Judge says Dodd firm can stay on shooting case

New business hoping for spike in entertainment
August 10, 2016
Tyrants’ tool must be repealed
August 10, 2016
New business hoping for spike in entertainment
August 10, 2016
Tyrants’ tool must be repealed
August 10, 2016

A federal judge in New Orleans has denied a request that the law firm representing a Terrebonne Parish deputy in a civil suit arising from the 2014 shooting death of a Houma teen be disqualified from the case.


Sheriff Jerry Larpenter, along with deputies Preston Norman and Andrew Lewis, were sued by Wyteika Tillman, whose 14-year-old son, Cameron, was shot and killed during a confrontation in the carport of an abandoned house in the Village East subdivision.

A grand jury found that Norman acted appropriately when he shot Tillman, based on evidence and testimony that the teen was holding a realistic-looking replica of a semi-automatic pistol when he opened a door in response to the deputy’s knock.

Larpenter and Norman are represented by attorney Bill Dodd, father of Assistant District Attorney Seth Dodd.


Tillman’s attorneys alleged that a conflict existed because Seth Dodd was involved in the prosecution of one of her relatives, Trevon Tillman.

Papers filed in response state that Seth Dodd has no partnership interest in the law firm, although he is sometime employed on a contract basis, and has not been involved with the Tillman suit.

U.S. District Court Judge Jane Triche Milazzo has not yet published reasons for her decision, but her ruling from the bench after an Aug. 3 hearing is a fair indication that she rejected any suggestion of impropriety by Seth Dodd.


The hearing was supposed to take place in July, but was moved to give attorneys for Wyteika Tillman time to produce more evidence supporting their claim. The evidence, however, never materialized.

Because the Terrebonne Parish District Attorney’s Office made the presentment to the grand jury that cleared Norman, plaintiff’s attorney John Milton wrote in pleadings, Seth Dodd could have had information that could unfairly be employed in defense of the civil case. Papers filed for the plaintiffs also cited a Louisiana Bar Association rule that prohibits attorneys handling civil cases from using criminal prosecutions for leverage for any nature. There has never been a suggestion that this occurred.

“Plaintiffs aver that a concurrent conflict of interest exists as the interests of the administration of justice may be prejudiced,” one of the court filings demanding the dismissal of the Dodd firm reads. “(Seth) Dodd is prosecuting a criminal matter against (Travon) Tillman in Terrebonne Parish and is an attorney with the law firm defending the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff and Sheriff’s Deputies … At the very least, there is an appearance of impropriety on behalf of the Dodd Law Firm as a result of Dodd’s possible involvement with the civil matter pursuant to Louisiana Rules of Professional Conduct.”


Seth Dodd recused himself from handling any aspect of the prosecution of Trevon Tillman, who faced a heroin-related charge, once he learned that the defendant was related to Cameron and Wyteika Tillman. Addtionally, District Court Judge Johnny Walker, in whose division Seth Dodd regularly appears, had Trevon Tillman’s case moved to a different division of court.

Assistant District Attorney Carlos Lazarus, who handled the Norman grand jury, said in an interview last week that he was the only assistant handling the matter.

“Plaintiffs do not suggest that the prosecution of Trevon Tillman has anything to do with the facts forming the basis of this matter, because they do not,” wrote attorney Gus Fritchie, representing the Dodds, in response to the plaintiff’s request. “The prosecution of Trevon Tillman is wholly unrelated to this matter. Moreover, the affidavit of Seth Dodd, attached here to as Exhibit ‘A,’ dispels any notion that there is either a conflict of interest or even the appearance of impropriety in the Dodd Law Firm’s representation of Sheriff Larpenter in this matter.”


Bill Dodd, who bristled at suggestions that he or his son had done anything wrong or unethical, said he was pleased by the decision, never having any doubt that he or his son had engaged in such behavior.

The case, which alleges that the shooting of Cameron Tillman violated federal civil rights law, now continues with attorneys expected to conduct examination of those involved under oath in anticipation of a trial.

Wyteika Tillman has consistently rejected the account of her son’s shooting provided by Norman and Lewis contained in a report of the State Police investigation and continues to maintain that it was not justified.


Although the FBI was asked to investigate the shooting, no evidence that the agency has found anything contrary to the State Police findings that essentially clear the deputies of wrong-doing has appeared to date in the court file. •

Cameron Tillman