2 Thibodaux detectives will not face charges

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[Ed. note: The original version of this story said the two TPD detectives were found to have violated department policy. While the attorney general office’s report said they did, the TPD police chief said the policy was vague.]


Two Thibodaux Police detectives said to have violated department policy by the state’s attorney general’s office connection with a felony drug distribution case will not face criminal charges, authorities confirmed last week.

But a city prosecutor who was defending the woman they arrested in the case may have overstepped ethics rules for lawyers, according to judicial policy experts.

With the matter now resolved, 46 drug cases handled by those detectives, which were postponed, are going back onto court dockets, officials said.


Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry’s office has cleared detectives Jonathan Fryer and Thomas Crochet of criminal wrongdoing in regard to the case of Krista Kilgen, who allegedly ordered marijuana from Colorado for people in Thibodaux who gave her advance payments, resulting in her arrest for drug distribution.

Misconduct allegations involved the detectives’ agreement to turn over a cell phone held as evidence in the case to Kilgen’s lawyer, Brad Naquin. The phone allegedly contained compromising photos of Kilgen and Naquin together, according to the Attorney General’s report.

Naquin provided a written statement affirming the clearance of himself and the detectives in both a Thibodaux Police Department internal investigation and the AG report. Naquin chalked up the allegations to a political smear campaign.


“A very important lesson should be learned from these events. No one should rush to judgment and make defamatory criminal accusations without knowing the facts and the evidence. Our criminal justice system should not be misused or mainpulated for personal reasons,” Naquin wrote. “Normally this episode would be a closed case, but certain people will not accept the outcome. Their continued efforts to damage my career and to hurt me personally are based on their political agenda. Their actions are well documented and well known. No further comments are necessary.”

Both detectives were placed on six month’s probation for the incident, TPD Chief Bryan Zeringue said. The AG investigation said the two detectives violated TPD procedure, but Zeringue said they were operating under a vague, older policy. Zeringue added the department has updated its evidence policies for clarity since the incident. District Attorney Cam Morvant had held up prosecution of 46 cases the detectives had handled, as a precaution.

Special Agent Bruce Harrison, who conducted the investigation for the AG’s office, also cleared Naquin of criminal law violation. Naquin retrieved the phone from detectives in relation to his duties as her lawyer. Harrison nonetheless questioned whether Naquin was acting to protect his own interests by retrieving the phone.


“It is the opinion of Special Agent Harrison that, while the actions of Sergeant Crochet and Detective Fryer should be considered in violation of the past and current policies of the Thibodaux Police Department, their actions cannot be proven criminal and were likely strongly influenced by Mr. Naquin, the City Prosecutor for Thibodaux,” Harrison wrote. “It is additionally the opinion of Special Agent Harrison that while Mr. Naquin’s actions during this matter were questionable by motive, his actions cannot be proven criminal.”

According to both the reports of Harrison and TPD regarding the issue, Crochet and Fryer secured a warrant to search Kilgen’s apartment in February 2016. Crochet and Fryer seized a number of items during the search, including marijuana and a marijuana wax, notes detailing recipients and amounts of marijuana Kilgen allegedly ordered and Kilgen’s Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge smartphone.

The detectives subsequently sought and received a warrant to search the contents of Kilgen’s phone from Thibodaux City Court Judge Mark Chaisson. However, the pair had trouble accessing the passcode-protected smartphone, according to the reports. In the process of trying to access the phone, Fryer learned from the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office that repeated failed attempts at entering a passcode would erase everything on the phone. Due to this, Fryer contacted Kilgen and asked for her passcode. The internal affairs report said Kilgen told Fryer she would have to consult with her attorney, and Naquin contacted Crochet later to set up a meeting regarding the phone.


According to Detective Ricky Ross’s internal affairs report for TPD, at the meeting between Naquin, Kilgen, Crochet and Fryer, Naquin told Crochet there were things on the phone that would prove he was in a sexual relationship with Kilgen and asked that the detectives not do the search warrant. Ross reported Crochet told him he thought there may be numbers on the phone that could incriminate Kilgen, but he already had a strong case on her.

“Crochet said from A to C the phone being C his case was already at Y. Crochet said he did not need the phone so he did Naquin a favor,” Ross wrote. “Crochet said he had enough evidence beyond a reasonable doubt to get a conviction on Kilgen. Detective Ross asked Crochet if Naquin had not come would he have gone into the phone, and Crochet said, ‘yes.’”

After questioning Kilgen about the ongoing case, Crochet and Fryer released the phone to her via property release. There was an inconsistency in evidence recording by Crochet and Fryer, where the phone was listed as “N-27” (police list evidence sequentially) in their evidence log related to the search. However, the phone and its corresponding number were missing from the evidence record kept with the TPD evidence custodian. According to the internal affairs report, Crochet said police never drop phones into evidence, instead holding onto it until they can obtain a search warrant to go through the phone. Zeringue said that had indeed been a practice, but he has since instituted a clear policy where all evidence must be released by the evidence custodian with the clearance of Morvant’s office or the judge who signed the search warrant.


“That point in time, it was done in the past in that way. Since I became chief, I changed that policy on who can release and how it has to be released. But at that time the old policy that was in place when I came on as chief was very wide open, very vague,” Zeringue said.

The attorney general’s report noted four other open cases where Crochet and Fryer seized cell phones. In one of the cases, two of seven phones seized were released to individuals who were not arrested after it was determined they were not suspects in a drug investigation. There was no indication of any further action taken regarding the remaining five phones in that case. In another February 2016 case, Crochet and Fryer obtained and executed search warrants for two phones, with one revealing incriminating text messages. That case report had no details regarding how the phone was examined. In two other cases, there were no details on actions taken in regards to the seized phones.

The attorney general’s report stated Ross’s internal affairs report had “short-comings,” and noted Zeringue expressed his displeasure with the style and content of the report. While Zeringue acknowledged the detectives did not follow procedure, he said the probation for the two detectives would serve as a warning. Ross concluded Crochet and Fryer used discretion and acted in good faith when they released the phone, something Zeringue ultimately seemed to agree with when he said he does not think they were helping Naquin because they work with him on cases.


“I don’t think that was done. They said [releasing phones] was done in the past. From what I’m picking up, this was done in the past, even prior to me being chief here, that items like that had been returned in the past. When they couldn’t do anything with them, those items have been returned,” Zeringue said.

Naquin’s representation of Kilgen in the case could potentially present a conflict of interest, according to Louisiana legal ethics expert Dane Ciolino. Naquin has been the prosecutor in Thibodaux’s city court for the past 19 years and handles misdemeanor cases occurring within the city. Morvant’s office handles all felony charges stemming from Thibodaux, and the cases proceed in district court, where Kilgen’s ongoing case is currently being handled as a felony.

While Naquin’s defense work in the Kilgen case occurs in a different court, he still faces the possibility of his Thibodaux clients being cited for misdemeanors in the city, which he would have to prosecute. Ciolino pointed to Rule 1.7 of the Louisiana Rules of Professional Conduct, which guide lawyers in the state, that says a lawyer should not represent a client if there is a significant risk the representation will present a material limitation on the lawyer’s representation of another client.


“There is a substantial likelihood that his duties as a prosecutor or criminal defense attorney will limit his duties in his other role. There would be no problem with him taking a [defense] job in another city,” Ciolino said.

However, in a refutation of the alleged misconduct in the investigations, Naquin cited the 1978 Louisiana Supreme Court case State v. Mitchell, which found that city prosecutors are not prohibited from from defendig a criminal prosecution in district court. He also said Morvant was aware that he, as well as Assistant City Prosecutor Donald Carmouche Jr., have defended criminal cases in district court over the last 14 years and has never challenged their authority in doing so. Naquin pointed to former Thibodaux Mayor Chariles Caillouet also defending clients in Morvant’s district court while acting as city prosecutor without facing challenges.

“Morvant has known that I, Caillouet and Carmouche have practiced criminal law in District Courts for more than 23 years. He never once questioned our authority. Now, with a District Attorney’s campaign heating up and starting to take shape, it suddenly becomes important to Morvant. This is much more than coincidental,” Naquin wrote.


Ciolino said there are ethical concerns regarding lawyers starting sexual relationships with a client, but lawyers are allowed to represent people they had been seeing beforehand. Naquin said he and Kilgen terminated their personal relationship once he was retained as her counsel. •

Brad Naquin