Ex-cop’s mom takes stand; hearing resumes in April

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Hearings that will determine if convicted rapist and killer Chad Roy Louviere should have a new trial will continue April 7, as his attorneys build on testimony offered last month.


District Judge Johnny Walker will decide, ultimately, if the attorneys who initially represented the former Terrebonne Parish deputy failed him, by allowing him to plead guilty to first-degree murder without a trial, leaving the question of whether he should live or die up to a jury.

Louviere killed bank teller Pamela Duplantis in 1997 during a hostage standoff at the former ArgentBank on Grand Caillou Road after arriving there heavily armed with a grudge against his estranged wife.

Last Tuesday, the witnesses attorneys questioned included the defendant’s mother, Joann Louviere. A hairdresser by trade, she calmly answered questions while seated in the witness chair, affording her a direct view of her shackled son, whose movements are restrained not only by manacles but a stun-belt controlled by a black box in the possession of a correctional officer.


Attorneys have requested that the stun-belt be removed in court but Judge Johnny Walker has remained firm in his position that all security measures remain in place.

During her testimony Joann Louviere spoke of various injuries her son had received during childhood, the state of affairs in her family, his problems with an older cousin, and his disclosure that he had been sexually abused.

Other testimony focused on the abuse allegations, which were raised during the abbreviated trial that resulted in his death sentence.


Defense lead attorney Caroline Tillman and members of her team have attempted to bolster their claim that an insanity defense should have been offered to Louviere, although it never was, by his former advocate, David Stone.

During portions of the mother’s testimony Terrebonne Parish First Assistant District Attorney Carlos Lazarus objected, asking Walker to narrow the questioning.

“I can’t see the relevance here,” Lazarus said, referring to numerous questions about Louviere’s boyhood.


Walker carefully considered the objections, allowing Tillman to continue her line of questioning but cautioning her that he needed to get a clearer picture of where she was going.

Witnesses testified in connection with allegations in court papers that Louviere’s defense team did not delve deeply enough into the defendant’s background to make valid judgments on how best to represent him.

In addition, it is alleged that key facts including detailed information of family problems, mental illness in the defendant’s family and other issues, which could have caused attorneys to seriously consider an insanity defense, were never explored. Or, if they were, those areas of background were not incorporated into the defense.


After last Tuesday’s hearing, Louviere was transported back to the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, where he is being housed in a death row building along with other condemned inmates.

Chad Louviere