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March 3, 2015
A Louisiana state trooper used excessive force against a handcuffed DWI suspect during booking at the Terrebonne Parish jail last year, an internal affairs investigation has concluded.
But officials have not said what sanctions – referenced in a letter to the complainant – the trooper was actually subjected to.
Now the trooper’s accuser, Bryan Johnson of Baton Rouge, is seeking to have criminal charges brought against Trooper First Class Tracy Plaisance.
Johnson, who lives in Baton Rouge, was scheduled to appear in Houma Tuesday, and to go with Terrebonne Parish NAACP President Jerome Boykin to formally lodge a complaint, likely for battery. Johnson also wants the trooper that Plaisance was training the night of the incident, July 26, charged criminally with malfeasance, for not taking action when he saw Plaisance’s actions, and for not reporting the incident to superiors.
“A thorough investigation was conducted as a result of your complaint regarding the incident,” reads a letter from Major Catherine Flinchum, command inspector of the State Police internal affairs unit. “It was determined that your allegation of use of force against TFC Plaisance was sustained.”
The definition of sustained, Flinchum wrote, is “supported by sufficient evidence.”
Flinchum’s letter also says that a Trooper Rice, whose first name is not supplied, was in violation of State Police policies.
“As a result of these findings, administrative acton was taken against TFC Plaisance and Trooper Rice,” reads the Dec. 10 letter.
Other than the letter, however, no further information has been supplied.
Inquiries by The Times to State Police officers Monday resulted in no further information being released. Plaisance did not respond to a message sent through his Facebook account.
Johnson, 25, was booked for DWI, improper driving, not driving on the right, unlicensed operation and resisting a police officer with force or violence.
His bond was set at $25,000.
Capt. Doug Cain at State Police Headquarters in Baton Rouge confirmed at the time that a use of force complaint had been made, and that an “active administrative investigation” was underway.
According to reports provided to investigators, Plaisance and Rice brought Johnson to the jail. Their patrol car was stopped in the sally port, which is a closed area where officers discharge prisoners.
After Johnson was removed from the patrol car’s back seat, Plaisance allegedly elbowed him; then in a booking area Johnson, still handcuffed, was allegedly assaulted again. He was taken into another closed room where a breath-test machine is kept. There, more violence allegedly occurred.
Johnson was transported by the troopers to Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center after Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government infirmary employees said they would not treat him at the jail, according to one account of the events, which could not be independently verified. Any injuries Johnson may have suffered were not considered life-threatening, according to family members.
Terrebonne Parish jail guards have been accused of no wrong-doing in connection with the incident, Sheriff Jerry Larpenter said. Some were interviewed by State Police investigators, Larpenter confirmed.
In addition to statements from jail personnel, the sheriff’s office has provided copies of video from surveillance cameras in the booking and sally-port areas. The closed room where the last of the alleged violence occurred has no surveillance camera. It is ordinarily used to magistrate jail inmates on the morning following arrest, by closed circuit.
Among items observed by investigators was a metal file cabinet with a dent, which was allegedly caused by Johnson’s head being propelled into it.
Johnson’s mother, Deanne Wilkerson, is also a former Terrebonne resident now living in Baton Rouge. She acknowledged that her son was argumentative after troopers stopped him, and that a tow truck driver who came to pick up his car said he repeatedly demanded to know why he was stopped.
“He had a head injury and they kicked him on his left arm, and there was damage from the handcuffs being too tight,” said Wilkerson, who processes medical records.
Boykin said the case is an example of why “the police can’t police the police.”
“They found out what happened, they had an investigation and it is clear a crime was committed but they did not bring criminal charges.
“The NAACP is not going to stop until both troopers are fired,” Boykin said. “They should have been fired after the investigation. For this Trooper Plaisance to hit Mr. Johnson, while he was handcuffed and no immediate threat to him whatsoever, was a cowardly act.”
A civil lawsuit will be filed by a Baton Rouge attorney in federal court, alleging civil right violations. The attorney, Chris Alexander, said the suit is not yet complete.
“We have requested in writing that all video and audio evidence of this attack be preserved in its entirety for use at trial,” said Alexander, who agrees with Boykin that Plaisane and Rice should be fired.
“If the audio and video bears out what has been suggested, they have to be terminated. Anything short of that is not acceptable.”
Bryan K. Johnson at the time of his July 26 booking at the Terrebonne Parish jail. His allegation that a State Trooper used excessive force while another did nothing was upheld by the agency’s Internal Affairs Division.
