Category: Uncategorized

Retired Louisiana State Police Lt. Leon “Bucky” Millet was the special guest of Sound Off Louisiana to provide his take on the testimony of retired LSP Capt. Jesse Scott Perry at the trial of LSTA v. LSPC of Thursday, November 3, 2022.  In early 2016, both Millet and Perry filed complaints with the LSPC over political campaign contributions which the LSTA made in the 2015 election cycle.

As we have indicated in numerous prior features, the Louisiana State Trooper’s Association (LSTA) sued the Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) over what it asserts is its “constitutional right” to engage in political activity and contribute to political campaigns and make political endorsements.

In early 2016, two retired LSP troopers, Lt. Leon “Bucky” Millet and Captain Jesse Scott Perry, filed complaints about the LSTA’s contributions in the 2015 election cycle.  Perry, who is now a Program Director at the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry and who, in 2019, pulled in a cool $75,000 in salary, which is reportedly 82% higher than the median salary at the agency, filed this January 15, 2016 complaint with the LSPC.

The trial took place on Thursday, November 3, 2022, and Perry was called as a witness by LSPC; however, any casual courtroom observer who walked in could not help but openly ponder if Perry was not a de facto witness for the LSTA.  Furthermore, we can only openly wonder if his completely LSTA-sympathetic testimony, which included him admitting from the witness stand that he has been actively attempting to rejoin the LSTA, didn’t cause LSPC Attorney Lenore Feeney, who most certainly brought her “A Game” for this trial, to be taken aback.

Perry, Millet and two other retired LSTA members saw their memberships revoked for either filing complaints (in the case of Millet and Perry) or being supportive of the two complaints filed against the LSTA.  Perry not only admitted on the witness stand that he has been actively pursuing being reinstated to the LSTA, but as he exited the courtroom, he could be heard stating very loudly (Perry indicated to Judge Don Johnson and all attorneys that he is, “severely hearing impaired,” and it’s been our experience that those who are hearing impaired tend to elevate their voices) to LSTA attorneys Mary White and Floyd Falcon, “Good luck to you guys!”  As he made his way to the exit of the courtroom, two LSTA officials stood up and shook his hand in what certainly appeared to us to be in appreciation for his highly-LSTA-sympathetic testimony.

In the following video, Sound Off Louisiana founder Robert Burns provides an overview of the trial including, very early on in the video, a very special guest appearance (via phone) of the other complainant, Ret. LSP Lt. Leon “Bucky” Millet.  We believe everyone will find this video intriguing, so feel free to take a look:

 11/6/22:  Burns provides overview of the trial and is joined early on by special guest Retired LSP Lt. Leon “Bucky” Millet who provided his thoughts on the testimony of retired Captain Jesse Scott Perry.

Now, regarding LSTA attorney Mary White cross examining the final LSPC witness on the stand, Eulis Simien, as stated in the video, White posed this question of Simien:  “Has your law firm ever made political contributions during your tenure as an LSPC Member?”

As we indicated in the video, Simien was very emphatic in his response:  “My law firm most certainly has not made any political contributions since I became an LSPC member.”

We can only state that Simien’s testimony does not appear to correlate with the facts, to wit:

1.  On January 10, 2019, Millet called for the heads of three (3) LSPC members over alleged prohibited political campaign contributions.  He supplied as support documentation Campaign Finance Reports submitted by Gov. John Bel Edwards and Erica Green (candidate for EBRP Metro Council District 5), which clearly show a “fundraiser food and beverage” contribution of $4,917.78 on March 10, 2017 to Gov. Edwards’ campaign and a $250 contribution to Erika Green’s campaign on February 9, 2017.  Both contributions are purported to be made from “Simien and Simien,” which, to us, sure sounds like a law firm.

2.  One of the LSPC Commissioners, Jared Riecke, vigorously denied any wrongdoing and called on all media outlets to publish his side of the story.  While The Advocate never did publish Riecke’s side of the story, on January 22, 2019, we published every single page of every document Riecke submitted to the LSPC challenging Millet’s assertions.

3.  In addition to # 2 above, we also, on February 14, 2019, published this feature in which Riecke dressed Millet down for “grandstanding and calling for my immediate resignation.”

Regarding Simien’s matter, the only thing we were ever told was that the contributions had been made by Simien’s brother and not him.  That fact notwithstanding, it would appear to us that Simien was, “less than candid” in his response to White’s question given that she clearly articulated, “your law firm” in her question.

We will certainly update our subscribers and casual site visitors as decisions (we use plural because we believe whatever decision Judge Johnson makes is going to be appealed by the losing side) are handed down regarding this litigation.

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.

On April 25, 2022, Louisiana State Police Trooper Scott Lopez explains to St. Martin Parish Sheriff Deputy Baily Romero just how “bad it is” at LSP with troopers “dropping like flies” while Lopez’s son, Benjamin, works diligently on his own little project.

On April 25, 2022, St. Martin Parish Sheriff Deputy Baily Romero dropped by the residence of Louisiana State Police (LSP) Trooper Scott Lopez for a friendly chat.  During that chat, with Romero’s body cam running because he was on official duty, Lopez proceeded to lampoon LSP’s existing operations to include indicating that there’s a mass exodus of troopers, that they are, “dropping like flies,” that, “nobody would want this job,” and that, “it’s so bad troopers pulling in $150,000 to $160,000 are leaving.”

Romero, for his part, said that not a single St. Martin Parish Sheriff Deputy had any interest in applying at LSP for the most recent training academy.  Romero further added, upon hearing Lopez indicate that LSP is a “revolving door” of troopers leaving and being hired, that, “Oh, yeah.  It will only go downhill from here.”

Lopez even stressed the fact that, even $80/hour – $83/hour for troopers working LACE, is not enough to keep troopers on staff with LSP because, “that’s how bad it is.”  Romero also indicated, “People don’t like change,” in reference to a new technology being deployed by LSP for crash reports (E-Crash, which Lopez stated “sucks.”)

Let’s take just a couple of minutes to sit in on the friendly little chat between Lopez and Romero of April 25, 2022 at this time:

April 25, 2022:  Lopez emphasizes to Romero just how bad it is to work at LSP now, and Romero chimes in that, “It will only go downhill from here.”

As we’ve stated, we’ve gotten tons of emails and phone calls from male white troopers both before (and even more after) we published this feature entailing white male troopers allegedly resigning in droves at LSP.  We also received an email indicating that LSP has little choice but to, “choose among slim pickings” to replace these troopers because of recruitment problems and the lack of high-caliber people willing to apply to enter the LSP Training Academy.

The fact that so many LSP Troopers were willing to assist Cadets in a years-long Training Academy cheating scandal reinforces the notion that LSP is having to resort to enrolling folk in the Academy largely incapable of learning the material and demonstrating competence on the job.  That fact, in turn has led to tons of lawsuits against LSP for which these greenhorns (Domingue, Reeves, etc.) are responsible for LSP being named defendant.

Troopers have also sent us emails expressing concern about LSP’s May 27, 2018 hiring of, “incompetent, grossly-negligent Malachi Hull,” though we want to make sure everyone knows that specific hire transpired under the leadership of disgraced former LSP Col. Kevin Reeves (whom we view as an even bigger disaster of a Colonel than Davis) rather than current LSP Col. Davis.  Nevertheless, from the preceding article:

Malachi Hull, who Mayor Mitch Landrieu sacked Friday, oversaw a Taxicab Bureau in disarray, where not only did documents go missing and bills uncollected but agency employees carried mace and handcuffs and acted like a quasi-police force.

“It’s a given the guy had to go,” said Sidney Smith, the owner of Haunted History Tours who helped lead a protest against Hull in November.

In October, investigator Ronnie Blake hit cab driver Emmanuel Esterlin doused him with pepper spray and handcuffed him. In November, investigator Wilton Joiner twisted tour guide Wendy Bosma’s arm behind her back and slammed her onto a hood of a car.

Both incidents were caught on video. Prosecutors charged Joiner with simple battery in November and Blake with aggravated battery in May. Both men were fired in April. Their attorneys dispute they used excessive force.

The run-ins started over minor offenses– Blake approached Esterlin for illegally parking on Dauphine Street in the French Quarter. Joiner confronted Bosma near the corner of Gov. Nicholls and Royal streets for apparently operating too close to another tour.

Hull, who was present when Joiner confronted Bosma, did not prevent these incidents and ignored warnings that Blake and Joiner were out of control, according to the report. Attorney Tom Shlosman recently filed civil rights lawsuits against Hull, Joiner, Blake, and the city on behalf Esterlin and Bosma.

Scores of tour guides, taxi drivers, and buggy drivers marched on City Hall on Nov. 22 to protest Hull’s continued employment and criticize the Landrieu administration’s silence over the incidents.

The IG’s report also notes that prior to the Esterlin and Bosma incidents, Hull had received several warnings about Blake and Joiner but continued to allow them operate without restraint. Kristen Morales, an IG investigator, sent Hull an Oct. 21, 2013 email requesting that he remove Joiner from the field pending an investigation. Hull admitted in his December interview with the IG that he ignored the request because his office was suffering from a shortage of personnel.

On top of Hull’s inability to control or reign in his investigators, his management of the office was also considered a failure.

Inspector General investigators sampled 500 taxi permits, discovering 80 percent had paid the incorrect amount in fees or fines. For example, one person who owned 189 CPNCs owed the city $62,370 in transfer fees. The IG investigator notified Hull multiple times about the large discrepancy, but Hull “failed to act” for 18 months.

The IG also found that most of the permit files were incomplete with important documents missing.

“OIG investigators found CPNC documents under desks, behind desks, behind file cabinets, in the storage room, in two different recycling bins, in the employee break room and misfiled,” according to the report.

In one instance, an Orleans Parish assistant district attorney couldn’t find documents needed for trial. An IG investigator found them under a taxicab bureau employee’s desk.

Hull knew about the incident but didn’t do anything to fix it, according to the report.

Anyone is welcome to read the full report by clicking here.  Because the concerns of troopers about having someone like Hull wearing a uniform, with one retired trooper going so far as to state, “the real troopers both active and retired are as disgusted with what this bunch has done to state police as anybody is. They resent the double standards and lack of accountability,” we decided to make a public records request of the Louisiana State Police Commission for all of Hull’s hiring paperwork.  Anyone is welcome to review that paperwork by clicking here.

As referenced in the article above, the city and two inspectors were sued for alleged civil rights violations under Hull’s watch.  Anyone is welcome to click here for Emmanuel Esterlin’s Federal Civil Rights suit or to click here for Wendy Bosma’s Federal Civil Rights suit.  The outcomes of those two suits were this settlement to Esterlin and this settlement to Bosma.

Meanwhile, Hull filed his own Federal Civil Rights lawsuit.  That suit was dismissed by the Federal Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana for failure to state a Cause of Action.  Hull appealed to the Fifth Circuit, and that body rendered this judgment basically saying that Hull’s attorney was too incompetent (birds of a feather?) to amend the lawsuit within the 20 days permitted by the Court or to show good cause why the attorney was unable to do that within the time frame the court granted.

As is obvious by Hull’s employment material linked above, he made no effort to hide his termination.  He simply explains it away by indicating [see page three (3)], “Wrongfully terminated by City of New Orleans after voicing concerns about public safety risks associated with unlicensed for hire picking up passengers.”  More specifically, Hull claims he was fired for speaking out against Uber.  Given how Hull operated the department in which he was tasked with heading, Uber sure sounds like a great avenue for a ride to us!

It appears Romero’s recent words of, “It will only go downhill from here,” were just as applicable four years ago as they are now if not even more so.  Add it all up, and, by our math, it totals an LSP in complete and total disarray with no signs whatsoever of improvement anytime soon!

Special credit for this feature is extended to LSP Trooper Scott Lopez and St. Martin Parish Sheriff Deputy Baily Romero for their starring roles in the above video.

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.

WBRZ (Channel 2 in Baton Rouge)’s Investigative Reporter Chris Nakamoto, on October 28, 2022, airs a “terrible optics” feature in which Louisiana State Police Col. Lamar Davis explains why LSP Trooper Robert Burns (no relation to Sound Off Louisiana founder Robert Burns) was named the head of LSP’s new Compliance Division notwithstanding Burns’ own alleged violations of law regarding accessing LSP’s database for personal purposes entailing his ex-wife and other associates.

As October of 2022 draws to a close, Louisiana State Police (LSP) appears to be a very tattered, battered, and badly-damaged public agency.

We at Sound Off Louisiana continue to be bombarded with calls and emails from male white troopers and former male white troopers after we published this feature entailing trooper concerns of LSP Col. Davis focusing on promoting African Americans and females to their exclusion and the rapidly-mounting evidence that his actions in that regard have in fact caused a mass exodus of white male troopers from LSP which is showing no signs of abating anytime soon.

Some current and former troopers have even told us that Davis has avoided the normal practice of making a phone call to inquire why ANY trooper resigns, and they indicate that the reason for that lack of action on Davis’ part, at least when such resignations transpire with white males, is because, “he simply doesn’t care why they left.”

Meanwhile, as we reported on Sunday, October 23, fired Trooper Carl Cavalier had a Federal court hearing on Thursday, October 27.  As everyone should be aware by now, Cavalier’s attorney, Jill Craft, filed motions both with the Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) and with the Federal Court to withdraw from representing Cavalier before either body.  As evidenced by the preceding link, the LSPC wasted little time granting Craft’s Motion.

The Federal Court for the Middle District of Louisiana followed LSPC’s lead when, on Thursday, October 27, 2022, it too granted Craft’s Motion to withdraw as Cavalier’s counsel as well.

That Order was filed the same day as last week’s hearing (October 27, 2022).  Additionally, the status of the $200,000 Cavalier settlement offer, which LSP is actively trying to cram down Cavalier’s throat notwithstanding Cavalier’s refusal to accept what Ronald Greene’s mother, Mona Hardin (should any such settlement be offered to his family), has characterized as, “blood money,” was also discussed during that hearing.  From the preceding Order:

Counsel for the defendant indicated that should plaintiff reject the agreed upon settlement they intend to file an appropriate motion. To the extent this motion is time sensitive, the motion should seek expedited consideration. Mr. Cavalier was advised that he would be given an opportunity to respond and that any necessary hearing would likely be set at the district judge’s discretion.

The “appropriate Motion” referenced above would be an Order to Enforce Settlement, and LSP Defense Counsel Jennie Pellegrin essentially teletyped LSP’s intent to file such a Motion as fast as possible when, yesterday (October 28, 2022), she filed this request for a transcript of the 10/27/22 hearing.

Meanwhile Cavalier indicated to us that he is pressing the LSPC to move forward with his hearing, and he even indicated that he’d asked at Thursday’s Federal Court hearing whether the Federal Court had any jurisdiction over the LSPC, and Cavalier said the response was, “No.  They are their own entity, and we can’t tell them what to do.”  Nevertheless, Cavalier states that the LSPC has indicated to him that it will not move forward until there is, “more clarity with your Federal case.”

As a condition of settlement, clearly the language in that settlement would be that Cavalier would be required to relinquish any right to work for LSP again, and that is something that he has indicated to us is, “completely unacceptable” to him.

We also know plenty of folk are likely asking why the $200,000 settlement offer was even made to Cavalier, but we suspect that may be something Attorney General Jeff Landry may be quizzed on as he pursues being Louisiana’s next Governor, and we’re certainly not going to be impolite by speculating on what response Landry may opt to provide should he be presented with that inquiry (and our money says he will be).

Obviously, it goes without saying that the next few weeks entailing LSP and Cavalier should prove quite intriguing to say the least!

Now, beyond white male trooper frustrations and Cavalier, also occurring last week were three (3) great investigative features concerning LSP.  Two (2) of those features were by WBRZ (Channel 2 in Baton Rouge)’s Investigative Reporter Chris Nakamoto, and the third was by Fox8 (New Orleans)’s Lee Zurik.  Let’s take a look, shall we?

 10/27/22:  Nakamoto quizzes LSP Col. Lamar Davis entailing LSP Trooper Justin Chiasson’s hit-and-run boating incident.

 10/28/22:  Nakamoto quizzes LSP Col. Lamar Davis on naming LSP Trooper Robert Burns (no relation to Sound Off Louisiana’s Robert Burns) to head LSP’s new Compliance Division despite past alleged illegal acts entailing LSP’s database being used for personal purposes.

10/28/22:   Zurik covers LSPC Commissioner Richardson’s 120-day suspension for payroll time sheet irregularities.

Now, last but not least.  The long-awaited trial entailing the LSTA suing the LSPC on August 15, 2018 to enable it to make campaign contributions will transpire this upcoming week on November 3, 2022 commencing at 10:00 a.m.

We’ve made no secret of the fact that we believe this will be a full-blown dog-and-pony exercise with the conclusion being that 19th Judicial District Judge Don Johnson will direct both attorneys to draft their ideal judgments.  At some point thereafter, Johnson will sign the LSTA’s judgment, and, voila, they’ll have court authority to proceed full-bore with campaign contributions in the upcoming campaign for Governor of Louisiana! Of course, that will be subject to the LSPC appealing and how fast such an appeal may be able to be resolved.

Eight years ago, the LSTA went to great lengths to be able to make such contributions to Gov. John Bel Edwards.  Exactly what lengths?  Well, the LSTA deployed its then Executive Director, David Young, who “retired” after firing a gun outside LSTA headquarters while chasing down his daughter’s boyfriend.  Yes, the same David Young who agreed to illegally funnel campaign cash into Gov. Edwards’ campaign account (along with other politicians) by writing personal checks himself to the campaign and then being reimbursed by the LSTA for those contributions.  That’s a practice which former LSPC Member Lloyd Grafton referred to as, “straight up money laundering.”

We often wonder how all those extensive efforts to help ensure an Edwards win has worked out for the LSTA given the chaos that now exists at LSP with Edwards having appointed (our opinion here) three consecutive disasters to head the agency.

We’ll certainly remind Edwards that, on December 8, 2015 (well before he was sworn into office), we warned him that re-appointing Mike Edmonson as LSP Col. was going to blow up in his face.

Interestingly enough, another blogger reported that, upon him specifically asking Edwards during the campaign whether he (Edwards) intended to re-appoint Edmonson, Edwards responded, “I haven’t made a decision on that.”  Then, at the celebration blowout on the eve of Edwards being sworn in, Edmonson bragged to the media that Edwards told him, “I never even considered anyone for the position but you!”

That Edwards contradiction alone should have indicated what type of “leadership” Edwards, as “LA-1,” would provide for LSP, and we firmly believe Louisiana history textbooks for future middle school and high school students will reference Edwards as the most disastrous governor Louisiana has ever had when it comes to accountability and ethics at LSP!

Who knows?  Those history books may even note the irony of that fact given the all of the “Honor Code” touting Edwards did during the 2015 campaign.

At any rate, we’ll certainly attend the court hearing on Thursday and report on its outcome once that outcome is known.  After all, Sound Off Louisiana is the only media outlet we know of to reference the fact that this lawsuit even exists!

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.