Sound Off Louisiana – Page 137 – Providing Louisiana citizens, from VIPs to the "little guy," a chance to sound off regarding Louisiana government issues of concern to them.

Evidence becoming overwhelming that Louisiana State Trooper Association efforts to oust Braxton, Derbonne rooted in steadfast resolve to make political campaign contributions.

A stack of depositions taken recently in the defamation civil trial of Braxton v. Louisiana State Troopers Association (LSTA) and Jay Oliphant.

Not long back, we stated that we’d be publishing a multi-part, in-depth series on the latest developments in the civil trial of former Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) member Calvin Braxton, who is suing the Louisiana State Trooper’s Association (LSTA), which serves as a “fraternal organization representing the men and women of the Louisiana State Police,” for defamation. Notwithstanding the fact that many individuals have stressed to us that the LSTA is not a union, it is often loosely referred to as a labor union, including by one news reporter, an episode of which will be provided in this feature.

We have already published several features on Braxton; however, since it has been a while since we have and also taking into consideration the fact that our subscribership has increased substantially since our early posts on Braxton, we think the best thing to do on this initial feature of our series is to sort of review everything from scratch entailing Braxton via short, bullet-point items presented in a chronological table. That table follows:

Date (Timeframe)	Event Transpiring
June 10, 2015	Former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal appoints Calvin Braxton to LSPC.
December 4, 2015	LSP Trooper Jayson Linebaugh pulls over Braxton's daughter for DWI.
June 2, 2016 (a stunning 181 days after the incident on 12/4/15).	Then LSP-Captain (Troop E) Jay Oliphant authors this incident report essentially stating Braxton is an egotistical, arrogant, power-hungry individual willing to throw his weight around to obtain special treatment for his family (namely his daughter).
June 24, 2016	At the LSTA convention in Lafayette, open outcries are allegedly made for Cathy Derbonne, former Executive Director of the LSPC, to be terminated.
July 16, 2016	LSTA attorney Floyd Falcon sends Gov. Edwards this letter calling upon Edwards to initiate proceedings to remove Braxton from his LSPC position.
July 19, 2016	Ronnie Jones, Gov. Edwards' former Gaming Control Board Chairman, while on a conference call, allegedly states that, "Gov. Edwards' office has told Derbonne to 'shut the f--- up.'" (About illegal campaign contributions to Edwards' and other campaigns by the LSTA).
November 9, 2016	The Louisiana State Board of Ethics, acting on a filing by Derbonne with that agency, imposes this $5,000 fine on the LSTA for the campaign contributions.
January 7, 2017	Derbonne, with Braxton voting "no" on acceptance, tenders her resignation from the LSPC which, in turn, votes to "accept" that hurriedly-slapped-together, on-the-fly resignation letter. Derbonne has asserted that the resignation letter was strong-armed out of her in a closed-door LSPC Executive Session minutes before the letter was drafted.
Early 2017	Jay Oliphant, author of the 6/2/16 incident report referenced above, makes this Facebook post expressing concerns for the safety of himself and his family entailing Braxton.
February 20, 2017	As a Commissioner, Braxton openly ponders "how liable are we?" entailing the Derbonne matter.
June 19, 2017	LSTA attorney Floyd Falcon sends Gov. Edwards this follow-up letter asking him whether he (Edwards) is going to proceed with measures to remove Braxton from the LSPC.
July 17, 2017	Fox8 (New Orleans)'s Lee Zurik broadcast this feature wherein Braxton is confronted head-on about Oliphant's incident report referenced above. Zurik's feature is soon followed by this WWL-4 feature. PLEASE SEE CONSOLIDATED VIDEO # 1 BENEATH THIS TABLE FOR THE TWO FEATURES.
July 21, 2017	Braxton "resigns" from LSPC. [Note: Our public records request of Gov. Edwards' office for a signed resignation letter was fruitless, with his office supplying only a news release that Braxton had "resigned."]. We will have MUCH more to say on this matter in an upcoming feature of this series.
January 9, 2018	Derbonne files this "constructive discharge lawsuit" against the LSPC. Note: Judge Morvant tossed the suit based on Derbonne as an employee having no whistleblower protection. Derbonne appealed to the First Circuit, which overturned Morvant's ruling and remanded the case back to Morvant. The LSPC then appealed to the Louisiana Supreme Court, which declined to hear the matter.
February 8, 2018	LSTA makes plea before the LSPC for it to give a green light to political contributions, even using representatives of child cancer organizations to plead with commissioners for such contributions to be approved by the LSPC.
May 10, 2018	Braxton sues the LSTA and Jay Oliphant for defamation alleging that the incident report of 6/2/16 above is a fabrication.
May 17, 2018	WWL-TV in New Orleans airs this May 17, 2018 feature on Braxton's defamation lawsuit against the LSTA and Jay Oliphant. NOTE: The feature is also provided below as the second video of this feature.
August 15, 2018	LSTA sues the LSPC stating that the restriction imposed prohibiting it from making political contributions is "unconstitutional." NOTE: Sound Off Louisiana is the ONLY media outlet to even report on this lawsuit's existence.
February 21, 2020	Braxton adds LSP to his LSTA civil lawsuit stating that he has been "falsely accused of murder."
May 15, 2020	LSTA adds Jason Hannaman, Derbonne's successor, as defendant alleging liability for having drafted and having distributed a circular prohibiting political campaign contributions.
July 1, 2020	Then-LSP Col. Kevin Reeves, having already promoted Jay Oliphant twice up to Lt. Col., dictates a pay raise for Oliphant, taking his salary to $155,275 a year.
January 4, 2021	Reversing one of two promotions under former LSP Col. Reeves, newly-installed Col. Lamar Davis demotes Jay Oliphant back to Major.
February 1, 2021	Hearing is conducted in 19th JDC Don Johnson's courtroom on LSTA v. LSPC entailing the latter's efforts to have the former's lawsuit seeking a judgment to permit political contributions dismissed.
February 14, 2021	Judge Johnson issues this ruling drafted by LSTA attorney Floyd Falcon denying LSPC's Exceptions to the LSTA lawsuit on political contributions, thus permitting the litigation to continue subject to a potential LSPC appeal to the First Circuit if it so chooses.

The video of Zurik and WWL-TV’s Katie Moore’s features as they pertain to Braxton’s allegations of defamation are presented in the following video:

July 17, 2017 features of Fox 8’s Lee Zurik and WWL’s Katie Moore as they related to what Braxton asserts are defamatory statements made about him initiated by the LSTA and Jay Oliphant.

WWL-TV in New Orleans airs this May 17, 2018 feature on Braxton’s defamation lawsuit against the LSTA and Jay Oliphant.

What should be obvious to anyone with two functioning brain cells is that the LSTA is going to annihilate anybody and anything that stands in the organization’s way of making political campaign contributions, and Derbonne and Braxton are the road kill to demonstrate that fact! Additional road kill would be evidenced by retired LSP Trooper Leon “Bucky” Millet and three other LSP retirees who filed the original complaint with the LSPC’s Cathy Derbonne objecting to their dues as LSTA retiree members being used for political campaign contributions. What was the LSTA’s reaction? The LSTA immediately expelled all four former LSP troopers from the LSTA! Anybody feel the word “annihilate” above is too strong?

What any person using logic ought to ask is, “Why is the LSTA so emphatic and dogmatic that it is going to make political campaign contributions come Hell or high water?”

It just may be that making such contributions assists greatly in DAs like East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore finding creative ways to perform acts like dropping all felony charges against former LSTA Executive Director David Young. From the preceding feature:

East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Hillar Moore said Tuesday, March 9, his office carefully reviewed the facts of the case before deciding not to move forward with prosecution.

We can only openly question if an African American individual had engaged in the kind of reckless behavior Young demonstrated on the video of this WAFB feature if DA Moore would have been so creative?

Regarding Young, yes, he’s the same man who served as a “straw donor” to enable the LSTA to make illegal campaign contributions into Gov. Edwards’ and other politicians’ campaigns!

We’ve now concluded our first installment on Calvin Braxton. Our second installment will entail a very recent development in the Braxton litigation that we believe everyone will find most intriguing.

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.

Gov. Edwards’ harrowing flight culminating in aborted Shreveport landing and him being driven back to Baton Rouge from Alexandria may have altered State Police flight policy on Bell 430 helicopters.

A Louisiana State Police Bell 430 Helicopter, which State Police no longer allows to be flown in adverse weather conditions.

On December 27, 2020, we informed our subscribers that we’d be presenting an in-depth investigative series on the operations of Louisiana State Police (LSP)’s Air Support Unit. The feature just linked entailed the retirement of former LSP Trooper and pilot Michael Satcher, II in the aftermath of criminal charges pending against him for alleged domestic abuse of his dating partner, Cynthia Chapman.

For those curious about Satcher’s court hearing of last week (February 25, 2021), we have been informed that the result of the court hearing was Satcher declining to accept an offered plea deal, thus prompting the matter to proceed forward on to trial at a future date.

Today, Sound Off Louisiana founder Robert Burns further examines concerns that multiple individuals who assert familiarity with LSP’s Air Support Unit’s operations have expressed regarding alleged disregard for the safety of those who fly onboard LSP aircraft and allegations of deficiencies entailing maintenance on LSP aircraft.

Specifically, one of the matters with which Burns was presented was a harrowing flight entailing Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards in late 2018. In the following video, Burns elaborates upon the circumstances of the harrowing flight and the results of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigation of the flight, which was conducted at the request of Burns, who also alerted the FAA of other allegations of those who contacted Burns with concerns regarding LSP Air Support operations:

Burns describes Gov. Edwards’ harrowing late-2018 flight onboard a Bell 430 helicopter.

As mentioned in the video above, Burns received an official FAA email on Friday, February 26, 2021 indicating that, “the investigation did not substantiate a violation of an order, regulation or standard of the FAA related to operational or maintenance issues at Louisiana State Police Air Support” pertaining to the flight entailing Gov. Edwards. In fact, as mentioned in the video above, FAA officials emphasized that the bottom line is that the pilot, Eric Frazier, “got Gov. Edwards’ two feet safely back on the ground,” and indicated that was most certainly an act to be commended given the weather conditions with which Frazier was confronted that day. Also as emphasized, the FAA official who conversed with Burns indicated that, while he did not know if it was that harrowing flight that has resulted in LSP’s Air Support Unit changing its policy to no longer permit the older Bell 430 aircraft to be flown in weather conditions such as those which existed on the day of Edwards’ flight, he felt that policy change was an appropriate move on LSP’s Air Support’s part.

Also as referenced in the video above, Burns did discuss with the FAA official concerns expressed by his sources that LSP Air Support was passing over pilots with far more flight hours to promote pilots with far fewer hours. The FAA official indicated that, if that is indeed transpiring, it is a “horrible practice,” but he further stated that FAA had no jurisdiction whatsoever to tell LSP that one pilot has to be hired over another. The bottom line is that, as long as the pilot has the minimum certification required for flying the aircraft, that’s as far as the FAA can go (i. e. ensuring that minimum certification is fulfilled).

With that in mind, we’re going to replicate a video from our prior feature openly questioning if LSP’s Air Support Unit had conned the LSPC regarding de-emphasizing hours at this time:

Given FAA officials’ description of promoting pilots with fewer flight hours over those with more flight hours as a “horrible practice,” one can only openly question Mark Morrison’s commentary in the above video of November 8, 2018, only about a month after the harrowing flight Gov. Edwards was on as relayed in first the video above.

Hearing the details of the harrowing nature of Gov. Edwards’ flight of late 2018 (which nobody we’ve talked to disputes was indeed harrowing), we could not help but reflect back to statements that then-Rep. John Bel Edwards made to the Baton Rouge Press Club on July 21, 2014 entailing his days at West Point and his training. The video we just created of his commentary in that regard is only 37 seconds long, so let’s take a look:

Then-State Rep. John Bel Edwards (D-Amite) speaks at the Baton Rouge Press Club meeting of July 21, 2014 of his West Point training entailing airplanes.

When told of the harrowing experience Edwards had in late 2018, one of Sound Off Louisiana’s most dedicated and loyal subscribers jokingly said, “Sounds to me like he may need to dust off those parachutes he had from West Point and keep them handy for flights on LSP’s helicopters!”

That’s going to conclude this initial feature on LSP’s Air Support Unit, and our next feature in this series will focus on the extent to which LSP’s Air Support Unit has in fact passed over pilots with more flight hours to select pilots with fewer flight hours for openings and promotions at the Unit.

Last but not least, in the first video above, we promised a little “lagniappe.” Subscribers may recall that we were encouraged to make a pubic records request late last year to see if LSP Trooper Kory York had faced any discipline entailing the Ronald Greene incident. When we did so, the results of our public records request dated November 19, 2020 revealed that, at that time, his only disciplinary matter entailed a traffic incident from a decade ago.

York’s disciplinary file has now expanded and, as AP Reporter Jim Mustian reported yesterday (February 27, 2021), York was suspended for 50 hours. That disciplinary measure was handed down by former LSP Col. Kevin Reeves in his last week in office and, in the previously-linked article, current LSP Col. Lamar Davis indicated that he, “would have imposed more severe discipline,” had it been up to him.

Louisiana United International officials submit complaint to United Nation’s Special Rapporteur on Torture on behalf of U. S. 5th Congressional candidate prisoner Errol Victor, Sr.

Dr. Zena Crenshaw-Logal: Executive Director of National Judicial Conduct and Disability, who led discussions on a zoom press conference of Thursday, February 25, 2021 entailing a filing by Louisiana United International to the United Nation’s Rapporteur alleging torture in Louisiana prisons being perpetrated upon imprisoned candidate for the U. S. 5th Congressional District Errol Victor, Sr.

On Thursday, February 18, 2021, officials with Louisiana United International, a prisoner advocacy group founded by Belinda Parker-Brown and headquartered in Slidell, Louisiana, filed a complaint with the United Nation’s Special Rapporteur asserting that a Republican candidate for the U. S. 5th Congressional District in Louisiana, Errol Victor, Sr., an inmate being held in a Louisiana prison, is being subjected to torture.

The link in the preceding paragraph provides the full background of Victor’s plight, and we’ve covered several features entailing him. Also, on February 9, 2021, Mandeville attorney Claiborne W. Brown filed this Motion to Quash Indictment entailing Victor asserting that Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry has failed to retry Victor since his conviction was set aside by the U. S. Supreme Court based upon that conviction being “unconstitutional” as deemed by the court since it arose from a 10-2 verdict. The Motion asserts that Landry has failed to timely retry Victor, thus violating his right to a quick and speedy trial.

On Thursday, February 25, 2021, Louisiana United International held a zoom press conference to discuss the United Nations filing. We at Sound Off Louisiana were invited, and we attended online and videotaped the press conference.

We’re going to begin by providing a short video clip transpiring near the very end of the press conference in which Victor’s 87-year-old mother openly asks where the local media are and why they’re not anywhere near as prominent now as they were in covering Victor’s trial. Let’s take a look at that video first:

Errol Victor’s mother, who is 87 years old, openly questions why local media coverage of her son Victor’s current plight is nonexistent when it was so dominant during his trial for murder.

We viewed the entire zoom press conference, and we found it to be very professionally done. Subscribers can only decide for themselves whether they wish to watch it, but we don’t believe you’ll regret having done so if you do watch it.

When Sound Off Louisiana’s founder, Robert Burns, founded the blog, he adopted the slogan, “Providing Louisiana Citizens, from VIPs to the ‘little guy,’ a chance to sound off regarding Louisiana government issues of concern to them.” That’s exactly what Victor’s supporters have done, and one of the biggest reasons Burns founded Sound Off Louisiana was the fact that so many Louisiana citizens simply could not obtain a media outlet to “sound off” on such issues that concern them.

Having disclosed that, it’s our pleasure to provide today’s (February 25, 2021) Louisiana United International Press conference in its entirety, and here it is:

Press conference of Louisiana United International of Thursday, February 25, 2021 entailing the filing of a complaint with the United Nation’s Rapporteur alleging torture in Louisiana prisons entailing U. S. 5th Congressional District candidate Errol Victor, Sr.