I-TEAM: DA weighs in following officer indictments
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - District Attorney Hillar Moore is weighing in, hours after a special grand jury decided four officers would face formal charges tied to potential corruption within the Baton Rouge Police Department.
”These people, some more than others, because of how long they’ve been in the business, have been around all of us and in really high positions and made a lot of really valuable cases in Baton Rouge and have been outstanding officers but despite that, if you do something wrong and it violates the law and the evidence is there then we have a job to do as well,” said Moore.
RELATED: 4 BRPD officers indicted, 1 cleared
Former deputy chief Troy Lawrence, Sr. and officers Todd Thomas, Doug Chustz, and Martele Jackson all face charges related to malfeasance and obstruction of justice after being accused of beating a man in their custody inside of a bathroom at BRPD’s first district. A fifth officer, Jesse Barcelona, was cleared in the case. In internal documents related to the case, officer Jackson blew the whistle on the alleged actions, saying officers beat a man in their custody and then worked together to get rid of the body camera that captured the beating and hide the evidence.
“This is not an indictment on the Baton Rouge Police Department. It is what happened on this night four years ago. This has nothing whatsoever to do with the Brave Cave. This is a completely isolated incident,” said Moore.
While Moore says this has nothing to do with the Brave Cave, the allegations came to light amid the WAFB I-TEAM’s reporting into more than a dozen complaints of alleged abuse inside the infamous facility and this alleged beating and coverup all went down just steps away from it.
Moore says the decision comes after the special grand jury was convened and spent more than a month weighing the case. He says they brought in outside prosecutors to handle the case to ensure everything was above board.
“I needed someone that was going to devote their entire time, every day for the last several months to this case to make sure we got it right for all involved,” said Moore.
One of the officers could face a maximum of 25 years behind bars —if convicted— but it’s possible none of the officers will face time in prison as their criminal cases move forward. Moore says the special grand jury was shown a lot of evidence connected to the case, and-- in a rare move-- even heard from the defense in the case before reaching a decision. As the case now heads to trial, Moore wants to ensure the public that these officers will not be granted any special treatment.
”It’s not going to be handled any differently because they are Baton Rouge Police officers,” said Moore.
Each of the officers remain on administrative leave pending the outcome of their criminal cases.
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