The Times – Courtside Diary Live from the Top 28 – March 6
March 7, 2019
On To LAKE CHARLES
March 7, 2019
A federal judge in New Orleans has dismissed a lawsuit filed on behalf of a Dulac youth whose manhandling while in the custody of Terrebonne deputies went viral on social media and resulted in the dismissal of two officers by Sheriff Jerry Larpenter.
U.S. District Court Judge Iran L.R. Lemelle ruled that the suit could not continue because attorneys far Christopher Verdin did not meet their burden of proving that his constitutional rights were violated following his May IB. 2017arT9St and subsequent contact with deputies, at least to a point where a lawsuit could be sustained.
A concept called qualified immunity played a key role in Lemelle’s decision, court doctrine which allows officials to be protected from actions that result from actions they take which are within the scope of their duties.
“Even if the evidence supports a conclusion that plaintiff’s rights were violated, qualified immunity may still be invoked unless the government official violated clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known,” Lamella wrote in his decision.
Joseph Cehanin III Charles Cook were dismissed for conduct unbecoming in connection with the incident. The outcome of the lawsuit Larpenter said, in no way means that his decision will change. The dismissals were not for criminal behavior: but for violation of regulations. Larpenter had said. A third deputy was reprimanded for covering up the behavior.
“We don’t sink to the same level as the criminals,” Sheriff Larpenter said, after the firings were announced. “You already have the badge and its power to do the legal and right thing if somebody acts stupid in public The action of these deputies that was shared on social media does not reflect the attitude, training and professionalism of our office and will not be tolerated.”
The Sheriff’s Office’s attorney, William P. Dodd, agrees with Larpenter’s assessment and says it is perfectly justifiable.
“Just because something is not illegal does not mean it is
not wrong,” Dodd said.
They were among three deputies who responded to 7077 Grand Caillou Road in response to a complaint that Verdin had struck his mother’s dog with a crescent wrench, fired a 45 caliber pistol towards the dog. and then continued firing the gun into nearby forest where two siblings were chopping wood.
The deputies arrived about a quarter mile from the home and apprehended Verdin without incident. They disarmed him, placed him. handcuffed, into Cehan’s patrol unit, and then drove to the home where the incident occurred.
According to a report initially made by Cehan, the cuffed teen began spitting at him in the patrol car and threatened to right, challenging’ him to remove the handcuffs and his badge. Video shot by shrimp fisherman Frankie Duplantis shows Cehan screaming and cursing at Verdin through the open back door of the patrol unit then forcing him out of the car.
Cehan then is seen removing the cuffs from Verdin and challenging him to make good on his threat, but Verdin refuses to strike the officer.
Cook observes the confrontation but does nothing. He does order Duplantis to walk away from the area. Duplantis does so but continues recording.
Cook’s body camera remained on at all times during Cehan’s confrontation with Verdin, Larpenter said Cehan’s camera – which was on and captured the arrest when deputies first arrived – was not on. which fort her affected the sheriffs decisions.
Public opinion. ganged through postings on social media, appeared to support the deputy and even suggested that he should have engaged in further misconduct.
Larpenter said, however, that the actions were not something that would be tolerated in his department. Suggestions that stress of patrol work may have played a role in Cehan’s behavior were dismissed by the sheriff.
Such actions are the opposite of what deputies are trained to do, he said, noting that his deputies receive twice the amount of training required by the state. “I feel deep in my heart that the defendant did not have a case against these officers,” Larpenter said. “They did not beat him up. What they did was conduct un-becoming. We are there to help the people who call us, apprehend the violators and let the district attorneys prosecute and the judges take care of sentencing. We can’t have vigilante justice.”
