Louisiana

Lawsuit seeks to save chimp from solitary confinement

A September rule revision by a federal regulatory agency makes clear that a Louisiana amusement park is violating the Endangered Species Act by keeping a chimpanzee in solitary confinement in a barren enclosure, a lawsuit says. Filed Tuesday in federal court in Baton Rouge, the complaint (PDF) by the Animal…

Nov 17, 2015 4:10 PM CST

Judge accused of making false residency claim is convicted

A former Louisiana judge accused of making a false residency claim has been convicted by a New Orleans jury. In its Tuesday verdict, the jury found former Orleans Parish Juvenile Court Judge Yolanda King guilty of forging election documents and filing false public records, WVUE reports. Witnesses at trial included…

Nov 10, 2015 5:00 PM CST

Lawyer charged in incident at judge’s home was a crime victim minutes earlier, his counsel says

An Alabama attorney who is now facing a felony case over an incident last month outside a Louisiana judge’s home was himself a crime victim only a short time earlier, his defense lawyer says. Joshua Stemle, who was captured on surveillance camera footage scuffling in the home’s courtyard with the…

Oct 15, 2015 3:25 PM CDT

Former police chief gets time, another takes plea for using stun gun on compliant inmates

A former small-town Louisiana police chief was sentenced Tuesday to a year and a day in jail after pleading guilty earlier this year to a federal civil rights violation involving excessive use of force on inmates. Meanwhile, another man who replaced Gregory Dupuis, 57, as chief of police in Mamou…

Oct 14, 2015 3:20 PM CDT

Lawyer who bought detox shampoo for client is disbarred

The Louisiana Supreme Court has disbarred a lawyer accused of buying a shampoo to scrub his client’s hair of any signs of illegal drug use. The lawyer, Douglas Kent Hall, was also accused of failing to communicate with clients and failing to return unearned fees when fired by dissatisfied clients.…

Sep 23, 2015 5:45 AM CDT

‘Angola Three’ prisoner to be tried a third time in guard’s death, despite district judge’s order

A Louisiana state judge on Monday ruled that a third trial will proceed against the final remaining Angola Three defendant still in prison for the 1972 death of a prison guard, the Associated Press reports. Judge William Carmichael also rejected defense attempts to prevent transcript testimony from a deceased prison-inmate…

Sep 22, 2015 11:05 AM CDT

Arthur Hunter Jr.: From cop to judge to fighting recidivism

If you send people to prison and do nothing to rehabilitate them, it’s not surprising that they often commit more crimes when released, says Judge Arthur L. Hunter Jr. of the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court in New Orleans. Five years ago he and fellow jurist Laurie A. White founded…

Sep 10, 2015 8:20 AM CDT

How a program at an infamous prison helps inmates re-enter society (podcast with transcript)

What good can some men serving life sentence do for other inmates? A great deal, says Judge Laurie A. White, who co-founded a re-entry program for inmates of the infamous Angola State Penitentiary in Louisiana. In this episode of Asked and Answered, she tells the ABA Journal’s Stephanie Francis Ward…

Sep 8, 2015 8:38 AM CDT

Planned Parenthood chapter sues Louisiana officials to block planned cuts in Medicaid funds

A Planned Parenthood chapter in Louisiana has filed suit to prevent the state from cutting off Medicaid funding to the organization in the wake of the release of a series of videos on fetal tissue research. The suit, filed Tuesday in federal court in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, seeks an injunction…

Aug 25, 2015 5:26 PM CDT

Anonymous ‘cyberbullying’ by prosecutors deprived cops of fair trial, 5th Circuit says

Five New Orleans police officers convicted in connection with the shooting of unarmed civilians during the chaos after Hurricane Katrina deserve a new trial because of online “cyberbullying” by government lawyers, a federal appeals court has ruled. The 2-1 decision (PDF) by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of…

Aug 20, 2015 10:48 AM CDT

No evidence supports claim US magistrate was aware of husband’s affair with probe target, judge says

A New Orleans businesswoman charged with Medicaid fraud is not entitled to a hearing on whether the federal magistrate judge who approved search warrants was neutral and detached, a federal judge has ruled. The businesswoman, Lisa Crinel, had sought a hearing to determine whether U.S. Magistrate Karen Wells Roby was…

Jul 31, 2015 9:19 AM CDT

Lawyer is flattered by toddler’s obsession with his TV ads

Lawyer Morris Bart’s biggest fan may also be his smallest fan. Grayson Dobra, 2, is so obsessed with the New Orleans personal injury lawyer that his mother made Bart the theme of the boy’s birthday party in January, report the Advocate and the Wall Street Journal Law Blog. Dobra’s birthday…

Jul 29, 2015 9:52 AM CDT

Why the Louisiana movie theater gunman was able to buy a gun

A background check didn’t bar Louisiana movie theater suspect John Russell Houser from buying a semiautomatic handgun at a pawnshop last year because his court-ordered mental evaluation in 2008 didn’t result in an involuntary commitment, Georgia officials say. Judge Betty Cason of Carroll County told the Associated Press she signed…

Jul 28, 2015 7:34 AM CDT

Process server criminally charged for ‘slapped’ lawsuit gets civil rights case OK

A last-minute decision to have his wife and nephew take cellphone videos as he served a police brutality lawsuit outside a Louisiana courthouse may have saved Douglas Dendinger from a hefty prison term. Now Dendinger is hoping the videos will also play a significant role in his ongoing federal civil…

Jul 24, 2015 12:20 PM CDT

Lawyer is disbarred for ‘social media blitz’ intended to influence custody case and top state court

A divided Louisiana Supreme Court has disbarred a lawyer who used Twitter and an online petition to urge readers to contact two judges she accused of being unwilling to consider the evidence in two custody cases involving allegations of child sexual abuse. The supreme court disbarred 52-year-old lawyer Joyce Nanine…

Jul 8, 2015 5:45 AM CDT