Contractor Billy Broussard who, on May 18, 2020, expressed an alternate take on Sen. President Page Cortez’s focus on “innocent until proven guilty” entailing testimony of Shreveport Dentist Ryan Haygood and former Sen. John Milkovich.
As we made clear in a follow-up feature entailing Shreveport dentist C. Ryan Haygood, our feature would not have been possible without the guidance of contractor Billy Broussard, on whom we’ve provided extensive coverage. As subscribers will recall, Haygood’s Federal civil litigation has been declared frivolous. Nevertheless, his State civil action is likely to cost Louisiana taxpayers upwards of $1 million to defend in State District Court.
We wrapped up the follow-up feature on Haygood by using it to emphasize the dire need for tort reform in Louisiana. Sen. Kirk Talbot’s bill that we referenced in that feature passed the Louisiana Senate moments ago by a vote of 29-8.
Our thoughts are, given that 29-8 tally is two votes more than is required to override a much-anticipated veto by Gov. Edwards, he (Edwards) cannot be feeling overly comfortable right now. A similar tally in the House should ensure tort reform becomes reality in the State of Louisiana, and it’s our belief that passage of the bill will provide a very much needed shot in the arm to existing businesses in this state as well as prospective businesses considering locating in Louisiana.
As Broussard viewed our features on Haygood, he informed us that he would like to appear on a Sound Off Louisiana feature to provide a different perspective to Sen. President Page Cortez’s focus on “innocence until proven guilty” regarding testimony of both Haygood and former Sen. John Milkovich.
In the feature, Broussard provides some interesting commentary about his own assertions of how “innocent until proven guilty” has impacted him regarding his dealings with the Gravity District 8 of Ward One of Calcasieu Parish.
Broussard provides commentary on the upcoming race to replace retiring Calcasieu Parish DA John DeRosier, and he also provides some interesting commentary on his original attorney in his own civil case, Attorney General Jeff Landry.
While residents of Calcasieu Parish may likely have the keenest interest in many of the matters Broussard discusses, we believe his commentary is also useful for other residents of Louisiana, so let’s present our interview with him of today (May 18, 2020):
Broussard provides alternate take on Sen. President Page Cortez’s focus on “innocent until proven guilty” regarding testimony of Shreveport Dentist C. Ryan Haygood and former Sen. John Milkovich. For the Legislative auditor meeting referenced in the feature, click here.
The final straw for Odom came in October 2015. “I was at my desk and Mr. DeRosier came in and he says, ‘I need $5,000 in cards — in gift cards.’ He wanted them in $1,000 denominations. One of the other secretaries said, ‘Oh, okay, I’ll check and see if we have that much.’ But then he repeated it in this tone that was like, ‘I’m not asking you, I’m telling you.’ And then he walked out of the office. When he left, two secretaries were discussing whether they even had that much on hand — and what they should tell them if they didn’t.”
The whole scene made her uncomfortable. “If he got the $5,000, there would have been no accounting for any of it. Again you have to understand, there was no way of knowing how much money was coming in and going out on these cards. They weren’t logged. No one tallied them up at the end of the day. Did we take in $20,000 and spend $2,000? What happened to the money left over? No one knew.”
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U. S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-LA, who has proposed a $500 billion bailout of state and local governmental operations as a result of the Corona virus.
Subscribers may recall we provided an advanced touting (see near bottom of feature just linked) of U. S. Sen. Bill Cassidy’s appearance on today’s (May 14, 2020) Moon Griffon show wherein Griffon made it abundantly clear that he would be hammering Cassidy on his proposed $500 billion bailout of state and local governments.
True to his word, Moon fired off an opening shot across the bow in asking Cassidy to defend his initiative (and his pairing with the “liberal lunatic from New Jersey”), and Cassidy immediately countered Griffon’s question by deflecting to prop up arguably the most financially-mismanaged local government in the entire state of Louisiana: Shreveport.
Cassidy openly pondered that anyone opposing his measure isn’t supportive of the “thin blue line,” and referenced $3 million in a proposed budget cut to Shreveport’s police department and proposed layoffs of Shreveport police officers as a result of that proposed cut. Cassidy also said that $3 million cut to Shreveport’s police department was part of a larger $20 million proposed cut to Shreveport’s operational budget.
Cassidy got testy with Griffon long before Griffon was done with the interview. He voiced frustration to Griffon that, “I wish you’d take my comments..it’s really hard to get a word in here.” Cassidy stated that frustration once Griffon said that he (Griffon) was “taking hits” on his record of support for Cassidy to include having voted for him. Cassidy then denied that he was “running to the emotional” and instead was “running to the practical.” Let’s listen to this fascinating exchange between Griffon and Cassidy in its entirety:
Cassidy and Griffon exchange firepower over Cassidy’s $500 billion bailout initiative for state and local governments.
Immediately after Cassidy’s appearance, the Interim Executive Director of Americans for Prosperity’s Louisiana Chapter (who also serves as its Director of Grassroots Operations), James Lee, (former Executive Director of AFP – Louisiana, John Kay, joined The Pelican Institute about a month ago) appeared on Griffon’s show. Lee emphasized the fact that, while he was happy to hear Cassidy opposes House Speaker Pelosi’s $3 trillion proposal for more Federal Government stimulus, he stressed that, “I don’t want the $500 billion bailout either.”
Lee indicated that opposition to Cassidy’s measure is quite extensive, and he reinforced his contention by referencing AFP’s website, RejectBailouts.com, and the fact that the response has been, “unlike anything we’ve ever seen.” Also, as we published last week, a hastily-called AFP nationwide town hall upon Cassidy rolling out this initiative one week ago today, attracted an army of 25,000 of AFP’s volunteers to attend in order to mobilize in opposition to Cassidy’s measure.
Lee emphasized that measures such as Cassidy has proposed simply enable state and local governments to continue on paths of financial mismanagement that they’ve deployed for years. Let’s present the entire exchange between Griffon and Lee:
Griffon and Lee banter following Cassidy’s appearance.
It will be interesting to see how Cassidy’s measure fares because, as stated above by Griffon and Lee, we can testify first-hand that we know of an absolute plethora of Louisiana citizens who are angered mightily at Cassidy’s $500 billion bailout proposal just as Griffon emphasized to Cassidy.
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Dr. C. Ryan Haygood (center of table) makes a point to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Sen. Dan Martiny during his testimony of alleged Louisiana Dental Board corruption on April 4, 2018.
When we presented our feature on Shreveport dentist C. Ryan Haygood on April 22, 2020, we did so with the full knowledge that many people would see the sheer length of the feature and say, “No way am I reading all that.”
We went to the trouble to present the entirety of the facts entailing Haygood’s civil litigation lawsuits (one in Federal Court and one in State District Court) so that anyone who may not believe the “wham, bam, thank you ma’am” summary we’re presenting today could go back and fact-check anything we say in this feature.
On May 1, 2019, Haygood appeared before the Senate Commerce Committee and lambasted the Louisiana State Board of Dentistry (LSBD). Nobody could possibly sum up Haygood’s tesitmony better than Sen. President Page Cortez did the following week on May 8, 2019, so we’re about to present Sen. Cortez’s excellent summation and, at 30 seconds, the shortest video we’ve ever presented on Sound Off Louisiana:
Sen. Cortez, at the May 8, 2019 Senate Commerce Committee meeting, voices his displeasure with testimony by Shreveport dentist Dr. C. Ryan Haygood of the prior week of May 1, 2019.
What makes Haygood’s testimony all the more incredible? That would be the fact that OVER THREE YEARS PRIOR TO HIS TESTIMONY, the Federal Court for the Western District of Louisiana had already ruled that his civil lawsuit was groundless. What you just read is correct! Haygood made the testimony Cortez references in the video above without ever mentioning a word to the members of the Senate Commerce Committee that well, oh by the way, a Federal Court has deemed my civil case to have no merit.
Now, bear in mind that the burden of proof is much lower in civil court than in criminal court (preponderance of evidence that it is more likely than not vs. proof beyond a reasonable doubt), yet Haygood would throw around the terms Cortez references requiring a MUCH higher burden of proof to substantiate what Haygood was stating WHEN HE KNEW FULL WELL that a major ruling in Federal Court told both him and one of his original attorneys filing the suit (former Louisiana Senator Ryan Gatti) that his case is baseless.
Furthermore, Haygood knew at the time of his Louisiana Senate Commerce Committee testimony that his case was so groundless that a Federal Judge granted defendants’ motion for attorney fees! From that ruling:
The Haygood Plaintiffs’ Section 1983 were frivolous and their LUPTA claims were groundless and brought in bad faith or for purposes of harassment. Accordingly, Defendants’ Motion for Attorney Fees (Record Document 230) be and is hereby GRANTED. No later than twenty-one days from the date of this Memorandum Ruling, Defendants shall file a separate motion to submit detailed time reports, such that a lodestar analysis can be performed to determine the amount of reasonable attorneys fees.
Haygood was subsequently assessed with $114,987.26 in defendants’ attorney fees. He sought reconsideration by Federal Judge Maurice Hicks, and Hicks denied his Motion for Reconsideration. Haygood is presently appealing Hicks’ decision on the attorney fees to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
That’s all well and good entailing the State of Louisiana being able to largely pass on its defense costs to Haygood for the Federal litigation he filed, but what about the defense costs for his Louisiana state civil suit (which essentially mirrors the Federal litigation except for being devoid of several Federal issues)? It is practically unheard of for attorney fees in state civil litigation to be assessed against the losing party (there are some statutory exceptions such as a Special Motion to Strike based upon LA CCP 971). Accordingly, Louisiana taxpayers are likely on the hook for upwards of $1 million in civil defense costs pertaining to Haygood’s state civil suit, which has already been deemed to be baseless by a Federal Court!
Where do we derive the $1 million figure? Well, as recognized by long-time dedicated Sound Off Louisiana subscriber Billy Broussard (without whose assistance our main post linked above would not have been possible, and we give him special thanks for that fact) in one of his comments on our post, Haygood himself complained of the fact that, four years ago, that figure was $500,000 and Haygood was upset that many defendants’ defense costs were being paid by Louisiana taxpayers. From Billy’s comment, which was itself derived from this feature which Broussard linked and was contained in a 2016 letter Haygood drafted to Attorney General Jeff Landry shortly after he was sworn into office (parenthetical disclosure is ours as is boldface and underline emphasis):
Morrison (investigator for LSBD) is currently under investigation by the State Inspector General’s office and is expected to be criminally charged for fraud, perjury, and billing fraud to the state. Many dentists complained for years about his criminal acts, extortion, and harassment techniques.
It is my understanding that the Attorney General’s office cannot, by statute, defend someone who has broken the law. As you might imagine, Buddy Caldwell’s office did no due diligence into the matter before it was quickly passed off to his friends at The Faircloth Group. According to one former board member, Faircloth has billed more than $500,000 for their defense.
Additionally, your office recently undertook the defense of Sam Trinca, Dean Manning, and James Moreau who are members of the board of dentistry, as well as the board of dentistry itself which were all recently named as defendants. It is probable that at least two of these defendants have perjured themselves in relation to this matter. Furthermore, the board of dentistry recently bragged in their August 2015 board meeting that because they were officially named as defendants in this case, they would be saving money since the state would be undertaking their costs of defense.
We present this illustration to demonstrate the dire need for tort reform in Louisiana, and our timing is designed to coincide with Sen. Kirk Talbot’s bill scheduled to be heard tomorrow before the Senate’s Judiciary “A” Committee. We’ll be watching that meeting closely, and, in addition to providing video highlights of the meeting, we stand ready to present names and faces of legislators opposing his bill on the webpage just linked which even has one legislator serving as the guinea pig for the page. Our subscribers are invited to click on the preceding link to reveal the identity of said legislator, and if our guinea pig legislator opts to support an override of Gov. Edwards’ darn-near-certain veto of the bill should it pass both Chambers of the Legislature, we’ll be more than happy to remove the entry as well as issue a public apology for our misguided prediction! Obviously, should the bill fail to pass either Chamber, we will be highlighting the Legislators who opposed Talbot’s measure.
One final note of significance:
On Thursday, May 14, 2020, Sen. Bill Cassidy will be the special guest of conservative radio talk-show host Moon Griffon (whom The Advocate’s Mark Ballard recently referenced as the “icon” of the right in Louisiana). Griffon announced on his show today that he plans to ask Cassidy, “What the hell were you thinking?” when Cassidy proposed a $0.5 trillion bailout of state and local governments which was the focus of our most recent feature focusing on Americans for Prosperity’s (AFP) opposition to Cassidy’s measure. Following Cassidy’s feature on Griffon’s show, the Interim Director of AFP’s Louisiana operations, James Lee, will be featured to voice AFP’s position and explain exactly why the group is so adamantly opposed to Cassidy’s measure. We believe you’ll want to tune in to Moon’s show on Thursday (it’s easy to do so at the link at the start of this paragraph), and we’ll have a Sound Off Louisiana feature focusing on the appearances by Cassidy and Lee soon after the show finishes airing.
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.
