Louisiana Sheriffs Hid a Gun That Could Free a Man,Then Blamed Hurricane Katrina

quote:

---

documents also show the district attorney’s office was aware of the gun’s existence but did not disclose it to Batiste’s defense counsel before his trial

---

In cases like this the prosecuting attorney should see jail time in my opinion.

quote:

---

How TF can you sleep at night ruining another human's life like that?

---

I haven't read the entire story, but some of these cases involve the idea that the cops "know" the defendant is a piece of shite, so they convince themselves they are doing a "good thing" by these kind of actions.

It's basically what the whole Steven Avery thing is about. Making sure someone who probably did it go away or in this case, maybe someone you know who had done other things, so you pin this one on them.

You can convince yourself to do a lot of shady stuff that way. Terrible for our system of course.

quote:

---

I would think the other guy "victim" was a POS also

---

They were going for the 2 for 1 special

quote:

---

The documents also show the district attorney’s office was aware of the gun’s existence but did not disclose it to Batiste’s defense counsel before his trial

---

This should be a big boy crime with the same amount of years behind bars that the defendant got.

Absolute disgrace.

With stories like this, I don't understand why anyone in their right mind would ever in a million years talk to the police outside of basic common courtesy.

Before any of you bootlickers have aneurysm, the day I start trusting police enough to talk to them will be the same day they trust me enough to leave their gun in the car.

quote:

---

The documents also show the district attorney’s office was aware of the gun’s existence but did not disclose it to Batiste’s defense counsel before his trial

---

The article says that the DA's office informed one of the defense attorneys (Snowdey) about it the morning of the trial, and he admits that he told his co-counsel and the defendant about it, even though co-counsel says he never knew about it:

quote:

---

The district attorney’s office claims that this second gun was not concealed from Batiste’s lawyers and was provided to one them, Sterling Snowdy, on the morning of the trial. Snowdy is now a judge in St. John the Baptist parish.

“According to testimony, on the morning of the trial, Assistant District Attorney, GeorgeAnn Graugnard, phoned defense attorney, J. Sterling Snowdy, and notified him about the gun,” wrote Judge Madeline Jasmine at a hearing for post-conviction relief, denying Batiste’s earlier claim that prosecutors suppressed evidence. “There is no excuse for the State withholding this information until the morning of the trial,” wrote Jasmine. “A continuance [delay] of the trial would have been warranted, but the record does not suggest that a continuance was requested.”

If Batiste’s lawyers did know about the gun, they never used it in court. “Mr. Snowdy [now the Honorable Judge Snowdy] developed no testimony regarding this gun and did not introduce the gun at trial,” read Batiste’s post conviction relief application.

Meanwhile, Batiste’s other lawyer, Richard Millet, said he had no idea there was a second gun. “I did not know about the existence of a gun, other than the shotgun,” he said at a hearing on May 19. Millet explained that he would have shown witnesses pictures of the gun to have them identify it, had it tested for ballistics, and used it as evidence. He said it would have affected his decision to put Batiste on the witness stand.

“I shared it with both people,” Snowdy said.

---

If one of his attorneys knew about the existence of ANY gun that could possibly be used to assert a Self-Defense claim, then there should have been some questioning about it and Post-conviction relief based on ineffective assistance, might be able to fly

And while the Da's office informed him late about the gun, it says

quote:

---

On Dec. 29, 1995, shortly before the trial, Deputy Schaeffer faxed a file to St. John Assistant District Attorney GeorgeAnn Graugnard that said a silver handgun recovered in the Batiste investigation was being held by the sheriff’s office for “safekeeping.”

---

So its possible the ADA didnt know about it til right before the trial

Defense counsel should have requested a continuance to have it tested if he knew about it

Why would the police department and DA conspire to put this guy in jail. Was it simply pride and arrogance? Did they have it out for this particular guy. Citizens kill other citizens in self defense rather often. Hope this guy takes wins his freedom and takes them to the bank.

quote:

---

don't know if its actually criminal or if they're protected by their job title. Regardless it happens all the time and the prosecutors or LE rarely face any consequences if any. The DA for the Duke lacrosse case who was a filthy dirty scumbag did 1 day in jail and that was landmark.

---

Sadly the odds of withholding evidence becoming a crime are practically zero because the DA's and Sheriff Deputies Associations control the state legislature.

They did something similar in Bogalusa.