State Senator Lydia Jackson spoke on the first panel of the United States Department of Justice's Indigent Defense Symposium Feb. 18 & 19th 2010 in Washington, D.C.
Already in this state, the Louisiana Attorney General's office has presided over a grand jury in Homer, Louisiana that returned a "no true bill" in the death of Bernard Monroe, at the hands of two police officers.
The problem in Louisiana is gargantuan and requires direct intervention. The last such legal gathering of the US DOJ was in 1999-2000 according to Symposium statements.
As we write, because of legal maneuvering and shenanigans in a federal criminal case two young black state-defendants are being denied proper due process because of mechinations by a federal public defender and his 43 year old federal client. The two 20-year-olds have no idea, what is going on behind the scenes. One defendant's - public defender may be aware of the maneuvering. The federal client & the two state defendants are linked to the same alledged crime!
If someone wants to talk about systemic injustice, one must begin at the bottom. And the boot is on the foot of Louisiana. The Public Defender Office in Baton Rouge is being scrutinized, after several officials plead guilty to impropriety on federal charges. In a "Jena related" case a defendant has begun to experience Baton Rouge PDO's ineffective assistance of counsel.
In the national scene, a concerted effort has been ongoing to distance America from the "lasting affects of the 'Jena Scenario' played out in Louisiana's debacled courts".
January 17, 2008 Baron "Scooter" Pikes was supposed to have been arrested, according to Winnfield, Louisiana police. He Died!
Baron "Scooter" Pikes' Life was arrested the day the police tasered him, against his will. In affect, his civil rights were violated.
If the system of justice is to change in America, that change must begin in Louisiana.
As late as October 2009, Jean Faria, in an article in the Lake Charles, Louisiana newspaper American Press; stated that indigent defense in the state was a problem not solved yet. [ Calcasieu PDO AmericanPress.com]
Faria called the problems “systemic.” She compared the criminal justice system to a three-legged stool with one leg being the courts, a second being the prosecution and the third the defense.
Presently the stool definitely cannot sit straight because the defense “leg” is shorter than the others. First, Faria said, people have to come together.
She would like parties involved in the criminal justice system to sit down with the local legislative delegation and say “This is what it looks like here … this is the mess we are in and it’s going to take all of us good, well-intentioned people to sit together and figure out how we’re going to deal with this in Calcasieu.”
“Can you help us craft a solution?”
“The answer,” she said, “may be yes. The answer may be no. But the answer cannot be that the public defender clients suffer.”
Justice Dept. Symposium Washington,D.C.-State Senator Lydia Jackson at 102:36 mark!
Eric Holder in New Orleans 23 Feb. 2010 for National Fusion Center Conference. Conference is on Terrorism. "Instead of pursuing a narrow, ideological approach to fighting terrorism, combating crime, and protecting the safety of our people, today's Justice Department is committed to being flexible, pragmatic and aggressive. This approach is working. By focusing on improving communication and collaboration, we've helped to prevent hundreds of crimes and to protect even more lives."
Taser death could be considered Torture
JUSTICE FOR SALE PBS.org
Judge seals video tape in Taser Case Why is the tape sealed!?
Impoverished Youth Justice DOJ Symposium Feb. 17 2010 - Washington,DC
Judge puts gag order in place for Gosserand trial
Posted: Mar 11, 2010 11:02 AM CST Updated: Mar 12, 2010 6:47 AM CSTNEW ROADS, LA (WAFB) - The judge in the New Roads vehicular homicide trial has placed a gag order on all attorneys involved with the case. The gag order means attorneys from both sides are not permitted to talk to the media about this specific case.
New Roads Vehicular Homicide a TEST CASE. Two Judges removed from court case.
Grand Jury Indicts Woman in New Roads Case
Woman indicted in wreck WAFB
NEW ROADS — A grand jury indicted a Ventress woman on a count of vehicular homicide and another charge Monday in a wreck that killed a New Roads woman in December.
The grand jury also indicted Victoria Gosserand, 23, on a count of first-degree negligent vehicular injuring in the Dec. 23 wreck that killed Terri Parker, 23, and sent Kyle Riviere, 23, to a hospital with serious injuries.
The 18th Judicial District prosecutor, Tony Clayton, said Gosserand’s blood-alcohol content was 0.30, or nearly four times the 0.08 legal limit, the night of the wreck.
If convicted of vehicular homicide, the more serious of the two charges, Gosserand faces up to 30 years in prison with a minimum of five years served without the benefit of parole, probation or a suspended sentence.
She faces up to five years in prison, a $2,000 fine or both on the count of first-degree negligent vehicular injuring.
After Monday’s court proceedings, Parker’s mother, Debra Cushionberry, said the grand jury’s decision was “a relief.”
Cushionberry, along with two dozen friends and family members, spent much of Monday in the courthouse hallway waiting for the grand jury’s decision.
Many of them wore shirts emblazoned on the front with Parker’s picture with the words “In Loving Memory” and “Justice for Terri Marie Parker.”
“I feel good.
It’s a relief,” Cushionberry said after the indictments were announced.
“It’s not that a burden has been lifted from me, because my daughter is dead, but this is the first step towards justice,” she said.
Justice, she said, would be for Gosserand to serve prison time.
Parker’s aunt, Rosemarie Parker, said the family will continue to fight to make sure the death of her niece, who would have turned 24 last month, will not go unpunished.
“My eyes are wide open,” Rosemarie Parker said. “We just want what’s right for Terri.”
Neither Gosserand nor her family was in court; however, her attorneys, Nathan Fisher and Jerry D’Aquila, attended the reading of the indictment.
Gosserand, 7702 Cook’s Landing, Ventress, is due back in court April 8, at which time she is expected to enter a plea, prosecutors said.
The grand jury’s decision stems from the night of Dec. 23, when a New Roads police officer saw Gosserand speed through a red light at Hospital Road and False River Drive in her 2002 Acura MDX sport utility vehicle about 11:30 p.m., New Roads police have said.
Gosserand’s car slammed into Riviere’s 1999 Toyota Camry as he was turning left at a green light onto False River Drive, police have said.
The collision threw Parker from the Camry onto the shoulder of False River Drive, where police found the young mother of a 2-year-old boy lying motionless, her neck apparently broken, the report said.
The parish Coroner’s Office pronounced her dead at the scene, police have said.
According to the police report, investigators and paramedics approached a “screaming and cursing” Gosserand in her SUV and tried to get her out of the vehicle.
Gosserand became “combative,” the report said, and authorities had to restrain her before loading her into an ambulance to be taken to Pointe Coupee General Hospital.
Riviere, also of New Roads, was taken to Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge after authorities extracted him from his crumpled car, the report said.
Gosserand, 7702 Cook’s Landing, Ventress, is due back in court April 8, at which time she is expected to enter a plea, prosecutors said.
- Advocate Westside bureau
- Published: Mar 11, 2010 - UPDATED: 6:30 p.m
NEW ROADS — A New Roads policeman testified Thursday that the defendant in a Dec. 23 vehicular homicide case had an “aggressive attitude” and “had to be restrained” following the wreck in which a woman was killed and a man seriously injured.
Officer Brandon Spillman said he was parked in a vacant lot while on duty around midnight at the intersection of False River Drive and Hospital Road when he witnessed Victoria Gosserand run a red light at a high rate of speed in her dark-colored sport utility vehicle.
Gosserand’s SUV crashed into Kyle Riviere’s green Toyota Camry as Riviere attempted to make a left turn onto False River Drive, Spillman said.
Gosserand did not attempt to slow down or stop her vehicle as she sped through the intersection, he said.
The impact of the crash sent both vehicles spinning, at which time Spillman said, he saw a large object, which turned out to be Camry passenger Terri Parker, 23, of New Roads, flying through the air. 
When Parker landed about 30 feet from the point of impact, Riviere’s car appeared to run over her body, the officer said. Parker was pronounced dead at the scene, he said.
Monday’s hearing in 18th Judicial District Court marks the first time Gosserand, 23, 7702 Cook’s Landing, Ventress, has appeared in court in connection with the Dec. 23 wreck.
Prosecutors have said Gosserand’s blood-alcohol content was 0.30 percent, or nearly four times the 0.08 percent blood alcohol content which is considered presumptive evidence of drunken driving in Louisiana,.
The defendant is scheduled to return to the Pointe Coupee Parish Courthouse April 8 to enter a plea on one count each of vehicular homicide and first-degree negligent injuring. If convicted, Gosserand faces between five and 30 years in prison for vehicular homicide, the more serious of the two charges.
Officer describes crash
Testimony offered in fatal accident
- By KORAN ADDO
- Advocate Westside bureau
- Published: Mar 12, 2010
NEW ROADS — A New Roads police officer testified Thursday that the defendant in a Dec. 23 vehicular homicide case had an “aggressive attitude” and “had to be restrained” following the wreck in which a woman was killed and a man seriously injured.
Officer Brandon Spillman said he was parked in a vacant lot while on duty around midnight at the intersection of False River Drive and Hospital Road when he witnessed Victoria Gosserand run a red light at a high rate of speed in her dark-colored sport utility vehicle.
Gosserand’s SUV crashed into Kyle Riviere’s green Toyota Camry as Riviere attempted to make a left turn onto False River Drive, Spillman said.
Gosserand did not attempt to slow down or stop her vehicle as she sped through the intersection, he said.
The impact of the crash sent both vehicles spinning, at which time Spillman said, he saw a large object, which turned out to be Camry passenger Terri Parker, 23, of New Roads, flying through the air.
When Parker landed about 30 feet from the point of impact, Riviere’s car appeared to run over her body, the officer said.
Spillman testified that he ran to Gosserand’s vehicle first because it was closer to him.
“She was laid back in the driver’s seat,” he said. “I could hear her mumbling.”
As he tried to talk to Gosserand, Spillman said, he smelled “a strong odor of alcohol” coming from her.
Spillman testified that after the wreck, Gosserand told him that she had three friends in her SUV, although he observed that Gosserand was the vehicle’s only occupant.
Moments later, Spillman said, he approached the Camry and noticed Kyle Riviere’s arm hanging out of the car’s window.
“He was conscious, but not alert. It was obvious that he was trapped in the car,” the officer said.
Spillman said he also observed “a pretty good-sized hole” in the passenger side of the Camry’s windshield.
The officer said he checked on Parker’s motionless body near a curb on False River Drive and couldn’t detect the accident victim’s pulse.
“Due to the position of her head, it was apparent that she suffered a broken neck,” Spillman said.
Paramedics on the scene determined that Parker was dead, Spillman said.
As paramedics tried to extract Gosserand from her SUV, she began yelling and cursing at them, flailing her arms around and being “very uncooperative,” Spillman testified.
“It was not like she was yelling in pain,” the officer said. “She was saying, ‘Get away from me. I don’t want you around me.’ ”
At that point, Gosserand’s father had arrived at the scene and accompanied his daughter, Spillman and paramedics to Pointe Coupee General Hospital, the officer said.
Inside the ambulance, Spillman said, Gosserand was “very uncooperative and aggressive” as a paramedic attempted to insert an intravenous tube into her arm.
During the ride in the ambulance, Gosserand yelled expletives at her father and threatened to kill him, the officer testified.
At the hospital, it took several members of the hospital’s staff, Spillman and Gosserand’s father to restrain her, Spillman said.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Jerry D’Aquila noted that Spillman filled out two accident reports in the days after the wreck but only the second report noted the odor of alcohol coming from Gosserand.
Spillman testified that he was “fatigued” when he wrote the first report on Dec. 24 and then amended the report on Dec. 28 when he remembered more details.
D’Aquila questioned how Spillman was able to witness the wreck — both cars spinning, Parker’s ejection from the Camry and note that the traffic light controlling westbound traffic was red — in such detail.
That line of questioning provoked a strong response from Assistant District Attorney Tony Clayton, who demonstrated for the court how the prosecution believes Spillman, during just a few moments, was able to mentally record key elements of the wreck.
Clayton stood at the back of the courtroom and counted to three as he walked toward Spillman seated in the witness chair.
As Clayton counted aloud, Spillman said “crash” on the count of one, “cars spinning” at the count of two and “saw the red light” at the count of three.
Monday’s hearing in 18th Judicial District Court marks the first time Gosserand, 23, 7702 Cook’s Landing, Ventress, has appeared in court in connection with the Dec. 23 wreck.
Prosecutors have said Gosserand’s blood-alcohol content was 0.30 percent, or nearly four times the 0.08 percent blood alcohol content which is considered presumptive evidence of drunken driving in Louisiana.
Throughout Spillman’s testimony, Gosserand kept her head down, occasionally wiping tears from her eyes.
She is scheduled to return to the Pointe Coupee Parish Courthouse April 8 to enter a plea on one count each of vehicular homicide and first-degree negligent injuring. If convicted, Gosserand faces between five and 30 years in prison for vehicular homicide, the more serious of the two charges.
Defense attorney Rob Marionneaux told District Judge Alvin Batiste, who is presiding over the case, that it is possible Gosserand may not be available for the April 8 court session because she is scheduled to enter “treatment.”
It is unclear if Gosserand would be required to appear for her arraignment.
After Thursday’s court session, prosecutors and defense attorneys both said the judge issued a gag order preventing them from discussing the case in public.
Prosecutorial Misconduct:an increasing problem or overblown hysteria?
North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission
The first Louisiana StateWide Civil Rights Conference and Forum was held October 2007 in Alexandria, Louisiana. The first "StateWide Symposium" was held in Grambling, Louisiana in February 2008.
Are you prepared for LSWCR Conference & Forum
2010-11
It is evident a StateWide Conference is necessitated. An individual was incarcerated earlier in the year, by what appeared to have been; a detaining by a "joint federal task force." On 1-7-11, the person was glared & stared at by the arresting officer, in the incident earlier this year. The arrestee has dealt with current legal matters. An amount of money will be paid to the appropriate authorities for late fees to probation and parole.
However, 'the taking' of the individual on that day by the task force, was incorrigable.
