Lawyer dad is banned from posting son's bail over police-shooting death of 6-year-old
A Louisiana lawyer has not been allowed to provide his son’s bail in a high-profile police-shooting case involving the death of a 6-year-old, because a state law prohibits attorneys from posting bail in all cases.
The father, Norris Greenhouse Sr., is a local prosecutor. He had been preparing to get his son Norris Greenhouse Jr. out of jail on Thursday in the Avoyelles Parish case by pledging property to post $1 million bail, reports the Advocate. However, Sheriff Doug Anderson told the newspaper that the father was not allowed to do so, under a state law that bans lawyers, judges and other court officers from providing bail in any case.
A state attorney general opinion earlier this year, concerning a court clerk, agreed that Article 320 of the state’s criminal code bans court officers from providing bail for family members.
Observers questioned whether the law is enforceable and said it has not been tested in the courts.
“It’s written in a manner that is overly broad,” president Brett Brunson of the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys told the newspaper, adding: “I think the sheriff is probably being very cautious because the child’s father is an assistant DA and they don’t want there to be any appearance of collusion.”
Norris Greenhouse Jr., 23, and fellow Ward 2 part-time marshal Derrick Stafford, 32, are both charged with second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder. Details about the case have been curtailed due to a judge’s gag order.
Authorities said both defendants, who worked full-time in other law enforcement jobs, claimed that they were attempting to serve a warrant on Chris Few on Nov. 3 when he fled, reports WBRZ. However, no warrants on Few have been located, The Atlantic and CBS News reported.
During a pursuit, Few wound up on a dead-end block in Marksville and allegedly backed toward marshals, according to CNN. However, CBS News has reported that video of the shooting contradicts this account. An attorney for Few told the Associated Press over the weekend that a bodycam showed Few was sitting in his vehicle and had his hands in the air before the shooting began. There was no gun found in Few’s truck, despite the officers’ initial claims that there had been an exchange of gunfire.
Authorities said Greenhouse and Stafford fired 18 rounds, striking both Few and his 6-year-old son, who was belted in the front seat of Few’s truck, multiple times. The boy died. Few was injured, but has now been released from the hospital.
“I’ve been a police officer for 35 years, but as a father—much less as a state police—it was a disturbing, disturbing video that I watched, and that really helped move us forward,” Col. Michael Edmonson, who serves as Louisiana State Police superintendent, told CNN before the gag order was issued Monday. He confirmed that there was no warrant against Few.
Marksville, which is about 90 miles from Baton Rouge, is a small town where everyone knows each other, Edmonson pointed out to CNN, suggesting that this could be relevant to the case.
“We believe that they had some type of relationship where they met each other, knew each other,” he said of the marshals and Few. “As this progresses, we’ll certainly find out more and more information.”
Few’s girlfriend, Megan Dixon, told Reuters that Greenhouse was a classmate of hers in high school. She said that Greenhouse had been messaging her on Facebook, and that Few and Greenhouse had had a prior confrontation after Greenhouse showed up at her house.
The case is being prosecuted by the state attorney general’s office.
