Sound Off Louisiana

Image from video of LSP Lt. John Clary’s body cam at the point of EMS and others preparing to escort Ronald Greene away from the scene.  LSP’s belated release of nine (9) videos answers several questions which were previously unknown.

On Friday, May 21, 2021, at 8 p.m., we began a video conference regarding the Ronald Greene videos which features retired 30-year veteran LAPD Sergeant Randy Franklin.  Sgt. Franklin provides some very insightful commentary on the actions of Louisiana State Police (LSP) Troop F and, as demonstrated by the previous link as well as this link, he’s got a few battle scars to demonstrate his credibility.

We’re having to pause publishing that feature (but expect it out late Wednesday or early Thursday), however, because, as everyone not living in a cave knows by now, LSP released the totality of videos in its possession entailing Ronald Greene’s arrest.  Also, as everyone also knows by now, that release came very late on Friday evening (around 5:30 p.m.) and came about only after AP (and former Advocate) reporter Jim Mustian published leaked video of that arrest.

Many folk have openly pondered why LSP did such an about-face on releasing the videos after the two-year hard-line stand that they would not agree to do so.  We believe we can answer that from sources inside LSP who shed light on developments after Mustian’s bombshell publishing of a small segment of LSP Trooper Dakota DeMoss’ body cam video (for which that particular video was 46 minutes).  LSP’s “official” reason for releasing the entirety of all nine (9) videos of which they have possession was that they felt the short clip that the AP focused on didn’t provide “the full context” of the arrest.

We received word from one of our most reliable and trustworthy LSP sources which we believe sheds light on LSP’s decision.  First, we were told that LSP upper brass was furious over the release of the video, but that’s likely a shock to nobody.  Moreover, LSP officials indicated that the release of the video had caused a number of problems for the agency.

Those problems included:  #1) the article being republished by outlets across the nation with comments demonstrating sympathy toward the Greene family and expressing anger toward LSP; #2) those comments have specifically named troopers involved in the arrest; #3) posts are demanding “justice for Ronald Greene,”; #4) that the comments in publications across the nation call for:  a) the termination of the troopers involved, b) questioning the length of time LSP withheld the video, c) debates entailing Greene still being alive if he’d complied, d) sentiments of sadness, disgust, anger, and a belief that law enforcement is “corrupt,” e) claims of an LSP cover-up.

Our source also indicated that LSP is investigating the identities of those individuals sending threatening emails to LSP and making such threats on LSP’s Facebook page.  Our source also indicated that LSP had no knowledge of planned events associated with the release of the video but would continue to monitor the situation.

Hence, it would seem pretty obvious that LSP’s hastily-called news conference of late Friday evening was to make some effort at damage control over the fallout from the publication of the damning segment of DeMoss’ video.

While we commend LSP’s belated spaghetti-against-the-wall release of all of the videos in its possession, which was comprised of nine (9) separate videos, we do not believe the average person is going to sort through all of those videos (particularly since they’re in no particular order and audio is hit or miss and nearly entirely miss in the case of DeMoss’ body camera).  As a result, we spent a considerable amount of time over the weekend downloading all nine videos, combining them into one video, and arranging them in an order to be as close to chronological as possible.  In doing so, a number of previously-unanswered questions were readily answered, and we’ll outline those immediately after presenting the single 48-minute consolidated and rearranged video we composed over the weekend and uploaded today.  That video follows:

Consolidation and reorganizing of nine (9) videos LSP released late Friday, May 21, 2021 entailing the arrest and apprehension of Ronald Greene.
Notations are made of the different sources of the video along with some crystal-clear observations that the video provides in answering previously-unanswered questions.

So, let’s pose answers to some of the previously-unanswered questions which we believe the video above readily reveals:

1.  What was the nature of Greene’s traffic infraction?

As evidenced by the body cam video of Lt. Clary, at the 05:42:50 mark (23:00 mark of the above video), Greene is asked, “Why’d you run?  All you was doing was speeding a little bit and running a red light.”

2.  Did Trooper Chris Hollingsworth turn off his body cam and, if so, for how long?

By looking at the timeframes on the video above, for which the second segment is a combining of Hollingsworth’s body camera videos, Hollingsworth clearly turned off his body cam for a full 45 minutes.  His body cam was first turned off, going by the clock in the upper-right corner of the video, 10 minutes before Trooper DeMoss’ arrival on the scene, and it was not turned back on until five (5) minutes after EMS left with Greene’s body.

At that time, Hollingsworth was preoccupied with calling a gentleman by the name of Chris White and informing him of developments.  Interestingly, once Hollingsworth does so (including his admission to, “beating the ever-living f— out of him (Greene),” and the revelation that he felt Greene was “dead”), White asks, “Was that captured on body cam?”  Two seconds after White’s inquiry, Hollingsworth’s body cam is turned off, and that’s the last we hear or see from Hollingsworth.

Long-time Sound Off Louisiana subscribers will recall that we began our investigation of Greene’s death by seeking any disciplinary evidence that Hollingsworth had turned off his body camera.  From the just-linked feature:

From: Robert@SoundOffLA.com <Robert@SoundOffLA.com>
Sent: Friday, September 4, 2020 9:46 PM
To: ‘Nick Manale’ <Nick.Manale@la.gov>
Cc: ‘Chavez Cammon’ <Chavez.Cammon@la.gov>; ‘Jamie Fletcher’ <Jamie.Fletcher@LA.GOV>; ‘Faye Morrison’ <Faye.Morrison@la.gov>; ‘Chris Nakamoto’ <cnakamoto@WBRZ.com>
Subject: Brand New Public Records Request

 

Lt. Manale:

 

In following up on my earlier re-submitted public records request, let me alter the course a little (though I still want confirmation that Master Trooper Chris Hollingsworth’s disciplinary file contains no more than the three pages I have been supplied already).

 

Some people enjoy tap dancing, and some don’t.  I’m not a tap dancer.  Accordingly, let me focus in with laser-like precision on what I’m seeking in the hope this brand new public records request may bear more fruit and advance this process a little.

 

I seek any and all documentation pertaining to any investigation of any of the following LSP Troopers entailing any body cam video being turned off during the arrest and apprehension of Ronald Greene on or around May 10, 2019:

 

• TROOPER DAKOTA DEMOSS,
• MASTER TROOPER CHRIS HOLLINGSWORTH,
• MASTER TROOPER KORY YORK,
• SERGEANT FLOYD MCELROY,
• LIEUTENANT JOHN CLARY, and
• CAPTAIN JOHN PETERS

Days after our request, then-Col. Kevin Reeves apparently decided the gig was up and issued Hollingsworth a letter of intent to terminate, hours after which Hollingsworth died in a one-vehicle accident which many individuals have indicated was a suicide notwithstanding the fact that the coroner’s office officially classified his death as an accident.

3.  Did Ronald Greene die on the scene and, if so, at what point?

From our viewing of the videos and as reflected on the consolidated video above, Greene appeared dead approximately 19 minutes after LSP Trooper Dakota DeMoss arrived on the scene (DeMoss arrives at 05:28 on the bodycam video, and it is sufficiently apparent to us that Greene was dead at the 05:47 mark of the video that we’re willing to state that, in our opinion, he was in fact dead at that point).

Greene was transported away from the scene at the 05:58 mark, and Hollingsworth began to prepare his recap to White at the 06:03 mark.

Commentary by both Hollingsworth and on Lt. Clary’s bodycam all-but indicates they were aware he was dead before he ever departed for the hospital.  Lt. Clary’s body cam video, which today (May 24, 2021), AP Reporter Jim Mustian reports was withheld by Clary until about three weeks ago, clearly has audio in which the suspect’s condition is assessed as “not good” (stated at the 06:05:46 mark on Clary’s body cam).  The person making the assessment is then asked, “What do you mean, ‘not good?'”  The response is, “Like, maybe 10-7 (police code for ‘completely out of service’).”

 4.  Was Troop F Captain John Peters on the scene?

Immediately prior to the 10-7 assessment on Lt. Clary’s body cam video, it is stated that Captain Peters had been “called” and apprised of the matter.  Hence, while he was apparently not on the scene (at least not during the critical timeframe where all the activity transpired), he clearly aided and abetted the very obvious cover-up which ensued from the moment everyone was leaving the scene.

Those are some answers to questions which we think are readily available from the videos LSP released late Friday though, as we indicated, they become more evident by combining and rearranging the videos.  This is a video blog though, so we enjoy doing that sort of work even though it can become quite tedious as it certainly was in this particular case.

Let us conclude this feature by expressing appreciation to fellow blogger Walter Abbott, who resides in Lincoln Parish where all of these activities went down.

Through his heads up, we are able to update our feature on the Greene family’s efforts to substitute Darby Hollingsworth, Chris’ widow, for him in the wrongful death Federal suit.  On May 7, 2021, the Court issued this order after Hollingsworth agreed to waive a hearing and admit that she is the proper party to be substituted for her deceased husband.  From that order:

IT IS ORDERED that Plaintiff’s First Amended Motion for Substitution [doc. # 68] is GRANTED, and that Darby Hollingsworth, in her capacity as tutor/tutrix of the minor, G.H., is substituted in lieu of deceased Defendant, Chris Hollingsworth, reserving her right to assert “any and all claims, actions, and defenses which would have been available to Chris Hollingsworth.”
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Plaintiff is granted leave to file an amended complaint by May 21, 2021, that substitutes Darby Hollingsworth, in her capacity as tutor/tutrix of the minor, G.H., in lieu of deceased Defendant, Chris Hollingsworth.

As indicated on Abbott’s blog, the amended lawsuit was filed on May 20, 2021.  Abbott was also kind enough to provide us with this call sheet report of the Union Parish Sheriff’s Office.  We, in turn, supplied that document to retired LAPD Sergeant Franklin referenced above.  In our next feature which, again, we expect to have published by late Wednesday or early Thursday, Franklin will have some very interesting commentary about the document and about this whole incident, and we KNOW that is a feature that you ARE NOT going to want to miss!

We appreciate all of our subscribers’ and casual visitors’ dedication to this blog and the kind words that so many folk (including many LSP troopers) have stated to us regarding our LSP coverage.  They keep us inspired during what can often times be a labor-intensive effort often riddled with frustration!

Sheldon Perkins, who testified during his appeal hearing before the Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) of Thursday, May 13, 2021.

At today’s (Thursday, May 13, 2021) meeting of the Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC), the appeal of former LSP Lieutenant Sheldon Perkins was heard.   We are video fans, so in order to provide the background on Perkins’ arrest, we want to rely upon the following You Tube video uploaded the day after Perkins’ arrest of August 24, 2019:

“Poor Dirt Farmer” video of commentary on Perkins’ arrest uploaded to YouTube on 8/25/19, the day after Perkins’ arrest.

We certainly don’t know Perkins, so we’ll defer to the comment of Walter Simpson beneath Poor Dirt Farmer’s video above.  Simpson indicates that he served with Perkins in the Army in Afghanistan in 2002-2003.  Simpson’s comment follows:

I’m glad you posted this. He was my Army Captain in Afghanistan in 02-03. This narcissistic POS had one of the college students paint the Louisiana State Trooper banner across the state like on their uniforms, AND then had the kid paint a bust of him from the shoulders up beside the state. Like a 3 foot circle painting but he wasn’t smiling in that portrayal either….LOL

Perkins also has a prior disciplinary infraction for which he received a two-week suspension five years ago for removing evidence from an evidence vault (a $400 ice chest and fishing equipment) and giving it to a retired LSP Lieutenant.

We have been absolutely flooded with emails, texts, and phone calls from active and retired troopers who are irate at the LSPC in overturning Perkins’ termination.  The LSPC did so notwithstanding Lt. Col. Doug Cain testifying that both he and Col. Lamar Davis concur with and would uphold the ruling of prior Colonel Kevin Reeves’ decision to terminate Perkins.

By now, any subscriber of this blog knows where we stand on the LSPC and its dysfunctional nature.  We further hold that the same holds true of the entire civil service system for all Louisiana state employees, and the entire system needs to be scrapped in favor of at-will employment.  We can only add that, after this incident, quite a few other folk seem to now share our sentiments.

The LSPC reinstated Perkins to LSP, albeit with a demotion to Sergeant and a maximum 720-hour suspension.  Although LSP Legal Counsel Michele Giroir repeatedly objected to the less-than-subtle reference Perkins sought to make comparing his discipline to the recent discipline of Kaleb Reeves (son of former Col. Kevin Reeves, and who was recently involved in an at-fault accident wherein an 18-year-old and 13-year-old were killed when he rear-ended their car) even though Reeves’ name wasn’t specifically mentioned.  Perkins, who served pro se, in our opinion, very effectively planted that seed in the LSPC members’ minds, Giroir’s objections notwithstanding.  We guess that’s simply the fallout from Davis’ (in our opinion) mistake in not terminating Reeves!

We will only add that Perkins was wise to serve as his own counsel because his performance, as demonstrated in one of the videos below, was nothing short of masterful!  In our firm opinion, he was greatly aided by LSPC Chairman Simien who, rather than merely serving the role of Commission Chairman, inappropriately served as a de facto attorney for Perkins.  Simien all but replaced attorney Lenore Feeney, whose job it should have been to serve as “referee” (or judge) in making decisions entailing objections and instead Simien literally usurped her authority by making such rulings directly from his seat as Chairman of the Commission.

Simien’s actions alone, in our opinion, form the basis for Col. Davis to appeal the LSPC’s decision to the First Circuit Court of Appeals.  Such a move by Col. Davis would not be unprecedented as former LSP Col. Mike Edmonson did so (though for inappropriate reasons) because he had a personal vendetta against Trooper Jason LaMarca.

Further, it was Simien who, in our firm opinion, tried to have the body cam videos of the two arresting troopers not even viewed at the meeting.  He did so by openly questioning if such viewing was necessary given all the stipulations agreed to.  Giror countered that it is one thing to read an account on paper but quite another to see a video of an incident.  We could not agree more, and it forms the basis for why this is a video blog!

Commissioner Brian Crawford proposed resolution of the body cam issue by suggesting that, at any time, if any commissioner stated a desire to view the body cam video, it would be shown.  The Commission had concluded the hearing and was all set to go into executive session when Commission Member Leonard K. Knapp meekly raised his hand and said, “I’d like to see the video.”

So folks, without further ado, let us present to everyone the video of the hearing, the body cam video (warning:  repeated profanity on the part of Perkins) which, again, we can present to you only as a result of Knapp meekly asking to view it, and the video of the LSPC’s ruling, which we can tell everyone that, based on the feedback we’ve received, is universally viewed with utter disdain and contempt:

May 13, 2021 appeal hearing of former LSP Col. Sheldon Perkins.

Body cam video of Perkins’ arrest (again – Warning:  extensive profane language abounds).

LSPC ruling upon conclusion of hearing.

So there you have it folks:  Another LSPC meeting, another first-rate clown show for which there was no price of admission!

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Calcasieu Parish Police Jury (CPPJ) attorney Samuel Gabb.

Shortly after publishing our sneak a smooch feature entailing the former Gravity District 8 of Ward 1 of Calcasieu Parish attorney, Russell J. “Rusty” Stutes, and his efforts to have his assistant, Kim Bienvenu, lure contractor Billy Broussard into a conference room and thereafter attempt to “sneak a smooch” from him (thus likely leading to sexual harassment allegations, if not even worse allegations against Broussard), he (Broussard) fired off this email seeking for the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury (CPPJ) attorney, Samuel Gabb, to dissolve the approximate 6-year-old restraining order prohibiting Broussard from conversing with members of the CPPJ.

Broussard’s March 31, 2021 email to Gabb basically hit him right up against his forehead with a 2″ x 4″ similar to the way Broussard did with his previous attorney, Robin Sylvester, resulting in her losing all self-control and severing ties with Broussard.  In doing so, she was quick to reference “crooked judges” in Calcasieu Parish as being a key reason she was severing ties with Broussard.

Unlike the knee-jerk reaction of Sylvester, Gabb chose to ignore Broussard all together, which we could have informed him is no more advisable than Sylvester’s knee jerk reaction!

Accordingly, after permitting Gabb with a three-week period to respond to him and hearing nothing, Broussard put his offensive team back on the field by filing this online petition to be submitted to the CPPJ seeking for them to insist that Gabb dissolve the restraining order.  We’re going to reproduce the content of Broussard’s petition at this time because it succinctly states what Broussard alleges transpired that they want him to keep his mouth shut about:

Contractor Billy Broussard contends FEMA fraud was committed by Drainage District 8 of Ward 1 of Calcasieu Parish wherein funds intended to be paid to him for cleanup work after Hurricane Rita were instead re-directed to pay the Drainage District directly and thereby stiff him.

He claims that documents critical to prove his contention were withheld from him and his legal team (current Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and attorney Robin Sylvester) by the Drainage District.

Upon him uncovering those damning records after his litigation via his own public records requests, the Gravity Drainage District and the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury (through their respective attorneys, Russell Stutes and Sam Gabb, respectively, who acted on their own and WITHOUT a vote of either body) drafted a Restraining Order prohibiting Broussard from making further public records requests of either body and further prohibiting him from speaking with members of either public body.

The purpose of this petition is to seek for the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury to dissolve the restraining order and thereby restore Billy Broussard’s Constitutional Rights to speak with its members about what all transpired!