Ex-Terrebonne Parish prosecutor guilty of battery

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Terrebonne Parish’s former district attorney was found guilty of simple battery Wednesday for his role in a scuffle with another lawyer during a court hearing last year.

Doug Greenburg, whose struggle with Thibodaux lawyer Anthony Lewis knocked both to the ground during a civil suit hearing over attorneys’ fees, was found guilty but was not sentenced to any jail time after his daylong trial before District Judge David Arceneaux.

“Mr. Greenburg did in fact commit the simplest of simple batteries,” Arceneaux ruled. “But the reaction by Mr. Greenburg to the taunting and teasing by Mr. Lewis was not justifiable.”

Greenburg and Lewis were in state District Judge Randy Bethancourt’s courtroom May 26 when their arguments turned from the facts of the case to personal attacks, which then escalated into vulgar name-calling. Greenburg, 59, then grabbed Lewis, 51, by his jacket lapels, and the two men wound up on the floor.

Lewis asked for an ambulance, was taken to a hospital and released. Greenburg was arrested and bonded out the same day.

A month later, the two attorneys returned to Bethancourt’s courtroom to face sentencing on contempt of court charges. The judge sentenced Greenburg to 24 hours in jail and Lewis was ordered to perform eight hours of community service.

On the battery charge, Greenburg argued that his grabbing of Lewis was a justified defense against what he perceived to be a threatening posture by the other attorney.

The judge ruled that Greenburg clearly committed the misdemeanor, and that his actions were unjustified, but he did not spare Lewis any criticism for his role, noting that he “exhibited a pattern of baiting Mr. Greenburg.”

Though he found Greenburg guilty, Arceneaux’s sentence will likely lead to no jail time. Officially, Greenburg received 10 days in jail, which he won’t have to serve unless he commits another crime in the next 60 days.