WBR movie studio to confirm $500 million deal

Advocate, The (Baton Rouge, LA) - July 7, 2007
Author: GARY PERILLOUX

Developers of a nearly $500 million movie studio in West Baton Rouge Parish will announce final plans Monday for the biggest film infrastructure project yet to receive preliminary state approval.

River Studios & FilmPort would create a 925,000-square-foot complex on 150 acres of the old Allendale Plantation, a riverside setting about five miles west of the old Mississippi River Bridge on U.S. 190.

State officials confirmed Friday the project is pre-certified, meaning an application for state tax credits has been approved but spending must be audited and the film facilities in place before the credits are issued.

If the project proceeds as planned, River Studios could recover $198 million of its construction costs in claims against its state tax liability, said Baton Rouge lawyer Lewis Unglesby , who negotiated the deal with the state Division of Administration.

The tax recovery is based on spending $495 million, Unglesby said. The tax credits, which can be sold at a discount to other investors, are based upon a state law that allows the developers of movie soundstages and related buildings to claim a tax credit of up to 40 percent through Jan. 1, 2009. It's designed to spur permanent investment in the state's film industry.

The project's ownership group includes film veterans Jonathan Sanger, Ed Elbert and Sarah Ryan Black, who formed a Grand Illusions Louisiana operating company that will steer development of River Studios.

Black is a former senior vice president of Tom Cruise's production company while Sanger is an Oscar-winning producer of such films as "Vanilla Sky" and "The Producers." Elbert's production credits include "Anna and the King" and "The Mighty Quinn."

The development team applied for tax credit certification in late 2006 and as recently as March sent former Lt. Gov. Bobby Freeman before a Senate committee to complain of slow approval of its project by the state Department of Economic Development and the Division of Administration.

Unglesby said later meetings with the Division of Administration's Bill Black, who's handling state approval of studio infrastructure, were productive and ironed out qualification questions.

"When you look at it, there's nothing for the state to be anything but proud of (with the project,)" Unglesby said.

Riley Berthelot, West Baton Rouge Parish president, said the project's impasse at the state level appears to be over.

"I think (the project) has got what we need to enable them to sell the bonds to be able to move forward," he said. "It looks like it's a go, and we're very excited about it."

A Port Allen news conference will announce details of the groundbreaking and construction Monday said entertainment attorney Michele LeBlanc, who represents the project, but she declined to elaborate until then.

Chris Stelly, the state's film and TV director, said River Studios' principals have done all that's necessary to move forward in the tax credit process.

"The next step as far as our office is concerned is for them to build the project and start spending money," he said, describing the studio project as the largest one yet to reach the pre-certification step in the tax credit process. "Any time there's a development of our infrastructure, it's always a good thing. So we're excited to see the interest in the program and the interest in this industry."

At least one other large motion picture studio has been pre-certified in Baton Rouge. Celtic Media Centre, a nearly $60 million complex, is being developed by Brendan O'Connor near Airline Highway and Interstate 12.

Recently, developer R.W. Day announced plans for a mixed-use development that would include a $955 million movie studio near O'Neal Lane and Interstate 12, a project that's not as far along.
Caption: Color rendering of: A 150-acre film studio complex in West Baton Rouge Parish would feature eight soundstages, production facilities, a water tank to simulate filming at sea and full orchestra scoring stages among its post-production buildings. The $495 million project is set to open by 2009. (Rendering provided by River Studios)


Edition: Main
Section: News
Page: 01A
Record Number: MERLIN_2694443
Copyright (c) 2007 Capital City Press, Baton Rouge, La.

Pesticide makers agree to pay $50 million for pollution in N.O.

The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.) - April 24, 1996
Author: JANET MCCONNAUGHEY: AP

NEW ORLEANS - Two pesticide companies agreed Tuesday to pay $50 million to about 3,500 people who lived near a pesticide plant that contaminated their New Orleans neighborhood.

T.H. Agriculture & Nutrition and Harcros Chemicals Corp., both of Kansas City, agreed to the state court settlement on the fifth day of jury selection for the class action lawsuit, attorney Lewis Unglesby said.

He represented people who lived near the pesticide and herbicide plant, which operated from the 1950s until 1987, when the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board discovered contamination in its wastewater.

Testing by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1994 found substantial amounts of contamination in the neighborhood, he said. Those included DDT and some components of Agent Orange, Unglesby said.

T.H. Agriculture & Nutrition and its parent, Philips Electronics North America Corp., have paid for most of the cleanup work at the site and in the surrounding neighborhood, which EPA is considering as a possible Superfund site.

An employee of Harcros, which bought the plant shortly before the pollution was found, said company spokesmen all had left the Kansas City offices for the day.

Unglesby said amounts for each plaintiff will range from small to substantial, depending on what years people lived in the area, the extent of their exposure, whether they own land there, and what illnesses, if any, were caused or worsened by the exposure.

Unglesby said the case would have been much harder to bring and a settlement much less likely under new laws passed this month.

"You would not have had the concern about punitive damages, which clearly would have been warranted," he said.

During the special session that ended last week, the Legislature passed a law ending punitive damages in certain hazardous waste cases.

Another new law eliminates the concept of "strict liability" from lawsuits. Backers said it gives property owners a chance to prove they were not negligent when an accident happens on their property.

Under the new law, plaintiffs would have had to prove that the company knew pesticides were spreading beyond its property line, Unglesby said.

"By failing to test and by refusing to put up any kind of monitoring devices ... they could have claimed they didn't know," he said.


Edition: The Advocate
Section: BIZ
Page: 4-C
Index Terms: HAZARDOUS MATERIAL ; JUDGMENT ; BUSINESS ; COURT
Dateline: NEW ORLEANS
Record Number: 741
Copyright 1996 Capital City Press, Baton Rouge, La.

Family wins damages for fatal blast

The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.) - February 17, 2004

GREENSBURG - A jury awarded a woman and her four children $12.7 million Monday in connection with a gas explosion that rocked the home they rented, attorneys said.

The caretaker of the house died in the April 2002 accident.

The verdict followed a two-week trial before 21st Judicial District Court Judge Ernie Drake and more than 10 hours of deliberation by the jury, attorneys said.

The explosion occurred after Herring Gas of Louisiana filled an external propane tank while no one was home, said Lewis Unglesby , one of the attorneys representing Monica Jackson and her four children.

A space heater had been removed from inside the home by a previous tenant, and gas leaked into the house through the open pipe, Unglesby said.

The house exploded when a light switch was turned on, the attorney said.

Alton Tillery, who looked after the house for the owners, died in the explosion after saving two of the children from the fire, Unglesby said.

Herring Gas of Louisiana was found to be 65 percent at fault or liable for about $8.3 million, according to Unglesby, who handled the case for the plaintiffs along with attorneys Robert Marionneaux Jr., Donna Grodner and Jay Harris.


Edition: The Baton Rouge Advocate
Section: News
Page: News
Index Terms: gassuitf apsaebconvx
Record Number: 0403407652
Copyright 2004 Capital City Press, Baton Rouge, La.

Local Firm Settles Burn Case for $10 Million Dollars

Baton Rouge, La.

The law firm of UNGLESBY & MARIONNEAUX settled a suit for $10 Million Dollars involving a child burned at the age of nine months as the result a gas fire.

This suit arose out of a fire that occurred on August 1, 2004, in the early morning hours. The home was supplied with propane gas.

The plaintiffs= contended that the gas regulator failed which allowed gas to escape into the lines and eventually into the home, which was then ignited by the refrigerator condenser. Numerous violations of the Liquified Petroleum Gas Commission regulations contributed to the origin of the fire.

The defendants contended that the fire started in the adjoining bedroom caused by the electric hot water heater.

Nevertheless, a nine-months old child was severely burned in the fire whereby he received burns to over 38% of his total body area.

As a result of the fire the child had to undergone extensive reconstructive surgery. He is also expected to undergo a variety of future surgeries.

AWe are extremely pleased to put this behind this young man and his family. Hopefully he can begin to get on which his life,@ said one of his attorneys, Rob Marionneaux.

The experts involved in the case are as follows: Ted Kaplon, Metarie, La., (Electrical Engineer), A.J. McPhate, Baton Rouge, La., (Metallurgist), Randy Harris, Denver, Co., (Gas Systems), Mervin ABud@ Stringer, Covington, La., (Cause & Origin), Dr. Darrell Henderson (Medical Expert- Future Care), Rhonda Norwood Ph.D., Baton Rouge, La., (Child Psychologist), and Dr. Cornelieus Gorman, Galveston, Tx., (Life Planner-Vocational Rehabilitation).
 

Jury Awards $8 Million Dollars

Published: July 31, 2005
WAFB

After almost five hours of deliberations Friday night, a jury ruled the state of Louisiana is more responsible for the death of Mya George than the man who admitted he killed her. Mya George's step-grandfather, Jesse White, beat the 3-year-old to death in September of 2003. Onlookers in the courtroom gasped as the verdict was read.

Many members of the jury had red faces and swollen eyes, signs that they had been crying. But Mya's father, who filed the civil suit, says he's just glad his daughter got justice.

There's no question that it's a sad story how the little 3-year-old died... badly bruised and beaten until brain dead by Jesse White. He was caring for the girl for Melissa Turnage. Officials with the Office of Community Services told her not to leave Mya in White's care. However, it appears claims by Mya's father, Travis Stewart, is what convinced a West Baton Rouge jury to hold the state responsible for Mya's death. Stewart claimed that OCS failed to see a trend of abuse, and thus failed in doing their job to protect Mya.

The jury ruled that the state and the case worker investigating Mya's abuse, Ruby Jenkins, were 75 percent responsible for her death. They ruled Melissa Turnage was 20 percent responsible, and the man who's spending the rest of his life in prison for killing Mya, Jesse White, was only five percent responsible.

The jury then had to decide how much money to award. On behalf of Mya George, the jury awarded her eight million dollars. To the man who filed the suit, Travis Stewart, the jury awarded nothing.

Stewart's attorney, Cleo Fields, says, "This verdict certainly sends a very clear and convincing message to the Department of Social Services, OCS in particular, that you have to protect children. That's your job."

Prosecutors Cleo Fields and Rob Marionneaux say in judgements against the state, the most anyone can get is $500,000. So, they won't get the full $8 million award.

Rob Marionneaux says, "This case never was about money. And now the jury can know that it was really OCS and the failure of OCS to protect Mya George."

DSS secretary Ann Williamson says despite this verdict, she stands behind her workers. "I am very, very proud and supportive of all my workers who are extremely noble in all they do to serve children and families."

Juror Willie Wilson wouldn't elaborate on the verdict, but simply said, "I just want to say that I'm glad it's all over. It's all over."

Travis Stewart was clear on his feelings. "Like my lawyer said... It was never about money. I just wanted my justice."

Fields and Marionneaux, both state senators, say they wouldn't change law to make sure something like this couldn't happen again. Marionneaux says there's already enough laws on the books, OCS just needs to follow them.

Even though the jury awarded him nothing, Travis Stewart will still receive Mya's portion because he filed the suit and he wasn't named responsible for her death. We can't know for sure why the jury would award Stewart nothing, but one could speculate that the repeated testimony that Stewart never tried to get custody of Mya and that he did not immediately admit to being her father may have swayed the jury against him.

Reporter: Avery Davidson


Story originally published by WAFB.

Jury: Agency 'Grossly Negligent' in Abuse Death of Mya George

By ROY PITCHFORD
rpitchford@theadvocate.com
Westside bureau
The Advocate

PORT ALLEN -- A 12-member civil jury on Friday night found the Louisiana Department of Social Services "grossly negligent" in the 2003 child-abuse death of Mya George and returned a verdict awarding $8 million in damages, $3 million more than the plaintiffs asked. But no one will receive millions.

The jury in the trial held in 18th Judicial District Court ruled the state 75 percent at fault, which would reduce the amount by a fourth.

Jurors ruled that the child's mother, Melissa Turnage, was 20 percent at fault. She has pleaded guilty to cruelty to a juvenile and is under supervised probation.

The jury ruled that Mya's step-grandfather, Jessie White, who beat the child to death, was 5 percent at fault. He is serving a life sentence in prison.

In a news conference on the lawn of the West Baton Rouge Parish Courthouse, plaintiff's attorney and state Sen. Rob Marionneaux Jr. explained that Louisiana law caps such awards at $500,000.

The jury awarded the entire $8 million in damages for the pain and suffering George went through.

George's father, Travis Stewart, the plaintiff of record in the case, was awarded nothing for the loss of his daughter.

A zero was placed by his name on the verdict form.

However, Marionneaux said that as George's legal representative, Stewart will receive any monetary award finally determined.

Attorneys for Social Services filed a verbal notice of appeal immediately after the verdict was announced.

Also shortly after the verdict, Department of Social Services Secretary Ann Silverberg Williamson issued a statement saying, "The loss of Mya is certainly immeasurable to us as are the deaths of other Louisiana children who are victims of abuse and neglect."

Assistant Secretary Marketa Garner Gautreau of the department's Office of Community Services joined Williamson in asserting the department's goal "is to support families and foster the safe care of children."

Gautreau added, "To effectively protect children, it's critical that we all work together. We have taken progressive measures through law and practices to strengthen our emergency responsiveness … we are continually examining our policies and procedures to ensure that they prove to be in the best interest of victims."

To make certain incidents such as Mya George's death do not recur, Williamson said, "requires the help of many, including this department. Regrettably, families are in crisis throughout this state and I encourage such citizens to reach out for assistance particularly on behalf of children's well being."

Jurors deliberated more than four and a half hours before knocking on the jury room door to indicate they had reached a verdict.

Several jurors were crying as they left the courtroom.

During the trial, a witness said Mya George still does not have a headstone.

As jurors left the courtroom, one of them stopped and told Stewart that he hoped part of the damages award would buy a headstone for the little girl's grave.

During the post-trial news conference, Cleo Fields, another plaintiff's attorney who is also a state senator, said the verdict, "sends a clean and convincing message to the Department of Social services that they have to protect children."

Marionneaux, and later Stewart, said the case "never was about money."

"It's about the failure of the Department of Social Services and the Office of Community Services to protect Mya George," Marionneaux said.

Witnesses in the trial testified that actions and inaction by the state child protection agency created the environment in which White killed the girl after months of abuse.

Attorneys for the state argued that the agency workers did all they could.

Among those testifying Friday morning was White.

On the witness stand while wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and shackles, he said he is in Angola "for killing my granddaughter," and then answered every other question with, "No comment." There was no cross-examination.

The plaintiffs called one rebuttal witness, Laurie White, who is Judge Robin Free's law clerk.

White confirmed Free's earlier testimony that Free had recused himself from a hold order on the children in May because he was related to Melissa Turnage, mother of Mya George and Mya George's older sister, Rheanna Turnage. White said that Free voided a verbal hold order for the same reason, and that he had suggested that OCS get an order from another judge.

She said Free did not order OCS workers to return the girls to their mother.

Melissa Turnage was expected to testify, but was not called to the witness stand.

In his 55-minute closing argument, plaintiff's attorney Rob Marionneaux Jr. said that Social Services attorneys had tried to lay blame for George's death on judges, law enforcement authorities, the District Attorney's Office, plaintiff Travis Stewart, Melissa Turnage, and Gertrude Beverly, George's grandmother.

"There's one party they left out," he continued. "OCS had the duty to protect Mya George."

"I've been listening to opposing counsel, waiting for the first instance of them accepting responsibility," Marionneaux added.

Marionneaux said regulations that apply to child protection workers are based on law and "not a blueprint or a template," terms used in testimony Thursday by Marketa Gautreau, assistant secretary of the Department of Social Services.

"If this policy manual is a 'blueprint' or a 'template' and not something to be followed, it's time for a jury," Marionneaux added later.

He said that if after so many reports, the department couldn't protect George, "Lord help the rest of these kids."

Marionneaux asked the jury to award damages of $5 million in the case -- $3 million for George's pain and suffering, $1,500,000 million to Stewart for the loss of his daughter and $500,000 to Gertrude Beverly, Stewart's mother.

He noted that jurors could assign a percentage of blame to Jessie White and Melissa Turnage, but said that the more percentage of blame assigned to them, the less others would receive.

Assistant Attorney General Sonceree Smith Clark spoke for 20 minutes in closing for the defense.

She compared the plaintiff's presentation to the short story "The Emperor's New Clothes," and said the attorneys were "weavers" of nothing, claiming substance.

She said Beverly had done nothing for the child but buy Pampers disposable diapers, and that Stewart had bought only "potato chips, fireworks and hard candy" for his daughter.

She said a psychologist called as an expert witness, "doesn't know any more about this case than my 5-year-old," and called that witness' testimony, "foolishness that doesn't mean jack."

Clark said baby sitter Melissa Smith "wasn't a bad person," but added, "she doesn't know jack, either."

Clark said of the policy manual, "text ain't law," and dropped it in a trash can.

Of social worker Ruby Jenkins, Clark said "that woman did her job," and added, "she is not guilty of gross negligence."

Clark said the people responsible for George's death are White, who she called "a beast," and Turnage, who she said used "bad judgment."

Clark added that both had pleaded guilty to their roles in the death of George.

"Don't give him a penny," she said pointing to Stewart. "It's not going to help Mya now; she is in heaven with God."

Clark asked jurors "to come back with a zero verdict against the state."

Attorney Cleo Fields made the final closing argument for the plaintiff, 11 minutes.

"One agency is responsible to protect children -- OCS," Fields said. "That's their job."

He called Jenkins, "a very nice lady," but said "people make mistakes."

Fields said Jenkins was "grossly negligent," and "kept Mya in harm's way, not once but several times. It was her job to protect Mya."

He said if jurors returned a verdict for the plaintiff, they would, "do it for Mya, so that when you report child abuse, it won't fall on deaf ears."

La. Supreme Court: DOTD to pay Oak Grove family $7.5M

News-Star, The (Monroe, LA) - April 28, 2004
Author: The News-Star, Christy Futch, Staff
By CHRISTY FUTCH
cfutch@thenewsstar.com

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development was ordered to pay an Oak Grove family roughly $7.5 million after the Louisiana Supreme Court overturned a lower court decision last week, ruling that the LDOTD was 80 percent responsible for a 1997 crash that seriously injured Syvella Toston.

Toston was injured when James Pardon pulled onto Louisiana 2 from Lane's Ferry Road in East Carroll Parish, colliding with the Toston's vehicle.

Monroe attorney Philip Deal, along with Baton Rouge attorney Lewis Unglesby , claimed the DOTD was responsible.

They argued that Bayou Macon bridge has a defective railing that creates a blind spot, blocking the view of traffic on the bridge from drivers turning onto Louisiana 2 from Lane's Ferry Road.

Attorneys for the state, Walter Dunn and Michael Dubos, argued the sole fault of the accident was that of James Pardon, who was intoxicated at the time of the crash, according to court records. But the plaintiff's attorneys argued that Pardon's inability to see oncoming traffic caused the accident.

Testimony revealed that East Carroll and West Carroll parish officials had complained about the blind spot for years and had asked DOTD to remedy the problem since 1972.

The trial court found the DOTD to be 100 percent responsible, but a circuit court decision reversed that ruling, shifting the responsibility for the crash to Pardon.

The high court's decision split the responsibility, 20 percent to Pardon, 80 percent to DOTD.

Toston has been in a semi-comatose state since the accident, Deal said, and her mother, Annette, has been caring for both Toston and Toston's minor child. The money, he said, will go toward Toston's medical care and her child's upbringing.

Deal said the case can't go any further than the high court, but the state, now being represented by the insurance company's attorney, Robert Kerrigan of New Orleans, has until May 7 to file for a rehearing.

Kerrigan could not be reached for comment.


Section: Local Region
Page: 16A
Record Number: mon2004050311430108
Copyright (c) The News-Star. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Co., Inc. by NewsBank, inc.

Victims' family wins $7 million in suit involving fatal car crash

The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.) - March 13, 2004
Author: MARLENE NAANES

A jury awarded almost $7 million to a family that lost four relatives in a crash that happened after a truck driver stopped to catch his flyaway hat.

A two-week trial in East Baton Rouge Parish District Court ended Thursday with the verdict.

The accident, which happened in October 2001, started after a Salvation Army truck driver's hat flew out the window as he was heading west on Harding Boulevard.

The truck driver, Alton Wilson, veered in front of an 18-wheeler heading in the same direction. The big rig struck Wilson's truck, careened across the median and slammed into a van in the eastbound lane of Harding Boulevard.

Four of six people in the van died in the wreck.

During the trial, six experts testified that the driver of the 18- wheeler, Edward Trusclair, was going up to 25 miles per hour over the 45 mph speed limit, said Lewis Unglesby , an attorney for the victims' families.

The jury found Trusclair 60 percent at fault, and Wilson 40 percent, according to court records.

That means Trusclair's company, Divinity Transport, is responsible for 60 percent of the $6.9 million award, or about $4.1 million, Unglesby said.

The Salvation Army settled out of court before the trial, and is not liable for any of the jury award, he said.

"It's a lot of money, but they had a lot of loss," Unglesby said. "The family is very grateful to all the hard work done by the judge and the jury."

Judge Curtis Calloway oversaw the trial.

Killed in the crash were Angela Gauthier, 36, her 3-year-old daughter, Claire, her 3-year-old nephew, Brennan Odendahl, and Gauthier's mother, 56-year-old Linda Landry.

Two year-old boys, Parker Evans and Lyndon Pace, who were in the rear seat of the van, survived the accident.

The boys also were nephews of Gauthier.

The attorney for Divinity Transport, Franklin Foil, said his client asked him not to comment after the trial.

Unglesby said he hoped Divinity Transport won't appeal the verdict so the victims' families can move on.

Wilson, the Salvation Army driver, was indicted in April 2002 on four counts of negligent homicide, two counts of negligent injuring and one count of improper lane usage.

The East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney's Office dropped the criminal case against Wilson in September 2002, two months after state District Judge Bonnie Jackson released Wilson from his bond because she said there was not enough evidence to support it.

Prosecutors charged Trusclair with four counts of negligent homicide, two counts of negligent injuring and one count of speeding, but later dropped them.


Edition: Saturday State Times/Morning Advocate
Section: News
Page: News
Index Terms: judgment.msn
Record Number: 0403413322
Copyright 2004 Capital City Press, Baton Rouge, La.

Worker awarded $6.2 million

The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.) - July 21, 1990
Author: FLORIDA PARISHES BUREAU

GREENSBURG -- A 21st Judicial District Court jury on Friday awarded an electric cooperative employee $6.2 million after the man was injured while working on a bypass switch.

The verdict, subject to appeal, was in favor of a Dixie Electric Cooperative employee, Doug Hall. The 12-member jury deliberated one hour, 40 minutes after hearing five days of testimony.

Hall's lawyers, Louis Unglesby and Joe Simpson, said the St. Helena Parish resident lost the use of his arm because he was shocked while working on the switch, which was built by USCO Power Equipment Corp., the defendant in the suit.

The jury found that the large switch was defective and that the company was negligent.

It was the largest damage suit award in the judicial district's history, Simpson said. The lawyer said that when interest is added, the award will total $7,794,683.

His lawyers said the equipment was defective because it did not have a 2-foot clearance in a working area that contained live electricity, as required by the National Electric Safety Code.


Edition: THE BATON ROUGE MORNING ADVOCATE
Section: NEWS
Page: 5-B;S
Index Terms: COURT ; JUDGMENT ; FINANCE ; BUSINESS ; UTILITY
Dateline: GREENSBURG
Record Number: 1298504
Copyright 1990 Capital City Press, Baton Rouge, La.

WBR jury awards $5.3 million in crash

Advocate, The (Baton Rouge, LA) - October 28, 2004
Author: ROY PITCHFORD

PORT ALLEN - A West Baton Rouge Parish jury awarded damages of $5.3 million to a man who was severely injured nine years ago in a traffic collision on U.S. 190, the man's attorneys said Wednesday.

Denton, a Dow employee and West Baton Rouge Parish reserve sheriff's deputy, was stopped in the narrow median of the highway near Winterville on Jan. 12, 1995, attempting to make a left turn, attorney Lewis Unglesby said.

Pamela Vidrine of Erwinville was driving in the left lane of the highway, and was unable to change lanes because a pickup truck was in the right lane.

Her car struck Denton's, Unglesby said in a news release,

Denton suffered broken ribs and a punctured lung.

His injuries later led to a stroke that caused paralysis. Denton, 35, at the time of the wreck, was a resident of Brusly.

Now 44, Denton lives in Texas, his attorneys said.

Denton's attorneys argued that the state left a 4-foot median when it widened the highway in 1952, though state highway standards called for a minimum median of 16 feet and recommended 40 feet.

The jury found the state to be 52 percent at fault, Vidrine 44 percent at fault, and Denton 4 percent.

Unglesby said the damages awarded Denton include $500,000 for pain and suffering, the maximum allowed under state law.

Denton was represented by Unglesby, Robert Marionneaux, Harry Shoemaker and John Calmes.

The state was represented by attorneys Ronnie Berthelot, Carlos Rominach and Mary Catherine Cali.

Marionneaux, who is also a state senator, said after the verdict there have been hundreds of collisions in the stretch of road with the narrow median, but said state law prohibited presenting that information to the jury.

He called the law "a joke."

The highway with the narrow medians is being upgraded with turning lanes and a wider median.


Edition: The Baton Rouge Advocate
Section: News
Page: News
Index Terms: wbr suit
Record Number: 0403470267
Copyright 2004 Capital City Press, Baton Rouge, La

ExxonMobil ordered to pay $5 million to widow

By ADRIAN ANGELETTE
Advocate staff writer
Published: Jun 27, 2006
The Advocate

An 11-person jury ordered ExxonMobil to pay $5 million to the widow of a former contract worker at the company’s Baton Rouge plant who died of a disease caused by exposure to asbestos in the 1960s.

The jury found that ExxonMobil was solely responsible for James Terrance contracting mesothelioma — cancer of the lining of the lung or abdominal cavity linked to asbestos.

“We’re very gratified,” attorney Lewis Unglesby said.

“Exxon knew about all the dangers since the 1930s and protects its own employees from those dangers.”

Terrance was a contract worker at the Baton Rouge plant in the 1960s. His job was to chip paint with asbestos from pipes at the facility, said Unglesby, the attorney for Terrance’s widow, Sadie Mae Terrance.

In the 1960s, ExxonMobil began using contract workers to do some work at the plant, such as the work performed by Terrance. The lawsuit filed by Terrance maintains Exxon used precautions to prevent its own workers from being exposed to asbestos, but did not take the same precautions with contract workers.

The jury returned the verdict Saturday night after four hours of deliberations.

The case took a strange twist May 30, about half way through the trial, when one of the jurors suffered from heart problems and had to receive treatment from Emergency Medical Services.

The juror was unable to continue. A legal fight ensued over whether the trial could go on with 11 jurors or if state District Judge Janice Clark should grant ExxonMobil’s request for a mistrial.

Clark ruled that the trial should continue, but ExxonMobil took the ruling to the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal for review.

The 1st Circuit on June 15 sided with ExxonMobil and ruled that a mistrial should be granted. A day later, the Louisiana Supreme Court reversed the 1st Circuit’s ruling and the trial resumed last week.

Unglesby said Monday he does not think the question of the trial continuing with 11 jurors will be a major issue on appeal because the Supreme Court already has considered the matter.

But, Gary Bezet, an attorney for ExxonMobil, does not think the issue is done.

“We will appeal and I believe that is something that can be addressed on appeal,” Bezet said Monday.

Bezet also said he does not believe the facts of the case support the jury’s verdict.

He was “surprised and disappointed” by the jury verdict, Bezet said.

“While we continue to sympathize with the family, we continue to hold that our facility and practices were not the cause” of James Terrance’s mesothelioma, he said.

Alternate jurors typically are chosen for trials that are expected to take longer than a week. Alternates can step in if a juror becomes ill, has a death in the family, or if some other serious circumstance arises. In this case, neither side objected to starting the trial without alternates.

Unglesby argued that he was willing to go forward with 11 jurors because it only takes nine jurors to reach a verdict.

He also argued during a May 31 hearing that 10 of the jurors are women and the same number are African-American. And because his client is an African-American woman, this jury provided her with an excellent opportunity to have a jury of her peers.

Unglesby also said that ExxonMobil is without peers because the company “sells gasoline and products to anybody with a dollar bill.”

Bezet countered by saying that Louisiana law requires 12 jurors to preside over trials.

The only way for a trial to resume with fewer than 12 jurors is if both parties agree to continue with the smaller jury, which ExxonMobil did not do.

ExxonMobil’s attorney also said he was shocked by Unglesby’s remarks about the composition of the jury.

Clark explained that she denied ExxonMobil’s request for a mistrial because it was a “harsh remedy” that caused problems for both parties as well as her staff.


Story originally published in The Advocate

Judge orders $4.5 million payout in suit

The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.) - November 5, 1999
Author: BOB ANDERSON

Plaintiffs will receive another $4.5 million in their class-action lawsuit against Combustion Inc., U.S. District Judge Richard Haik said Thursday.

Meanwhile, educators said they hope Haik's action in allocating an additional $4.5 million in damages awarded in the case for an education enrichment center in Walker will spur more such orders from judges.

An order signed by Haik divides the approximately $9 million in residual funds in the case between plaintiffs who have already received awards and the educational center in Livingston Parish.

The residual funds consists of money collected from defendant companies since the initial $127.4 million disbursement to the people who won the lawsuit.

The upcoming payout of $4.5 million will be prorated among plaintiffs in the same proportion as the initial allocation, the judge's order states.

Members of the class who brought suit received varying payments from the defendants, depending on the seriousness of their suffering, the judge said.

"The serious monies went to the people who had the serious injuries," Haik said.

However, not just those people, but all of Livingston Parish suffered to some extent from the hazardous waste site, the judge said.

Since the entire parish was listed as part of the class in the class-action suit, Haik said it became possible for him to do something with the remaining money to benefit the whole parish.

Among the defendants in the lawsuit were dozens of companies whose waste material went to the Combustion Inc. disposal site northwest of Walker.

Some of those companies still had not settled when the court initially distributed money to the plaintiffs, Haik said. Attorneys on both sides suggested that some of these residual funds should go to a project that would help the parish as a whole, he said.

Haik said his decision to do that made it easier to settle with some of the companies that had not agreed to settle earlier.

"One of sticking points was what was going to happen to the money," he said.

Of several proposals, the one by Sally Clausen, president of Southeastern Louisiana University, showed the "best promise" of benefiting the entire parish, the judge said.

The Livingston Parish Literacy and Technology Center will provide a legacy for those who suffered as a result of pollution at the Combustion Inc. site. The center will help their children and future generations, the judge said.

Haik, who is based in the court's Western District at Lafayette, praised attorneys involved in the case for helping to make the proposal work.

"It was a great example of legal advocacy" on the part of a number of Livingston Parish attorneys who got something for their clients and their parish, said Baton Rouge lawyer Lewis Unglesby , one of those involved in the case.

Clausen said she hopes Haik's decision will result in similar actions by judges across the country.

Livingston Parish School Superintendent J. Rogers Pope said he hopes Haik's innovative use of part of the damages awarded in the lawsuit to fund the Livingston center will lead to more such settlements that help education.

"The judge was very wise and showed a lot of intuition," Pope said. "This has the potential to affect the people of Livingston Parish for years to come. "While it is unusual for a judge to order residual funds from a class-action lawsuit to be used for education and the community in its entirety, it was not without precedent, Haik said.

The judge said his ability to do that was aided by the fact that the entire parish was part of the class and because he had the cooperation of the plaintiffs' attorneys.

Southeastern Louisiana University will work with the parish School Board to provide adult education and specialized programs for youth at the center, officials said.

The mission of the center will be to provide adult education and specialized programs for youth. The center staff will work to increase math, science and technology achievement of students at all levels as well as prepare young children to attend preschool and primary school classes.

Planners envision the center, to be built at a site between U.S. 190 and Burgess Road in Walker, holding a range of summer camps to allow middle school students to concentrate on environmental sciences, math and technological literacy. Other programs will involve parents and children working jointly at the center, officials said.


Edition: The Baton Rouge Advocate
Section: News
Page: 1 B X
Index Terms: Court Judgment Business Hazardous Material Education Local
Record Number: 9903074964
Copyright 1999 Capital City Press, Baton Rouge, La.

Supreme Court upholds judgment of $2.41 million in death of woman

By ROY PITCHFORD
rpitchford@theadvocate.com
Westside Bureau
(orignally published by The Advocate on November 28, 2004)


NEW ROADS -- Donovan Jamal Williams is a 13-year-old boy approaching his fourth Christmas without his mother. He is also the recipient of what his attorneys believe is the largest jury award ever upheld by a Louisiana appeal court for the loss of a parent.

The Louisiana Supreme Court denied writs Nov. 19 on a 6-1 vote that upheld the $2.41 million verdict awarded Williams by a jury in Pointe Coupee Parish in December 2002. The award had previously been upheld by the Louisiana 1st Circuit Court of Appeal.

Trina Williams of Maringouin was 29 when she died Jan. 7, 2001, trapped in her Honda Civic at a traffic accident on U.S. 190 near Livonia.

The accident began when a Dupree Transport Inc. truck struck the rear of an eastbound van. The driver of the van was trying to make a left turn into the parking lot of the Oak Tree Inn motel. The impact sent the van through a highway guardrail and crashing into Williams' car, authorities said.

Attorneys Robert M. Marionneaux Jr. and Lewis Unglesby represented Jamal Williams at the civil jury trial, and have argued on appeal that there is no reason to overturn or modify the verdict of the trial jury.

After four hours of deliberation, the jury found Dupree Transport of Lafayette to be at fault in the wreck and ordered the company to pay the amount voted by the jury. Court records said that Dupree driver Walter Pinkney had been driving more than 15 hours before the crash.

The large award was placed in trust to be monitored by 18th Judicial District Judge Robin Free, who presided over the trial, and is to be used to help meet the boy's needs.

Jury awards boy $2.41 million

The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.) - December 11, 2002
Author: Westside bureau

NEW ROADS - An 18th Judicial District jury awarded a 9-year-old boy $2.41 million for the loss of his mother in a car crash last year.

Trina Williams, 29, died following the Jan. 7, 2001, crash in front of the Oak Tree Inn in Livonia, according to a news release provided by the boy's attorney, Sen. Rob Marionneaux, D-Maringouin. Nine-year-old Donovan Jamal Williams was also represented by attorneys Lewis Unglesby and Thomas Nelson.

In the crash, a Dupre Transport Truck slammed into the rear of a Renzenberger Inc. van being driven by Loretta Jarreau of Livonia. The van was forced through the guardrail on U.S. 190 and into the oncoming car of Trina Williams, the news release said.

The lawsuit named Dupre Transport and its driver, Walter Pinkney, as defendants. It also named Renzenberger Inc. and the state Department of Transportation and Development, Marionneaux said. The jury found that the sole cause of the accident was the failure of the Dupre Transport Truck operator to observe the van attempting to make a left turn into the Oak Tree Inn, the news release said. Unglesby, through driver logs, established that Pinkney had been on duty for more than 15 hours and over his allowable driving time by more than 30 minutes, the news release said.

"Regardless of the outcome, we are not able to bring the one thing Jamal would like most this Christmas, his mother," Marionneaux said. "This tragedy could have, and should have, been avoided."Williams is an only child.

The money awarded by the jury will be placed in a trust and monitored by the court for the needs of Williams, Marionneaux said.


Edition: The Baton Rouge Advocate
Section: News
Page: 5 B
Index Terms: Accident Family Court Judgment Child Vehicle
Dateline: NEW ROADS
Record Number: 0203311111
Copyright 2002 Capital City Press, Baton Rouge, La.

Insurance Department told to pay

Advocate, The (Baton Rouge, LA) - July 20, 2007
Author: TED GRIGGS

Former Insurance Commissioner Jim Brown's lax oversight of a failed insurer's assets cost one former owner around $2.4 million, including interest, according to a state appeals court.

The 1st Circuit Court of Appeal found in a ruling Wednesday that in the early 1990s, Brown breached his fiduciary duty in liquidating American National Agents Insurance Group of New Orleans. The appeals court upheld a state district court's ruling that the Insurance Department owed Barbara M. Presley $1.25 million plus interest, or around $2.4 million in total.

Lewis Unglesby , Presley's attorney, said the state's Office of Risk Management is liable for the judgment, which still can be appealed.

Although the lawsuit and ruling are against the former insurance commissioner personally, state law protects state officials from paying those sorts of losses, Unglesby said.

Judy Wright, a spokeswoman for the Insurance Department, said the department's attorneys and the state Office of Risk Management are reviewing the ruling, which was issued Wednesday.

"We have not yet come to a decision on our next move," Wright said. Wright said she did not know when the department will make that decision.

The lawsuit has been dragging on since the early 1990s.

In December 1992, the Insurance Department, under Brown, determined that American National Agents Insurance Group was insolvent. Five months later, the company was placed into liquidation.

In 1993, the department sued Presley and her husband, Sam Presley II, alleging the couple defrauded the company and was liable for the amount of the company's insolvency.

In 1994, the Presleys countersued, claiming Brown had improperly placed American National into liquidation and that the company was mismanaged.

Brown had appointed Charles Reichman to serve as investment funds manager for the Insurance Department.

Reichman hired Richard Bickerstaff of Hattier, Sanford & Renoir to manage American National's stock portfolio.

Reichman and Bickerstaff were later accused of concocting a plan to sell the stock held by American National, which prosecutors said generated large fees for Bickerstaff, some of which he was accused of kicking back to Reichman.

Reichman pleaded guilty to bribery and income tax evasion charges. Bickerstaff pleaded guilty to failing to report a felony.

Meanwhile in 1996, the Presleys were indicted by a federal grand jury for racketeering, conspiracy, fraud and money laundering related to American National.

Prosecutors said Sam Presley defrauded auto insurance customers out of $7 million. By then, the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association, which pays the claims of failed insurers, had paid out $13 million in American National claims.

Sam Presley eventually pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit racketeering. In exchange, prosecutors dropped the charges against his wife. Sam Presley was sentenced to 6½ years in prison and died shortly after being released.

In 2003, then Insurance Commissioner Robert Wooley reached a settlement with Barbara Presley, but it did not include claims related to the stock portfolio that was sold off from American National.

Under the settlement, the American National estate will be paid one-third of up to $1 million, and 25 percent of anything after that, less attorney's fees and expenses.

Brown said on Thursday that Barbara Presley owes the Insurance Department $8 million and that any money she receives will eventually go right back into the American National estate.

Unglesby said he is glad that the long, tough litigation is almost over.

The Insurance Department can still ask the 1st Circuit for a rehearing, Unglesby said. He said any request is likely to be denied, but the process takes around six weeks.

The department then has 30 days to ask the state Supreme Court to review the 1st Circuit's decision, Unglesby said. The Supreme Court typically takes around six weeks to decide whether it will grant or deny the writ.

So the case could be over by December, Unglesby said.


Edition: Main
Section: Business
Page: 01D
Record Number: MERLIN_2723227
Copyright (c) 2007 Capital City Press, Baton Rouge, La.

EBR jury awards $1.6 million to survivor in fatal accident

By ADRIAN ANGELETTE
Advocate staff writer
Published: Feb 15, 2007
The Advocate

The 11-year-old daughter of a woman killed four years ago was awarded $1.6 million after a weeklong trial stemming from a car crash that involved a speeding, off-duty Baton Rouge Police officer.

Jurors deliberated for more than seven hours before returning the verdict Tuesday night in state District Judge Curtis Calloway’s court.

Jurors found the Scenic Chevron and its insurance company, Evanston Insurance Company, 80 percent liable for the accident because signs on the property obstructed the view of Melissa Benton, who died in the accident.

The jury placed 20 percent of the liability on the speeding police officer, Paul Rhea. The city-parish and Rhea, who is still on the force, settled the case with the daughter for $325,000 before the start of the trial.

That jury verdict form says the daughter, Jonqualya Benton, who was 7 at the time of the wreck, should receive $2 million. But because she already has settled with Rhea, she is entitled to 80 percent of the jury’s award — which is $1.6 million.

Jurors also awarded $800,000 to Jimmy Thomas, a friend of Benton’s, and his son. Jimmy Thomas was injured in the wreck; his son received a loss of consortium damage award.

The jury’s award for Thomas and his son was $1 million. They get 80 percent, or $800,000.

City-parish attorneys and Rhea also have agreed to settle claims with Thomas for $325,000, but the Metro Council has not yet approved the settlement.

Dave Kimmell, the attorney for the insurance company, said Wednesday that he and his client “are disappointed with the judgment.”

“We are assessing what our next course of action will be,” he said.

Attorney Lewis Unglesby, who represented Jonqualya Benton, said he thinks jurors held Chevron more responsible because Rhea’s mistake was a “momentary lapse.” However, Chrevron had signs on its property that were in violation of the city-parish sign ordinance because they blocked motorists’ view of oncoming traffic, he said.

Kimmell told jurors all blame for the accident should be placed on Rhea, who was speeding on Scenic Highway. The posted speed limit in the area of the accident is 45 mph. Rhea was traveling between 70 mph and 88 mph, he said.

The accident occurred at 78th Street and Scenic Highway about 5:45 a.m. on Feb. 15, 2003.

Benton, 32, was driving Thomas to work and her daughter was in the back seat.

When Benton tried to get across Scenic Highway, her Nissan Sentra was broadsided by Rhea’s police cruiser, a 2003 Chevrolet Impala, attorneys said.

Benton died in the wreck. Thomas had a broken leg and separated shoulder, both of which required surgery. The daughter suffered a fractured vertebra, attorneys said.

Thomas’ attorney, Jerry McKernan, said the jury “recognized this was a great loss,” and they understood who was responsible.

“This was a wonderful woman,” he said.


Story originally published in The Advocate

Injury case leads to $1.3 million award

Advocate Westside Bureau
Published: Apr 13, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.
The Advocate

NEW ROADS — A civil jury in 18th Judicial District Court awarded $1.3 million from Boh Bros. Construction to Shasta Pritchard for injuries suffered in a Pointe Coupee Parish traffic accident.

Pritchard was traveling on La. 1 on June 15, 2005, when she started to pass a Boh Bros. truck. As she did, the truck began a left turn. Pritchard applied her brakes, but skidded into the truck driver’s side door.

She sustained serious injuries and required four surgeries.

Her grandson, Brayden Pritchard, also was injured, but managed to pull her out of the car.

The jury found Boh Brothers 75 percent at fault and Pritchard 25 percent at fault, according to a check of court documents on Friday.

Pritchard was represented by Robert Marionneaux Jr., Barrett Burkart Jr., Lewis Unglesby and Chris Pierce.

Boh Bros. was represented by Ward LaFleur.
 

$1 million awarded in woman’s death

Published: March 8, 2007
The Advocate

NEW ROADS — A Pointe Coupee Parish jury decided in a civil case to award the parents of a young woman killed in an automobile accident $1 million each.

The jury found in its Feb. 28 decision that the state Department of Transportation and Development was negligent in maintaining the shoulders of La. 411 near the Pointe Coupee-Iberville parish line.

William and Rozena Harris of Maringouin were awarded $1 million each for the death of Kimberly Harris, 18 when she died Jan. 1, 2001.

Kimberly Harris was riding to her parents’ home on New Years Eve 2000 in a car driven by her boyfriend, Ricky Celestine, after visiting friends in New Roads.

She had called her parents on a cell phone and told them she was nearing their house.

The car ran off the pavement then hit a drop-off. Celestine tried to get back in the proper lane, but over-corrected.

The vehicle then hit a tree in the road right-of-way.

Plaintiff’s attorney Rob Marionneaux presented evidence that DOTD records showed the highway shoulders had not been regularly maintained.

The jury found Celestine 30 percent at fault and DOTD 70 percent at fault.

Marionneaux was assisted by attorneys Chuck Ward and Lewis Unglesby. Doug Cockeran represented the state.

Judge Robin Free of the 18th Judicial District presided over the trial.


Story originally published in The Advocate

BR casino told to pay rape victim

The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.) - January 27, 2000
Author: MICHELLE MILLHOLLON

Casino Rouge must pay nearly $1 million to a cocktail waitress who was raped at knifepoint two years ago in the casino parking lot, a judge ruled Wednesday.

The woman was attacked as she was getting into her car to leave work about 6:45 p.m. on Feb. 9, 1998. No one has been charged in the crime.

The rape happened in the employee parking lot off River Road.

In a written judgment, state District Court Judge Kay Bates says the casino's security was so inadequate that the attacker was able to calmly walk to his car and drive away after raping the woman.

A guard tower overlooks the parking lot and security guards are supposed to patrol the area.

But on the night of the rape, the judgment says, the tower wasn't manned and there were no security patrols because the casino was short on staff.

Employees apparently weren't told that normal security wasn't in effect.

The casino had a duty to protect against criminal misconduct, Bates says in the judgment, and on the night of the rape the casino breached that duty.

Bates awarded the victim $700,000 in general damages, $79,954.50 for medical care and $180,210 for past and future lost wages.

The judgment says the victim has flashbacks, severe nightmares, concentration problems and depression.

The woman's attorney, Lewis Unglesby , said she worked at the casino for two years, but can no longer work.

He said he hopes the judgment is a resolution.

"I assume Casino Rouge will accept the court judgment as good citizens and pay it without putting the victim through further delay (by appealing)," Unglesby said.

Joseph "Beaver" Brantley, general counsel for the casino, said the rape was so unforseeable that it couldn't have been prevented.

The casino has adequate security and a capable security team, he said.

Brantley said the casino engaged in settlement discussions with the victim but the two sides could not agree.

The casino has paid the victim's medical bills.

"Although we have had and still have the utmost respect for the victim and the utmost respect for the court, we're disappointed by the decision and are evaluating whether an appeal will be taken," Brantley said.


Edition: The Baton Rouge Advocate
Section: News
Page: 1 B 2 B
Index Terms: Court Judgment Gambling Labor
Record Number: 0003092398
Copyright 2000 Capital City Press, Baton Rouge, La.

School Board loses $1 million suit

The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.) - June 6, 2003
Author: Marlene NaaNes

A jury has decided the School Board and its insurance company must pay about $1 million to a man whose foot slipped through Lee High School's football bleachers, causing injuries that prevent him from working, his attorney said Thursday.

Vernon Pitcher attended a football jamboree at Lee High in August 1999 to see the team from his old school, McKinley High, play a preseason game. As he walked through the bleachers to visit friends, his foot became lodged in a gap between the planks of a walkway on the bleachers, said Lewis Unglesby , his attorney.

Pitcher fell, breaking his right foot and severely injuring his left knee, Unglesby said. Pitcher, who is 46, needed two surgeries and can't bend over or bend his knee, he said.

At the time of the accident, Pitcher was a supervisor of electricians for an engineering group at Rubicon Inc. During the three-day trial, which ended late last week, doctors testified that Pitcher could not physically perform his job after the accident, Unglesby said.

"He cannot work physical work for the rest of his life, and that was the nature of his job," he said.

Unglesby said the football stands are still in need of repair.

The original suit, filed in 2000, claims that the walkway was "unreasonably dangerous" and that the School Board and Lee High failed to "inspect their premises properly" and keep it in "proper repair."

The jury awarded Pitcher about $920,000. Interest that would have been earned on the money since the suit was filed will bring the total award to $1 million, Unglesby said.

During the trial in state district court in Baton Rouge, School Board attorney Hal Adkins argued that the irregularity in the planks was obvious. Under state law, people are at least partially responsible for their own actions when defects are obvious, he said.

The bleachers were not in disrepair - they were "aged," which may have caused the gap, Adkins said. The gap where Pitcher fell ranged from 1 1/4 to 3 inches, he said.

"While we felt that the bleachers may have contributed in some way, we believe the ultimate cause of the accident was due to the plaintiff's own actions," he said.

Unglesby disagreed, saying the gap was hard to see.

"If you went there right now you could notice it, but put a bunch of people in there and you can't notice it," he said.

The school system's director of facilities, Bob Cooper, said Thursday that the bleachers Pitcher fell on are an older model. But like many of the system's older-model bleachers, they are not scheduled to be replaced because of a lack of money, he said.

Cooper added that all bleachers are inspected each summer and repaired when necessary.

Because of an agreement among the School Board, its insurance company and the plaintiff, last week's judgment can't be appealed.

Both sides agreed before the trial that the total monetary award would not exceed $1 million. That was done to ensure Pitcher received some money and the School Board wouldn't have to pay beyond its insurance policy cap of $1 million.

The School Board paid $100,000 toward its policy deductible early this spring, leaving payment of the remainder of the roughly $1 million award to the insurance company, Corregis Insurance Co., Adkins said.


Edition: The Baton Rouge Advocate
Section: News
Page: News
Index Terms: Prep Football
Record Number: 0303346761
Copyright 2003 Capital City Press, Baton Rouge, La.

Legal Bills to be Paid by State - Hedges was Cleared on All 7 Charges

Times-Picayune, The (New Orleans, LA) - July 14, 1999
Author: Jarvis DeBerry St. Tammany bureau

Judge Patricia Hedges will be reimbursed by the state for all the legal expenses she incurred defending herself against false charges that she abused her office, according to a bill Gov. Foster has signed into law.

A special St. Tammany Parish grand jury indicted Hedges in October, accusing her of trading judicial decisions for campaign money by committing bribery, malfeasance of office and extortion, but four months later the ad-hoc district attorney assigned to the case said he was convinced that Hedges did not commit any crimes.

Though all seven charges against Hedges were dropped before she was scheduled to go to trial, she still ran up a legal bill of $102,900 with attorneys Lewis Unglesby and Karl Koch of Baton Rouge.

Under state law, public officials who are accused of crimes but acquitted may ask the Legislature to appropriate money to cover their legal fees. The Legislature is not obliged to do so, but it usually does.

The bill authorizing the reimbursement was drafted by Rep. Tom Thornhill, R-Slidell, and was approved in both houses with little dissent.

The grand jury that indicted Hedges in October also accused four others of conspiring with the judge to force her political opponent out of the race.

Like Hedges, Randolph Slone, Charles Triola, Gary Triola and Jane Triola had all the charges against them dropped, but because they are not public officials, they do not qualify for reimbursement by the state.


Section: METRO
Page: B1
Record Number: 9907140050
Copyright, 1999, The Times-Picayune Publishing Corporation.

Attorney says school system won energy-saving suit

By ROY PITCHFORD
Advocate Westside bureau

Published: Aug 14, 2007
The Advocate

PLAQUEMINE — Attorney Rob Marionneaux told the Iberville Parish School Board on Monday night it had won a lawsuit against Siemens Building Systems, but said the exact financial implications have yet to be determined.

Marionneaux, who is also a state senator, had asked state District Judge Robin Free on Friday to grant the School Board a summary judgment in a case involving an energy-saving contract between the company and the board.

When a recent legislative audit questioned the legality of the contract, the School Board sued Siemens to determine if the contract was legal.

Free ruled a part of the contract that called for stipulated energy cost savings without verification was in conflict with Louisiana law. Marionneaux said 14 other school systems in the state have such contracts.

The attorney said the School Board is prepared to pay Siemens what it owes, but said that figure must be determined.

He said he also will ask Free to award the School Board compensation for attorney and consultant fees.

Marionneaux also gave a brief legislative report that included telling board members he will seek changes in the state’s Minimum Foundation Program which provides money for basic public education costs.

He said the law declares parishes such as Iberville to be “wealthy parishes,” receiving less money per student, based on their ad valorem tax revenue.

Marionneaux said he believes greater weight should be given to the number of poor and at-risk children in the system.

In other action, the board:
Voted to raise the minimum wage for school employees to $6 per hour.
Agreed to look into a larger reimbursement for bus drivers and activity drivers who must take annual physicals to keep their commercial drivers licenses. The board has had a $25 reimbursement for several years.
Voted to spend up to $10,000 on soil boring and analysis before beginning to resurface running tracks at the four high schools.
Adopted and placed in to its policy manual, a two-page statement of “professional expectations” proposed by Superintendent Ed Cancienne Jr.


Story originally published in The Advocate
 

Iberville Board to hire firm to fight lawsuit

By John A. Colvin
Special to The Advocate
Published: Apr 3, 2007
The Advocate

PLAQUEMINE - The Iberville Parish School Board agreed Monday night to hire the Baton Rouge law firm of Unglesby and Marionneaux to represent the district in a lawsuit accusing it of failing to pay in keeping with its contract.

Siemens Building Technologies filed suit in 18th Judicial District Court on March 19 for $747,931 plus interest and costs.

Less than a year ago, the board had agreed to allow Siemens to subcontract work - estimated to cost $1.2 million - replacing air conditioning-heating units at Dorseyville School as an extension of its pre-existing "energy-saving contract."

During a special meeting in February, the School Board elected not to pay Siemens until the Louisiana Attorney General's Office issued an opinion on the validity of the arrangement with Siemens following a report by the Legislative Auditor questioning the arrangement.

In a March 13 opinion, the Attorney General's Office described both contracts as being out of line with state laws because the contracts contain "stipulated savings" that are not guaranteed and does not allow for any recourse.

The board's 14-1 vote Monday to hire Unglesby and Marionneaux followed a closed executive session that lasted about 30 minutes. Assistant District Attorney Lou Delahaye recommended the Baton Rouge firm because of its experience in contract law.

Albertha Hasten objected to the hiring because the firm was asking for $250 per hour to work on the case.

Work on Dorseyville's climate control system is incomplete.

In other action, the School Board voted 12-2 - with one abstaining - in favor of holding two tenure hearings for teachers in the district.

Odeal McClay and Evelyn Fullwood are both facing possible dismissal for "willful neglect of duty," according to the resolutions passed calling for the hearings. McClay's hearing is set for 6 p.m. May 2, and Fullwood's is set for 6 p.m. May 16.

The hearings may be private or public at the discretion of the teachers. Each teacher had been with the district for more than 30 years, said school system officials, who would not discuss the basis for the moves.

Hasten abstained on the motion, and board members Dorothy Sansoni and Stanley Washington voted against the hearings.

In another move, board members declined to pay retiring superintendent Martin Bera a $10,000 incentive award for improved school performance. David Daigle, Tom Delahaye and Melvin Lodge voted for the bonus, while the other 12 members voted against it.


Story originally published in The Advocate

All charges against Odom tossed

By ADRIAN ANGELETTE
Advocate staff writer
Published: Feb 27, 2007
The Advocate

All criminal charges against state Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Bob Odom were dismissed by a state judge Monday, but not before the judge threatened to hold a prosecutor and District Attorney Doug Moreau in contempt of court.

Odom, his family, friends and attorneys later stood on the steps of the Governmental Building and declared victory in the case that began with a 21-count indictment in August 2002.

“I’m glad it’s over,” Odom said. “I haven’t done anything but good for the people of this state.”

Inside court, Odom cried when he turned from the defense table and hugged his wife, sitting in the front row of state District Judge Don Johnson’s courtroom. Odom said he never feared being convicted, and expects this ruling will help jump start his re-election campaign.

“If you’re not guilty of anything, how can you worry?” he said.

At the start of the day Monday, Odom was charged with two counts of bribery and one count each of conspiracy to commit bribery, money laundering, conspiracy to commit money laundering and felony theft.

After a brief hearing, Johnson dismissed the two money laundering counts — a ruling prosecutors have appealed. The judge allowed the other charges to stand.

The ruling on the money laundering counts set the stage for a tense exchange between the judge and prosecutor Tony Clayton. Johnson told the attorneys he wanted to proceed to trial with the remaining four counts.

Clayton noted in court that because Johnson had signed the prosecutors’ appeal on the money laundering counts before severing them from the remaining counts, the entire case was legally in the jurisdiction of the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal.

Because the case is on appeal, Clayton said, prosecutors would not participate in jury selection until after the 1st Circuit ruled.

Johnson told Clayton he would hold Clayton and Moreau in contempt of court if they did not participate in jury selection.

“This has been going on for four-plus years. It’s time to get it over,” Johnson said. Johnson allowed 30 minutes for Clayton and Moreau to confer.

After that short recess, Johnson again asked Clayton if prosecutors would participate in jury selection. After Clayton reiterated his argument that the case is now in the 1st Circuit’s jurisdiction, Johnson dismissed all the charges against Odom.

After court, Odom’s attorney Mary Olive Pierson said she is confident Johnson’s ruling marks the end of the case.

“We might be the tortoise, but we got to where we needed to go,” Pierson said of the length of the case. “It took us that long. I had a good ride.

“Today, they got hold of their sanity and did the right thing,” Pierson said of prosecutors.

Another of Odom’s attorneys, Lewis Unglesby, said he thinks Johnson’s rulings will stand if prosecutors decide to appeal.

Clayton said the final decision on an appeal is up to Moreau, but he predicted Johnson’s rulings will be taken to the 1st Circuit.

“It’s going to be appealed,” Clayton said.

He said prosecutors could not go forward because Johnson had “gutted the case” by dismissing the two money laundering counts.

Another prosecutor, Sandra Ribes, said the money laundering counts and one count dealing with filing false public records, dismissed by Johnson earlier this month, have already been appealed. Ribes said it is up to Moreau to decide whether the dismissal of the felony theft, bribery and conspiracy charges are appealed as well.

“We would like to end it with a trial,” Ribes said. “We were not expecting to be where we are right now.”

Moreau could not be reached for comment Monday afternoon.

Johnson started the day by saying he expected the trial to begin with jury selection at 1 p.m. Monday.

“This trial is going on with whatever we have,” Johnson said.

The only count not under attack by defense motions on Monday was felony theft. In that count, Odom was accused of getting pine seedlings from his department and planting them on his property without paying for them in a timely fashion.

In the money laundering counts, Odom was accused of diverting campaign-finance funds to his Zachary church and then using proceeds to pay for personal expenses. He was also accused of conspiring to launder the funds.

In court Monday, Unglesby attacked the money laundering counts on several fronts, including the fact that prosecutors are alleging that Odom used checks to launder campaign finance funds. Unglesby argued that state money laundering laws do not include transactions that involve checks.

Clayton argued that Odom’s attorneys should not be able to come into court on the eve of trial in a case approaching its fifth year, and ask to get counts thrown out.

“This case has gone up and up and up,” Clayton said of the numerous appeals on legal issues. He argued that these issues should have been raised before now.

Johnson told attorneys before ruling that there is “almost zero” precedent on money laundering from Louisiana courts, particularly with definitions of “proceeds” and “funds.”

He cited a treatise by former U.S. attorneys Raymond Lamonica and Chaney Joseph about whether checks could be considered when prosecuting money laundering. Johnson said Lamonica and Joseph found it to be “questionable” whether checks could be used to prosecute.

Johnson asked Ribes if the money laundering counts involve checks. When Ribes responded by saying “there is nothing alleged other than checks,” Johnson immediately dismissed the counts.

The bribery counts accuse Odom of accepting bribes and conspiring to commit bribery with people who wanted lucrative warehouse contracts to store commodities.

On the bribery counts, Pierson argued that Odom was charged with conspiring to commit a crime in addition to actually committing the same crime. She said the law does not allow a person to be charged with both crimes for a single offense.

In addition, Pierson argued that in one of the bribery counts, Odom was accused of committing more than one crime. She argued that if the jury returns a guilty verdict, it would be impossible for Odom to know which of the acts he was convicted.

“If they say guilty … of what?” Pierson asked.

Ribes countered that she thinks prosecutors were doing Odom a favor by lumping alleged illegal acts into individual counts: Had they not done so, Odom would be accused of 45 crimes and be subject to prison on each conviction.

Johnson gave no reasons for denying Pierson’s request to throw out the bribery counts. Pierson told Johnson she was reserving the right to appeal the judge’s decision. That became a moot issue after Johnson later decided to throw out all the charges.


Story originally published in The Advocate

Robert Marionneaux Jr.
Attorney and office manager, Unglesby & Marionneaux, 38

By Stephanie Riegel, Contributing writer
The Greater Baton Rouge Business Report on November 21, 2006

What is the No. 1 challenge for Baton Rouge today?

The biggest challenge is to manage the record growth and the infrastructure.

Rob Marionneaux wears a lot of hats. He's a cattle farmer in his native Iberville Parish, a personal injury and criminal defense lawyer, and a state senator. So when he says he "doesn't like to sit still for long," you have to take him at his word.

Of course, with a 200-acre farm and a bustling law business he practices with renowned defense attorney Lewis Unglesby, you have to wonder why Marionneaux would want to mess with politics at all. There's not much glory in it these days, and not much money either.

Marionneaux still believes in the system, and he believes that those who want to can make a difference.

"I figured if people were sitting around a table making decisions about the direction things were going to take, I'd just as soon be one of them."

Leadership has always been in his blood. He was the first white representative to serve on the student bar association at Southern University, where he attended law school. He was also elected to the state House of Representatives at the age of 27, then to the Senate at age 32.

Though he enjoys his political career, he says practicing law is his real passion. He chose law school after spending his first couple of post-college years working for a local attorney who ended up in prison for tax evasion.

"I've really tried to turn that into a positive experience," he says.

So far, he appears to be succeeding. He has a Martindale-Hubbell "BV" rating, the highest possible, and was recently named to the Southern University Law School Hall of Fame.

When he's not busy juggling the demands of constituents, clients and cattle, he makes time for his family, including wife Keely and 8-year-old son Robert.

14 charges dropped against Ratcliff
Ex-official faces bank-fraud count in Livingston case

By PENNY BROWN ROBERTS
proberts@theadvocate.com
Advocate staff writer
The Advocate

A federal judge has thrown out all but one of the charges against former Livingston Parish President Dewey Ratcliff. In a ruling issued Monday, U.S. District Judge James Brady dismissed 14 mail-fraud counts -- leaving Ratcliff facing just one bank-fraud charge that carries a maximum 30-year sentence.

In a 32-page decision, the judge found that prosecutors used the mail-fraud statute to turn a state misdemeanor into a federal felony. According to Brady, that's an effort the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals -- which oversees federal district courts in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi -- has been "inclined to limit."

"(I am) cognizant of the federal government's interest in eliminating political corruption," Brady writes. "However, this court will not partake in what has been described by other courts as the federalizing of garden-variety state crimes."

A federal grand jury indicted Ratcliff in November, alleging those with an interest in Waste Management's Woodside Landfill contract financed his re-election campaign to the tune of $200,000. The landfill contract was a major issue in the 1999 campaign.

Ratcliff is accused of getting $150,000 in bank loans secured with cash from a wealthy supporter. Also, a Waste Management lobbyist provided a political consultant with $44,100 in cash to hold as collateral until Ratcliff could pay a $57,000 debt, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors contend mail fraud occurred when Ratcliff mailed a false campaign-finance report to the Louisiana Board of Ethics -- as well as checks paid with the improper contributions.

But at a hearing last month before Brady, Ratcliff's lawyers argued such crimes should be tried under the state's election laws -- not federal mail-fraud statutes.

Louisiana's Campaign Finance Disclosure Act prohibits any candidate for a parishwide elected office from receiving more than $2,500 in contributions, loans or loan guarantees from any single person. The act also requires candidates to file campaign finance disclosure reports with the Louisiana Board of Ethics.

State election law violations carry fines of up to $500 and jail time of up to six months. By contrast, the worst of the mail-fraud counts carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Reached at his Hammond home Monday afternoon, Ratcliff said "I have no comment until I talk to my attorney."

Ratcliff's lawyer, Lewis Unglesby, said he and his client are "very happy" with the ruling, which he said addresses an ongoing legal debate over what constitutes a federal crime.

"Over the last 20 years there's been a tension between prosecutors wanting to expand the mail-fraud law and the courts trying to minimize that expansion," Unglesby said. "This is a great example of the judge correctly recognizing that the states have to be allowed to handle what is a state issue. Just because a stamp is put on something doesn't convey federal authority over the conduct."

U.S. Attorney David Dugas said prosecutors are going to review the opinion "carefully" and seek guidance from the Department of Justice's Appellate Section, which determines whether rulings should be appealed.

"The court's ruling today acknowledges that there is case law to support the mail fraud charges contained in the indictment of Mr. Ratcliff," Dugas said.

"However, the 5th Circuit has not previously considered this issue and the district court concluded that the 5th Circuit would probably not interpret the mail-fraud statute broadly enough to cover the conduct charged in those counts of the indictment."

Marionneaux argues case to Supreme Court (05-13-2005)
Vacant seats don't change majority
La. top court clarifies rule on Senate votes

Friday, May 13, 2005
By Gwen Filosa
Staff writer
The Times Picayune

Even with two vacant seats, the state Senate must get the same number of votes to pass legislation as when a full contingent of lawmakers is present, the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

All votes will be based on a full 39-member Senate, despite the loss of two New Orleans senators last month.

Twenty votes constitute a simple majority, while 26 make a two-thirds majority, the court said in a brief decree.

The seven justices were unanimous, ruling eight hours after hearing arguments in their French Quarter chambers and promising a forthcoming complete written opinion.

Republican John Hainkel's death and Democrat Lambert Boissiere Jr.'s election to another office reduced the 39-member Senate to 37.

That change also could have reduced the number of votes needed for a mathematically correct two-thirds majority to 25.

A two-thirds majority of the Senate is needed to pass certain kinds of bills, including constitutional amendments, impeachments and taxes.

Lawmakers could not agree on what makes up a legal body under the current circumstances, and wanted the Supreme Court to decide.

They asked the court whether the Senate can properly enact legislation if it lacks two voting members, or whether the fluctuating figures only open the door to potential lawsuits if a new tax, such as the one on cigarettes proposed by Gov. Kathleen Blanco, is enacted with fewer than 26 votes.

"We have got to get his resolved before we get down to those tough votes," Sen. Art Lentini, R-Kenner, said after the hourlong hearing.

"What does 'elected members' actually mean?" Sen. Robert Marionneaux Jr., D-Livonia, asked the court Thursday morning. "Does that mean the 39 sworn in in January 2005, or does it mean the 37 that are currently serving?"

Marionneaux was joined by House Clerk Alfred "Butch" Speer and fellow Sen. Joseph "Jody" Amedee III, D-Gonzales, in the court's French Quarter chamber Thursday, arguing that the rules should not be changed and that the constituents of Hainkel and Boissiere should have representation.

"They still have representation," Speer said. "It may always be negative."

On the other side of the courtroom, Lentini said that the common definition of "elected members" could not be any clearer.

"The Senate consists of persons, not vacant districts," Lentini said. "We're talking about elected members. . . .

"Sen. Hainkel is no longer an elected member of the Senate. He has died. Sen. Boissiere has resigned. The definition of resigned is to give up your membership."

Hainkel died last month at age 67, after a political career that spanned nearly four decades.

Boissiere resigned last month to take his new job as 1st City Court constable, after having served as senator since 1999.

Justice John Weimer expressed concern over whether citizens in Hainkel's and Boissiere's districts would be disenfranchised by the absence of their representatives.

The high court's guidance was sought "to ensure the majority of the people of the state voted favorably to enact laws," Speer said. "Representative democracy is what we're talking about here."

A Senate with two empty seats is still a working body, representing the majority of Louisiana, Lentini told the justices.

"There is no harm in shifting the number of actual persons who can vote," Lentini said. "Vacancies should not be able to affect the vote in the Legislature."

. . . . . . . Gwen Filosa can be reached at gfilosa@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3304

Gloves off in torrid legal battle
Copeland engages combative lawyer

By Manuel Torres
East Jefferson bureau

The Times Picayune

Being Al Copeland has not always been easy gig of late.

Since 2002, when news broke that the flashy multimillionaire's child-custody case had come under scrutiny of federal authorities investigating Jefferson Parish courthouse corruption, he has lived under a cloud.

Copeland has not been charged with a crime, but prosecutors consider him a subject of a six-year inquiry that has sent the trial judge, a Copeland corporate attorney and another defendant to prison for their roles in the fixing of the custody case in Copeland's favor against his ex-wife, Luan Hunter. On another front, Hunter is pursuing a lawsuit alleging that Copeland joined the others in a conspiracy to violate her civil rights in court.

Through it all Copeland has kept silent while his principal attorney, Jack Martzell, challenged allegations in Hunter's suit that cast suspicion on his client. In the most recent example, her attorneys wrote in a March 4 filing that Copeland paid as much as $750,000 I "hush money" to his top corporate lawyer, Bryan Whit who went to prison for knowing about the conspiracy but not blowing the whistle.

Now, after taking it on the chin for almost three years, Copeland seems ready to go on the offensive. Last month he hired an additional lawyer, Lewis Unglesby of Baton Rouge, who has been called one of Louisiana's most "knock-down, drag out" defense attorneys. In his first filing, to be argued in court today, Unglesby is seeking sanctions against Hunter's attorneys for the "libelous" hush money allegation.

But Unglesby's 33-page filing also goes beyond that narrow allegation to attack, on a broad scale, the heart of Hunter's civil rights complaint. He says her case has "crumbles" and forced her attorneys to embark on a path of "recklessness." Her suit, he wrote, "would be long over but for the financial status" of Copeland.

Hunter's attorneys could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Unglesby and Martzell downplayed any suggestion that defense is changing tactics. But veteran criminal defense lawyer Arthur "Buddy" Lemann III, who does not represent anyone in the Copeland case, said Unglesby's hiring and his first filing indicate that Copeland is gearing up for a fight.

"Lewis is like a bull in a china shop. He's very aggressive, very combative and very effective," said Lemann, who has worked with Unglesby on other cases. "It increases (Copeland's) fire power.

Former federal prosecutor Shaun Clarke agreed.

"There are those who believe the best defense is a good offense," he said. "Copeland has been wearing a big target on his back. ... It seems like he's now trying to make his wife a target."

Turning up the heat
Opposing lawyers often trade barbs in litigating civil suits. But the tone of the attacks in Hunter v. Copeland escalated last month, when Hunter attorneys Steven Lane and Leonard Davis put forth the "hush money" allegation in what might have been considered a routine motion.

Martzell and attorneys for White cried foul. At their request, U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Wells Roby removed the document from the public record. Today she will consider whether to sanction Hunter's fight. Clarke said Unglesby's combative style will complement Martzell's more diplomatic approach.

"Sometimes it's good to have a good cop and a bad cop, and both Jack and Lewis are among the best in their profession," Clarke said.

Swinging wide
Unglesby said his broad attach on Hinter's case is more a result of the evidence produced so far that a change in tactics.

In the filing, he argues that depositions taken from Hunter, White, former stat District Judge Ronald Bodenheimer and Phil Demma, a mutual friend of Bodenheimer and Copeland, show that Demma and White, despite their own culpability, never discussed any civil rights conspiracy with Copeland. Further, he says, Copeland "never told anyone what to do and did not know what they were doing."

Bodenheimer is serving 46 months in prison. Demma is finishing up a two-year sentence and White served 10 months.

Unglesby also said Copeland and Hunter had agreed to share custody of their son, Alex, and that "there was never a custody issue" in the case and therefore "nothing to fix."

The filing challenges a Bodenheimer deposition from January, in which the ex-judge said he and Copeland met privately in 2001 at a Metairie home where Copeland asked him to "make sure he did not lose custody of his son."

Unglesby disputed whether the meeting ever took place, saying FBI agents who were trailing Bodenheimer at the time would have witnesses it. Even if Bodenheimer is to be believed, Unglesby said, his deposition shows Copland "as a concerned parent' who did not offer anything to the judge and did not ask him to do anything improper.

'Keeping Score'
While criticizing Hunter's "hush money" filing for disclosing financial information about White's salary, Unglesby's filing includes some dollar figures of its own. It indicates that Copeland provides Hunter with "two beautiful homes, a full-time caretaker in Folsom, full health insurance with no deductible…plus $3,000 per month"--- all estimated to total $200,000 per year. The only financial conflict between Copeland and Hunter so far is Copeland's request that she "stop spending $35,000 a month on credit cards," Unglesby wrote.

Lemann said more barbs between the opposing sides are to be expected.

Unglesby said he see courtroom cases as "an adult way of keeping score." But Hunter's attorneys are not likely to back down. Lemann said they, too, are a "very good and aggressive" bunch, arguing for a potentially lively trial. "It sounds like a real pissing contest," Lemann said.

Jury finds accused state employee not guilty

By BRETT TROXLER
btroxler@wbrz.com
2theadvocate.com staff
From a report by WBRZ's Ben Lemoine

(orignally published by The Advocate on February 3, 2005)

A state worker accused of hacking into a Department of Social Services computer system was found not guilty by a jury on Wednesday, putting a cap on almost six years of accusations.

Andrew Mata had been charged with offenses against intellectual property for illegally entering the DSS system and raising his own access level while working for the Department of Health and Hospitals in 1999. Mata had been employed by DSS before taking a job with DHH.

"I still have friends over there," Mata said. "And the tension that it produced is tremendous. Sometimes we don't talk freely because of this case hanging. We go to the same church, send our kids to the same schools, so it's tough."

Since the allegations arose, neither Mata nor his staff has been allowed to maintain the DHH computer system. DHH officials claim they've had to contract a private company to handle the load, costing taxpayers a grand total of almost $8 million in the past five years.

Senate Savoring Good Guy Role

Times-Picayune, The (New Orleans, LA) - January 11, 1991
Author: PETER NICHOLAS Capital Bureau

BATON ROUGE

A top Senate staffer approached a group of reporters at a local steak house Wednesday night, put a napkin over his head and proclaimed, "We're wearing the white hats for a change."

The allusion was to the Senate's painstaking attempts to document a Roemer administration cover-up of potentially incriminating information about one or more of the governor's nine nominees to the new state lottery board.

For now, the roles of the Senate and the Roemer staffers appear to be reversed: A governor who has promised to bring new ethical standards to the executive branch now is awash in charges that his senior staff withheld vital background reports on the nominees.

And the Senate, often perceived as a bastion of regressive, old-school Louisiana politics, is wearing the good government mantle.

In the past two days, the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee has turned its attention from confirming the nominees to proving in open session that the administration covered up damaging allegations about at least one of the candidates. Cover-up is a strong phrase, evocative of the Watergate scandal, and senators have been using it liberally.

"Somebody's lying to us and we're going to find out who," Sen. Leonard Chabert, D-Chauvin, said during the hearings Thursday. "I don't think the governor was involved in a cover-up, but some of the people around him were."

Louis Unglesby , special counsel to the Senate, said of the administration's actions, "This is old-line, back-door, behind-the-scene, old-time politics."

The Senate clearly is savoring its role as the body responsible for passing on the qualifications of the governor's nominees and ferreting out the necessary information.

The dispute centers on Shreveport lawyer Robert Piper Jr., who withdrew his candidacy Wednesday. The administration's report to the Senate about the nominees did not include an allegation - which Senate investigators and administration officials agree remains unsubstantiated - that Piper had received West Coast drug money through Western Union.

State Police Commander Marlin Flores testified Wednesday that Roemer's chief of staff, P.J. Mills, told him to delete the material from the report. Mills testified that he did not give those instructions.

In establishing what the Roemer administration withheld, Senate attorneys have given the hearings a courtroom-like atmosphere. They have produced enlarged photographs of Flores' reports and displayed them on easels set up in the Capitol committee room.

On Thursday, they called as a witness an undercover Caddo Parish deputy dressed in a trench coat and ski mask to conceal his identity. The precautions seemed a bit theatrical since the man's name had been mentioned in published reports and on subpoenas.

Witnesses have been grilled with an unnecessary zeal, officials in the governor's office say.

"We're seeing some good old raw-knuckle politics," one Roemer administration official said. "The tone is almost prosecutorial, as opposed to truth-gathering."

Senate leaders insist that the investigation is not motivated by opposition to Roemer, even though the governor has few allies on the Committee on Senate and Governmental Affairs.

Two members, acting Chairman Armand Brinkhaus, D-Sunset, and Chabert, are close friends and political supporters of Roemer's erstwhile opponent, former Gov. Edwin Edwards. And all of the panel's members voted last year to replace Roemer's hand-picked Senate President, Allen Bares, D-Lafayette, with Samuel B. Nunez, D-Chalmette.

"There hasn't been a bit of anti-Roemer talk on this committee," Nunez said Thursday. "I guess (the issue) is openness. And the Roemer administration has not been open with the Senate and the people of Louisiana in dealing with this situation."

Nonetheless, the Senate is unmistakably attuned to how the disclosures will influence public perceptions of the governor.


Section: NATIONAL
Page: A1
Record Number: 9101110029
Copyright, 1991, The Times-Picayune Publishing Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Used by NewsBank with Permission.

Wife acquitted in second trial in man's death

The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.) - August 16, 2002
Author: MICHELLE MILLHOLLON

A Baton Rouge woman flung herself across a courtroom table and sobbed Thursday after being acquitted of murder in her husband's death.

The acquittal ended a three-year legal odyssey for Karen Benoit in which she spent nine months in jail and stood trial twice for allegedly killing her husband, Andre Gatlin. He was accused of drug dealing.

The first trial resulted in a second-degree murder conviction and then a reversal.

The case went back to trial this week before a different judge.

Prosecutors portrayed Benoit as a bitter wife who plunged a kitchen knife into Gatlin's chest in August 1999 inside the couple's Glen Oaks-area home.

Gatlin's life was in turmoil, prosecutor Jeff Traylor said during closing arguments. The couple's money was tight because of Gatlin's drug habit or business, Traylor said.

In the days before his death, Gatlin bounced checks and applied for bank loans, Traylor said.

Traylor admitted the case was circumstantial. But he said there were important inconsistencies in Benoit's actions. Benoit told her mother she was asleep when she heard a commotion and found Gatlin lying stabbed in the hallway, he said.

She ran across the street to ask a neighbor for help. The neighbor noted Benoit was wearing tennis shoes, shorts and a shirt.

Traylor questioned why Benoit was fully dressed if she'd been asleep when her husband was killed.

He also said it didn't make sense that Benoit left her baby daughter behind in the house with the body when she ran across the street to the neighbor's house.

"While the state hasn't been able to put the knife in Karen Benoit's hand, we've been able to take it out of everyone else's," Traylor said.

Benoit's attorney, Lewis Unglesby , pointed out that the neighbor didn't notice a lot of blood on Benoit.

The killer would've gotten blood on his or her hands and arms, he said.

Unglesby also noted that a wallet wasn't found on the body.

Gatlin died on a Monday morning, allegedly after coming in from selling drugs, he said.

He made most of his money on the weekends, Unglesby said.

Yet, no cash or drugs were found on him, he said.

In Gatlin's bedroom, his clothes were in disarray, and the mattress appeared to have been lifted up as if someone looked under it, Unglesby said.

"These are not the actions of an angry wife," he said.

State District Judge Pro Tempore Jerome Winsberg compared the prosecution's burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt to a thermometer.

On a scale of 0 to 100, the temperature has to fall between 70 and 100 to convict, he said.

The judge said he couldn't get above 45 in Benoit's case.

"In this instance, I can't even get to probably she did it," Winsberg said.

Winsberg added that he surmised from marks on Benoit's legs in photographs taken around the time of the killing that she was a "badly battered individual." After the ruling, relatives of Gatlin's son from another relationship walked out of the courtroom without comment.

Benoit also declined comment as she left the courthouse with her parents and children.


Edition: The Baton Rouge Advocate
Section: News
Page: 1 B
Index Terms: Family Court Judgment
Record Number: 0203285684
Copyright 2002 Capital City Press, Baton Rouge, La.

******************************************************************************************************
Revisions

Dana Freeman's bond dropped; remains jailed

The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.) - June 7, 1996
Author: CHRISTOPHER BAUGHMAN

A politically connected Iberville Parish man jailed last month on sex charges got his $200,000 bond dropped Thursday, but remains in Parish Prison anyway.

Prosecutor Sue Bernie told state District Judge Linda Holliday that she would not present evidence in court saying why Dana Freeman's bond should remain at $200,000.

As a result, Holliday told Freeman's lawyers that she would drop the bond and could not keep him in jail.

However, Freeman must remain in jail until a hearing is held on whether he violated his probation on a previous conviction.

Baton Rouge police arrested Freeman in May after an 18-year-old woman claimed he raped her repeatedly on April 30.

Defense attorney Lewis Unglesby claims the woman agreed to have sex with Freeman.

Freeman's uncle is former Lt. Gov. Bobby Freeman, now a Plaquemine city judge.

His father is Iberville Parish Coroner James Freeman.

Dana Freeman got caught in a legal "Catch 22" after Holliday's ruling dropped the bond requirement, his lawyers said.

Freeman now remains in Parish Prison because his probation officer decided in May that the arrest on the sex counts violated his probation on an earlier DWI charge.

Judge Ralph Tyson told Unglesby and Karl Koch - another defense attorney for Freeman - that he could not take up the probation violation matter until July 24.

Unglesby said that amounted to keeping his client in jail on "a technicality."

"This is a technicality that the district attorney likes to play in these sex-crime cases," Unglesby told Holliday.

"We've had this argument before with Miss Bernie," he said.

Bernie said Thursday's court action did not mean she was dropping the charges of forcible rape and oral sexual battery against Freeman. It just meant that she was not ready to go forward with the case Thursday, she said.

Unglesby irked Holliday when he accused her of going along with Bernie in keeping his client jailed.

"Do not go any further, Mr. Unglesby, before I hold you in contempt," Holliday said as Unglesby continued to protest.

Unglesby wanted the victim and another person to testify in court Thursday.

He told Holliday that waiting until the trial to question the victim would be a mistake because the woman might not show up for court.

To continue holding his client was just wrong, Unglesby said.

"I don't think they should say, 'We don't want to go forward with our allegations,' but then continue to make the allegations"' and hold Freeman in jail, Unglesby said.

Three years ago, Tyson sentenced Freeman to five years in p