworker, Martin Cooper, had this to say entailing WAFB’s present public records request lawsuit against LSP:

LSP’s response to everything now is screw you, sue me. which most people don’t have the means to do. Even for those who do, like WAFB, it doesn’t matter because if LSP loses, they just dip into the public kitty and pay.

We are where we are entailing LSP doing precisely what Cooper references above largely as a result of the following votes by the House and Senate:  House Vote and Senate Vote.  Apparently, these Legislators voted the way they did in the apparent belief that public agencies would operate in good faith.

Well, in the matter of LSP, they’re operating in anything but good faith.

Therefore, since the Legislature created this mess as sponsored by Rep. Les Farnum (R-Sulfur), as Burns stated on the video on the law enforcement corruption and favoritism feature just linked, the only logical solution is to increase the penalty for failing to conform with Louisiana’s Public Records Act from $100/day to $5,000/day.  As Burns stated on the video, $100 a day is a “joke” to an agency like LSP.  They will gladly pay that to conceal matters they don’t want published.  Trust us (and we think our readers possess plenty of intellect to know without having to lean on “trusting us”), that is precisely what LSP is doing in this Doss matter.

Where does that leave us?  We have to hope that a major media outlet with deep pockets such as Cooper described (WAFB?) will take interest in this matter and file yet another lawsuit against LSP.  If they do, we’ll surely follow it with keen interest!

Jordan Whitley, son of Kendra Bazile, who passed away from a single-vehicle crash on January 26, 2024.

It’s time for the next segment of our deep dive into EBRP EMS.  Today, we’re presenting Segment 4 of Kendra Bazile’s continuing efforts to obtain answers regarding the single-car crash which claimed the life of her son on January 26, 2024.  Everyone may recall that Segment One was presented on October 19, 2025, Segment Two was presented on October 24, 2025, and Segment Three was presented on December 9, 2025.  Here’s video coverage of Segment 4:

Segment 4:  Kendra Bazile, along with family friend “Junior,” engage in the fourth part of our EMS series entailing the single-car crash that claimed the life of her son, Jordan Whitley, on January 26, 2024 and the potential for shortcomings on the parts of first responders who responded to and/or investigated the response since the time of the crash.

At the end of the video, we indicated this feature would conclude the EMS series (and particularly the Whitley aspect of it); however, let’s consider this a football game!

We just completed the fourth (4th) quarter, but guess what, folks?  The game finished tied, and Bazile has indicated that she intends to supply further material for an “overtime” of this “game.”  Given the nature of the material she has indicated that she intends to supply to us, we believe everyone is going want to view the “overtime” feature, and we’re very excited to receive the material and then publish that material!

Here is an updated table containing all of our past EMS features:

Former Ascension Parish Sheriff Deputy C. J. Matthews.

In our December 16, 2025 feature entailing Louisiana State Police (LSP) Col. Robert Hodges’ failure to release a video entailing allegations of excessive force and the fact WAFB is suing him over that failure, there was a single comment made to that feature by Martin Cooper, who is a 37-year friend and former FDIC coworker of Sound Off Louisiana founder Robert Burns which we want to draw attention to for the outset of this feature:

 

You can thank Senator Miguez and Representative Emerson for emasculating Louisiana public records law so agencies like LSP can operate in secret and potentially abuse Louisiana citizens.

I hope Senator Cassidy is paying attention. The people of Louisiana want transparency, not secrecy.

So what is really going on? You can read it here: https://lailluminator.com/briefs/gov-landry-enacts-law-that-lets-officials-ignore-public-records-requests/

After Sen. Miguez and his friends removed all personal liability penalties for failing to abide by open records laws, he opened the door for unscrupulous actors like Colonel Hodges to completely ignore state law, which is exactly what LSP is doing.

LSP’s response to everything now is screw you, sue me, which most people don’t have the means to do. Even for those who do, like WAFB, it doesn’t matter because if LSP loses, they just dip into the public kitty and pay. Thus, basically the public is being used to hide corruption at the highest level of state government, and Senator Miguez was one of the architects. He just thought the public was too dumb to figure it out. Well now you know.

We want to be as blunt as we possibly know how to be in reinforcing our sentiments that, in the history of Sound Off Louisiana’s 10-year existence, we believe this is one of the most, if not the most, spot on comments ever made on this blog!  We also want to draw attention to the headline of the feature for which Cooper provides the link above:

Gov. Landry enacts law that lets officials ignore public records requests

In our experience (and clearly that of many other media outlets, to obviously include The Lens / Nola and WAFB), that (ignoring public records requests) is precisely what has transpired since State Rep. Les Farnum (R-Sulphur)’s bill was signed into law by Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry.

In a recent interview (more like a venting session for both he and Sound Off Louisiana’s Burns), former Ascension Parish Sheriff Deputy C. J. Matthews, with whom we conducted an extensive series of alleged corruption of former Ascension Parish Sheriff (now State Rep. Jeff Wiley) and current Ascension Parish Sheriff Bobby Webre (Matthews’ step-brother), sat down to vent on some of the recent favoritism that he alleges has arisen in recent weeks entailing law enforcement officials.

What follows is a no-holes-barred, raw naked exposure of rank corruption and favoritism extended by law enforcement officials (especially District Attorneys) in Ascension, Livingston, and East Baton Rouge Parishes:

Burns and Matthews pull back the curtain to expose law enforcement corruption and favoritism extended in Livingston, Ascension, and East Baton Rouge Parishes and discuss recent tax failures initiated by EBRP District Attorney Hillar Moore.

As promised in the video above, here is the link for the Sound Off Louisiana feature entailing former LSP Captain Belinda Murphy “blowing a gasket” when she learned of Matthews’ possession of Attorney General files which, as indicated on the video above, he obtained via public records requests.

Matthews likely would not be able to obtain such records today compliments of Gov. Landry, Rep. Farnum, and 99 other House Members  and 35 Members of the Louisiana Senate.  Burns states on the above video the only solution to the roadblock these legislators and Gov. Landry have now erected that effectively kills Louisiana citizens’ rights to public records.

Also, as referenced on the video above, here are the links for WAFB’s Chris Nakamoto features entailing the preferential treatment Matthews asserts was extended to Murphy:  2/26/25 “booking blunder” and 11/19/25 feature of Murphy’s hiring as Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Deputy.

Also, as referenced in the above video, here is the link for our January 22, 2017 feature outlining all of the many “first offense” DWIs of Cody Bowlin in Livingston Parish.  Burns has made a couple of trips to the Livingston Parish Clerk of Court just to confirm that Bowlin continues to be a loose cannon endangering the lives of any motorist who comes anywhere near him, and not unexpectedly, there were quite a few more incidents since the feature we published, which further illustrates the outright favoritism (and point-blank corruption) of Livingston Parish DA Scott Perrilloux.

Here are documents pertaining to a 10/5/23 incident which we provide merely for illustrative purposes because, being blunt, it isn’t worth our time to comb through all of the incidents and provide updates for them:  Bill of Information, Arrest Warrant, and his special bond provisions (released on personal surety) since the poor baby apparently couldn’t afford bond after the umpteenth arrest!

From the Bill of Information:

THAT ONE Cody Matthew Bowlin ON THE 5th DAY OF October. 2023 IS CHARGED WITH Aggravated Obstruction of Public Passage, Aggrivated Criminal Damage to Property, False Imprisonment, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, Possession of Marijuana Under 14g, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, Violation of Protective Order (firearm).

As is evident from the narrative of the arrest warrant, Bowlin telephoned the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office and said that he had been involved in a “hit and run” with a U-Haul driver (later identified as William King) who was, “attempting to flee.”  Bowlin told investigating officers that King had been hired to assist his girlfriend with moving furniture from her camp.  Bowlin then stated that he, “entered his 2020 Silver GMC truck attempting to block the U-Haul believing that he (King) was attempting to steal it.”

Once King successfully avoided Bowlin’s attempt to block the U-Haul, Bowlin, “gave chase with he and King driving through multiple residential yards before Bowlin was able to successfully block King’s U-Haul.”  Bowlin then stated that King struck his truck with the U-Haul as King sought to escape.  Bowlin’s statements led to his immediate arrest.  Bowlin’s “girlfriend” was then interviewed, and she indicated that she was in no relationship with Bowlin.  When King was interviewed, he stated that, upon discovering that Bowlin intended to “steal” the U-Haul, he phoned Bowlin’s “girlfriend,” and she then instructed him (King) to, “return to Baton Rouge with the U-Haul.”

King further stated that Bowlin, “intentionally crashed into the U-Haul and pointed a gun at him (King)” as he tried to escape.  King’s statements were corroborated by a disinterested third-party witness.  The arrest warrant also reveals that Bowlin was, “wanted through a fugitive arrest warrant by the EBRPSO.”  The warrant also indicates Bowlin was a “convicted felon per his criminal history results.”  Further, Bowlin was subject to a protection order.

What, one may ask, is Bowlin’s status such that he would be afforded such highly favorable treatment by District Attorney Scott Perrilloux?  Well, he would be the grandson of the late Marvin Henderson, himself a convicted felon with a highly-checkered auction career.  Interestingly, the National Auctioneers Association opted to induct Henderson into its “Hall of Fame,” notwithstanding the felony conviction for wire fraud entailing an auction and his other checkered past issues.

Meanwhile, Bowlin’s escapades continue as evidenced by this February 23, 2025 arrest:

At least now law enforcement and prosecutors are giving Bowlin credit for his DWI efforts in labeling this one a “fourth offense OR SUBSEQUENT” (emphasis ours).  Trust us, the number is far, far higher than four!  All anyone has to do is examine the Livingston Parish Clerk of Court’s records to ascertain the number of “first offense” DWIs on Bowlin’s record; furthermore, that doesn’t even include DWI arrests not in Livingston Parish, of which there are two we outlined on the feature on Bowlin published back in 2017 (EBRP and St. Landry Parishes)!

We may make a trip to the Livingston Parish Clerk of Court sooner or later to check on the ultimate disposition of this latest arrest, but what we’d love to do is have Gary Chambers, whom Burns references in the video with Matthews above, as a Sound Off Louisiana guest and let him elaborate as to whether a black man with no political connections who engaged in actions such as Bowlin’s would be afforded such generous treatment!

Now, there is also a segment of the feature video above with references Burns confronting District Attorney Hillar Moore about the alleged favoritism extended to Belinda Murphy and our December 6, 2021 prior confronting of Moore entailing the OBVIOUS favoritism extended to former Louisiana State Trooper Association (LSTA) Executive Director David Young.

Anyone is welcome to view the video to see Moore’s response and Burns expressing open dismay at the fact that Moore (unless he was acting) had no idea who David Young is.  After the meeting, Moore told Burns that, “whatever I said last time is what I want to stick with.”  Accordingly, let’s present that video once again (which incorporates WAFB video of Young chasing his daughter’s boyfriend in the LSTA parking lot and firing a gun in his general direction):

EBRP District Attorney provides an explanation on 12/6/21 entailing why he opted to drop all charges against former LSTA Executive Director David Young.

There again, we’d love to have Gary Chambers as a Sound Off Louisiana guest and inquire of him if a young black man with no political connections could expect for a DA to simply drop the charges when there is a video depicting the very act!  To us, Moore’s excuse for not prosecuting is about like saying, “Well, there were no witnesses to step forward entailing the Ronald Greene matter, so video notwithstanding, I’m just going to drop the charges.”

Now, we’re almost done but, as Burns references in the feature video above, he felt he would be remiss if he did not reference Craig Mills, whom Burns conducted a series of interviews entailing his frustration with Louisiana “adoption scams.”  We followed Mills’ case from its outset through its conclusion but, because there were so many court hearings, we never reported anything until some sort of resolution was obtained.

What ultimately transpired was that, disgraced Judge Tiffany Foxworth-Roberts, who has since been removed from the Bench, heard a Motion for Summary Judgment filed by the Defendant in the lawsuit.  She denied the Motion, which was great news for Mills.

The Defendant appealed to the First Circuit Court of Appeals, which remanded the case back to Foxworth with a statement that she would first have to supply written reasons for her ruling.  Sound Off Louisiana’s Burns was in the Courtroom when he heard with his own ears Foxworth state, “The First Circuit has informed me that I have to supply written reasons for my ruling in this matter.”  We kid you not!  Those words came straight from the disgraced former Judge’s mouth!

So, the First Circuit is having to provide remedial training for a matter that a first-year law student ought to know by the third week of law school!

Let us not forget that this Judge is the same Judge whom prominent Baton Rouge Conservative Republican Woody Jenkins came to the defense of.  From the preceding Advocate article:

“Whether she was a captain or not, we would have endorsed her,” Jenkins said. “She was a constitutionalist, pro-family, pro-life, conservative, and that’s who we support.”

At any rate, Foxworth-Roberts indicated at the hearing that she would draft her reasons for ruling and set a court date for her to make those reasons known to all parties.  Burns attended that court hearing as well.  Foxworth-Roberts provided both attorneys with an approximate 14-page itemization of her ruling, but guess what, folks?  She reversed herself and granted the Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment, and the Craig Mills civil litigation concluded because he’s become exhausted and simply could not pour more resources at the matter to appeal that Judgment to the First Circuit.

We bring all of that up because, as Burns explains on the video above, Mills expended enormous resources litigating the matter, and that included a significant outlay to locate the birth mother of the child.  Once he succeeded and the birth mother was apprehended, EBRP District Attorney Hillar Moore wasted little time granting her a release from jail.  In fact, Moore was so trigger-happy to release the birth mother that she was gone from jail before Mills could even have his attorney depose her, which he was seeking very much to do!

We reached out to Mills to provide whatever explanation he was provided entailing Moore’s action.  Mills responded, “He (Moore) dropped the charges due to prescription, but (the) defense attorney did not make that claim in his motions.”

So, whenever DAs suffer defeats from the voters when they seek more funds (and perhaps even mere future renewals if the kind of favoritism toward law enforcement continues), we respectfully submit that these DAs need only take a good close look in the mirror for why their ballot initiatives fail!

If anyone may be interested in hearing Moore provide tons of stats in the immediate aftermath of the defeat of Mayor President Sid Edwards’ THRIVE voter initiative on November 15, 2025, feel free to CLICK HERE to hear all of the gloom and doom and boohoo cries from Moore in their entireties from his 11/24/25 appearance at the Baton Rouge Press Club.

Happy New Year, folks, and, trust us, we’ve got plenty more lined up for the entity upon which we report the most:  Louisiana State Police.  Just stay tuned!