Louisiana State Police Commission (LSPC) attorney Lenore Feeney emphasizing a point at a recent LSPC meeting. Louisiana State Police (LSP) and its counsel, Ben Mayeux and Jennie Pellegrin, took exception to a recent filing by Feeney seeking the confidential settlement agreement pertaining to Carl Cavalier, a fired LSP whistleblower and former trooper, and compelling their appearances at a Court hearing in 19th JDC slated for Monday, August 7, 2023.
Subscribers and casual site viewers may recall our July 19, 2023 feature entailing the LSPC responding to fired LSP Trooper Carl Cavalier’s filing of a Writ of Mandamus against the LSPC seeking to force a hearing at which he may obtain his job back.
The LSPC asserts that Cavalier is engaging in an, “unauthorized use of a summary proceeding,” and it seeks an award of court costs, expert witness fees, and attorney’s fees associated with their defense of Cavalier’s filing.
As part of the LSPC filing, Lenore Feeney, LSPC’s attorney, subpoenaed records from the attorneys representing LSP, Ben Mayeux and Jennie Pellegrin, and also sought their appearances (along with LSP Col. Lamar Davis) for testimony at the hearing date of Monday, August 7, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. in front of 19th JDC Judge Don Johnson.
Neither LSP nor its counsel took too kindly to Feeney’s filing, and accordingly, they responded by filing this Motion for an “Emergency Protective Order.”
As Burns references in the video below, the preceding document has been purged of documents which we’ve already supplied to our subscribers and viewers. We did that because LSP (and its counsel) had to file them (different judge in a different legal forum), but we strived to keep everything as simple as possible. Nevertheless, anyone is welcome to view LSP’s (and its attorneys) ENTIRE filings (to include Exhibits of historical Federal filings) by clicking on this link.
Now on to today’s video:
August 6, 2023: Burns provides overview of LSP’s filing leading up to the August 7, 2023 10:00 a.m. hearing before 19th JDC Judge Donald Johnson.
Here is the highlighted portion of the filing which Burns drew attention to entailing the requirements for subpoenaing testimony of a statewide elected official (e.g.. the Attorney General) or someone deemed a surrogate thereof:
- LSA-R.S. 13:3667
Col. Davis was appointed by the Governor as the Department Head and Superintendent of the Louisiana State Police. His counsel, Pellegrin and Mayeaux, are appointed Special Assistants Attorney General and appear as surrogates for Attorney General Jeff Landry, a statewide elected official. Consequently, the Commission is required to comply with LSA-R.S. 13:3667(A)(l) before issuing a subpoena to compel Respondents’ attendance at trial. This statute provides:
“A party litigant in a civil case or in a criminal misdemeanor case seeking to compel the attendance of a statewide elected official, or the head of any department of the state of Louisiana appointed to the position by the governor, as a witness in a suit that arises out of, or in connection with, the person’s exercise of his duties as an official of the state, shall file a written motion with the proper court requesting a hearing on the matter. The motion shall set forth the facts sought to be proved by the person’s testimony, the relevance of those facts to the case, and the basis for the mover’s belief that such person has knowledge of those facts.”
The Commission failed to move for the requisite pre-subpoena hearing. Therefore, the subpoenas compelling production of records and attendance at the August 7, 2023 trial are unlawful and should be quashed.
As Burns indicated on the video, Sound Off Louisiana will attend tomorrow’s hearing and will strive to provide video coverage outside of 19th JDC entailing just what all transpired at the hearing.
