colleges

Why are accurate descriptions of crime suspects so difficult to come by? (Live coverage of Loyola Law Review symposium)

By |

Accurate descriptions of suspects have proven to be extremely difficult to come by, even under the best of circumstances, a noted criminologist said Friday morning during the 2018 Loyola Law Review Symposium, “Protecting the Innocent: Louisiana’s Reform of Eyewitness Identifications.” The quality of witness descriptions is heavily influenced by both the quality of the witness’s memory and the techniques used by law enforcement to elicit those details, said Dr. Jennifer Dysart of John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. For example, the presence of a weapon in a robbery often occupies the victim’s attention more than the suspect’s face, and brain research simply shows that all people have more trouble identifying facial features of races different from their own. New research has identified techniques to improve the accuracy of these descriptions, Dysart said, so law-enforcement training should begin to include them. The symposium also included a presentation by Robert Jones, who was wrongfully convicted of a crime spree in New Orleans in the 1990s, but went on to become Angola’s prison counsel for nearly 20 years before he was exonerated and released in 2017.

court

Two men indicted in separate murder cases in Broadmoor, Carrollton, prosecutors say

By |

Two men accused in separate murders in Broadmoor and Carrollton earlier this year were indicted Thursday by a grand jury, prosecutors said. The first indictment was in the fatal killing of 31-year-old Keyan Watkins on April 18 in the 3600 block of South Roman Street. Kline Lee, 51, is charged with second-degree murder and other offenses after allegedly shooting Watkins and another woman after an argument over money escalated, said District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office:

Kline Lee, 51, was charged with obstruction of justice, being a felon in possession of a firearm, attempted second-degree murder and the second-degree murder of Keyan Watkins in a four-count indictment handed up by an Orleans Parish grand jury. Ad hoc Criminal District Judge Dennis Waldron set Lee’s bond at $900,000 after the indictment was read. Watkins, 34, died from a gunshot to the face sustained around 9:18 p.m. in the 3600 block of South Roman Street on April 18, 2018.

Congress

As non-unanimous jury amendment vote nears, the fate of 12-member juries loom

By |

Twelve men, one room, and a murder charge. “It has to be twelve to nothing, either way. That’s the law.” Sidney Lumet’s “12 Angry Men” is one of the most respected films centered around the criminal justice system. But the overall plot, where members of a 12-man jury must agree on a verdict that could send a teenager to the electric chair, could never occur in the state of Louisiana under state law.

court

Suspect indicted in 1996 rape in Irish Channel after DNA match, police say

By |

A 45-year-old man has been indicted in connection with a violent rape in the Irish Channel more than two decades ago after DNA taken from him during a firearms arrest matched genetic material stored in a rape kit, New Orleans police and prosecutors said. Roland Butler, 45, was indicted by a grand jury Thursday (Oct. 11) on two counts of aggravated rape in connection with a rape that took place around 4:30 a.m. April 5, 1996, in the 1100 block of Toledano Street, according to District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office:

The victim reported to New Orleans police that she had arrived home when an unknown assailant approached and demanded her purse and keys at gunpoint. The man then ordered her to perform oral sex, and attempted to rape her vaginally against the side of his four-door gold colored sedan. The gunman ordered the woman into his car and drove her farther down Toledano Street before raping her a second time.

court

Danae Columbus: Nancy Marsiglia Institute promotes knowledge of U.S. Constitution, civil discourse

By |

In a fiery speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, Gold Star father Khizr Khan talked about falling in love with the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. A Pakistani immigrant whose son Army Captain Humayun Khan was killed in Iraq in 2004, Khan offered to lend Donald Trump his copy so Trump could look up the words “liberty” and “equal protection under the law.”

New Orleans civic activist Madalyn Schenk was inspired by Khan’s speech and decided to form a different kind of book club – one that exclusively studied the Constitution and accompanying documents. That “constitution club” has now grown into the Nancy Marsiglia Institute, a 12-week cooperative program between Loyola University Law School and the United Way of Southeast Louisiana. The late philanthropist Nancy Marsiglia was the first person Schenk approached to participate. Soon other women including Councilmember Helena Moreno, Patty Riddlebarger, Ruth Kullman and United Way COO Charmaine Caccioppi joined in.

court

Campaign to require unanimous jury verdicts comes to Uptown with voter-registration effort

By |

The statewide effort to create a constitutional amendment requiring a unanimous jury vote for a conviction came to Uptown New Orleans this week, registering voters and rallying supporters for the Nov. 6 ballot question. Constitutional Amendment 2 — placed on the ballot after the legislature’s passage of a bill by state Rep. J.P. Morrell, D-New Orleans — will ask voters the simple question of whether they “support an amendment to require a unanimous jury verdict in all noncapital felony cases.” The proposed change has drawn national praise, as 48 other states have long required unanimous verdicts, and bipartisan support from Republicans as an issue of constitutional rights and liberals as a civil-rights reform. On Tuesday, the Unanimous Jury Coalition found support from local chapters of the New Leaders Council, a political-development organization for young progressives, and When We All Vote, a project spearheaded by former First Lady Michelle Obama to increase voter turnout.

court

Man indicted in Central City child-rape investigation, prosecutors say

By |

A man already convicted of a sexual-battery charge has been indicted on allegations of raping a 7-year-old girl three years ago in Central City, Orleans Parish prosecutors said. David Lewis, 40, is charged with first-degree rape on accusations that he forced the child to perform oral sex on him in a LaSalle Street home in early 2015, according to the indictment released Thursday afternoon. For more details, see the following news release from District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office:

Lewis faces a mandatory lifetime prison sentence without benefit of parole, probation or suspension of sentence if found guilty of the charge. Criminal District Judge Robin Pittman left unchanged Lewis’ $60,000 bond after the indictment was read. Lewis was arrested May 1 after the victim, now 10, disclosed the sexual abuse to her mother.

city government

Four Orleans judicial races decided without elections as qualifying ends

By |

Four local judicial seats will be filled without elections this year, after only one candidate for each of them qualified to be on the Nov. 6 special and Congressional election ballots. Robert “Bobby” Jones III and Joe Landry will each continue to fill their seats on the Municipal and Traffic Court without opposition, and Paula Jones will return to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. The entire Second City Court administration — Judge Teena Anderson-Trahan, Clerk Darren Lombard and Constable Edwin Shorty Jr. — also drew no opposition. The last few hours of qualifying on Friday afternoon only drew a few additional names to Orleans Parish ballots, all in the Secretary of State’s race.

court

Danae Columbus: Should First and Second City Courts be merged?

By |

With qualifying currently underway for clerk and other positions in both First City and Second City Courts, good government advocates are questioning why Orleans Parish still operates two separate courts with two clerks and constables that basically perform the same function – handling small claims.

Mergers and consolidation of government offices is certainly the trend in America today. This scenario has successfully played out in New Orleans and Louisiana with the merger of our criminal and civil sheriffs, consolidating seven assessors into one, and folding the registrar of mortgages and conveyances into the clerk of civil district court. Suzie Terrell eliminated her position as Louisiana Commissioner of Elections a decade ago. Under the auspices of Civil District Court, First City and Second City Court were enshrined in state law by Article VII, Sections 90-92 of the 1921 Louisiana Constitution. The constitution called for one small claims court to operate on the “left” bank of the Mississippi and one to operation on the “right” bank, also known as Algiers.

Congress

Qualifying begins for Nov. 6 Congressional, special elections

By |

Jared Brossett and Chelsey Richard Napoleon both officially declared their candidacies for clerk of Civil District Court, and Timothy David Ray and Austin Badon filed to run for First City Court clerk on Wednesday morning as qualifying began for the Nov. 6 special and Congressional elections. A special election is being held for Civil District Court clerk after longtime clerk Dale Atkins was elected to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal in the spring. Brossett is currently the District D City Councilman, and Napoleon was Atkins’ deputy and has been serving in the position since Atkins vacated it. Ray was likewise named to serve as First City Court clerk — which handles minor civil cases on the Eastbank of Orleans Parish — after the previous clerk Ellen Hazeur also won a judicial post this spring.