Former LSP Trooper Carl Cavalier.
When we published this feature on Billy Broussard v. Mendy “Mob Boss” Girouard, we indicated on the video that, after Thanksgiving, we’d be cranking things back up with regard to Louisiana State Police (LSP). Well, it’s after Thanksgiving, so it’s time to crank things up!
Also, when we published this feature on Ronald Greene’s mother chastising LSP Col. Lamar Davis, we assumed (incorrectly, as it turns out) that most video viewers would know exactly what Ms. Mona Hardin (Greene’s mother) was talking about when she indicated she “hates like hell” the “back-door deals” being done in her son’s case.
Our assumption was wrong because some of the most dedicated subscribers to our blog indicated to us that they did not know what she was referencing. Hence, let’s spell it out in no uncertain terms! The most prominent “back-door deal” Ms. Hardin was referencing was this $200,000 settlement offer made to fired LSP Trooper Carl Cavalier which was clearly made in an effort to shut him up about what all transpired in Greene’s death and the ensuing massive coverup of same and make him just go away off into the sunset.
Let’s take just a moment to isolate Ms. Hardin voicing her frustration over these “back-door deals.”:
Mona Hardin, Ronald Greene’s mother, states how much she “hates” the “back-door deals” being cut regarding her son’s death. By far the most prominent of those “back-door deals” was the $200,000 (of which, after attorneys fees and costs, the offer would likely approximate $110,000 or so) offered to LSP Trooper Carl Cavalier with the stipulation that he just go away and shut his mouth about what all transpired in her son’s death at the hands of LSP.
Of course, as we have reported, Cavalier has indicated to us that he had zero interest in merely accepting the money (which Ms. Hardin has previously said would be nothing short of “blood money”) if it meant he did not get his job back.
He made that crystal clear to us from the outset of our discussions with him a long time ago.
Obviously, as everyone is aware, we’ve extensively provided video coverage of both he and former attorney Craft’s efforts to obtain his job back through meetings at the Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) to accomplish that very goal. For Craft to just throw in the towel and try to “coerce” Cavalier into just “taking the money and run” (which would, of course, result in a huge payday for her as well) causes us to openly question why she engaged in such extensive efforts in front of the LSPC in the first place!
Being blunt, if her true belief was that the LSPC would “never” agree to grant Cavalier his job back, then why go through all those extensive efforts and tie up the massive amount of LSPC members’ time if she thought any such potential was dead on arrival given that Col. Davis would actively and forcefully testify against Cavalier’s reinstatement (which he most certainly would)?
Whatever the case on Craft’s extensive efforts before the LSPC, on November 3, 2022, Judge John W. deGravelles signed an order permitting attorneys James C. Carver and Clifton Ivey to enroll as Cavalier’s Counsel of Record. Earlier today (Wednesday, November 30, 2022), those two attorneys filed this motion to reopen the cause and rescind the proposed settlement.
We’re not bragging (well, maybe just a little), but when we published this feature on October 22, 2022, we predicted that the settlement would ultimately not be enforceable due to there being an absence of a “meeting of the minds.” [The business law classes they require CPAs to take and the fact that the CPA exam is 25% business law questions come in handy from time to time]. From the feature just linked:
Here is our take on the matter. If Cavalier reached a settlement under the mistaken belief that settling the Federal litigation had no impact upon his ability to obtain his job back (i.e. agree never to work for LSP again), and we don’t know whether that’s the case or not and are not about to ask Cavalier if that is the case, then, in our minds, there never was a required “meeting of the minds” at the Settlement Conference for which the $200,000 can literally be crammed down his throat and him be told, “That’s it for you ever working for LSP again.”
As part of the Cathy Derbonne (former LSPC Executive Director) settlement, she had to execute a document which specified that she would never seek employment with the LSPC again. If Cavalier reached agreement on the $200,000 settlement but didn’t understand that it also meant he could not continue to pursue employment with LSP, then our own opinion, for what that’s worth, is that he is on sound ground for the settlement to be rejected based on a lack of full and complete “meeting of the minds.”
Now let’s take a look at some highpoints of Carver and Ivey’s Motion:
The instant matter was dismissed, without prejudice, subject to a sixty (60) day reopen period if the Settlement was not consummated. The alleged Settlement was oral and was never consummated nor reduced to writing. Further, the Oral Settlement was never offered in open court. There is no transcript of any agreement to a settlement.
In addition, Plaintiff’s objections to the terms of the proposed Oral Settlement were never included in the settlement discussions. Plaintiff’s attorney, at the time of the purported Oral Settlement discussions, refused to follow her client’s demands to ask for reinstatement to his job with the Louisiana State Police as part of any settlement. Counsel for Plaintiff coerced Plaintiff into apparently agreeing to the Oral Settlement. Since there was no actual meeting of the minds, the purported agreement to settle was forced onto Plaintiff under duress.
Wow! One doesn’t get more damning words entailing Cavalier’s former attorney, Jill Craft, no? Furthermore, the scenario described is even far worse than what we’d assessed. Judging by the wording of the above Motion, it appears Cavalier did understand the settlement and its terms but that Craft, “refused to follow her client’s demands to ask for reinstatement to his job.” Follow that up with, “Counsel (Craft) coerced Plaintiff (Cavalier) into apparently agreeing to the Oral Settlement…..was forced onto Plaintiff under duress,” and all we can say is that we’ve sat through tons of court hearings and we have read tons and tons of court pleadings, and we have to rank this court pleading as being among the top three we’ve ever read in our many years in terms of alleged attorney misconduct.
From our standpoint, the entire veil of secrecy of the attempted settlement smacks of the same type secrecy which led to the massive coverup of Ronald Greene’s death in the first place. Being blunt, it’s despicable! We are beyond elated that Cavalier has chosen two attorneys who are so willing to expose just what all allegedly transpired (particularly on the part of former Counsel Jill Craft if their allegations are true) because it smacks of, as Hardin states on the brief video above, pure-rank “politics” entailing the death of a man that never should have transpired on or around May 9, 2019!
We’re sure this will be covered by local media in short order, and we’d love to see if Craft is willing to make a statement on camera to those media outlets!
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Let’s start another batch of fresh popcorn! Sit back and enjoy Act 2.