Thursday, October 8, 2009

Sentell's defense team tries to discredit My Bossier

I haven’t blogged on the Sherb Sentell arrest for the last couple of days because I was waiting to see what developed.
As most of you are aware, Sentell was arrested last Friday night at the Horseshoe Casino for Domestic Abuse Battery. All of the media outlets have now released the Casino videos that show what led to the arrest.
The arresting officer was my son, Bossier City Police Cpl. M. D Wells.
In his report, he noted that according to the transporting officers, one a reserve officer and one a regular officer, Sentell had “made numerous threats to sue them and adversely affect their employment with the police department by using his political influence if he were arrested.”
“They (officers) also indicated these threats had been made as they were transporting Mr. Sentell, and his statements had been recorded by Officer Vernon's in-car video system.”
Schuyler Marvin listened to the video and said that nothing that Sentell said rose to the level of intimidation. The definition, by law, of public intimidation is:
· Public intimidation is the use of violence, force, or threats upon any of the following persons, with the intent to influence his conduct in relation to his position, employment, or duty:
o Public officer or public employee.
The reserve officer was fired by BCPD, and the other officer is on paid administrative leave until the conclusion of the internal investigation.
According to the Minden Press-Herald, “Reportedly, these actions were taken Wednesday after the investigation determined that the two filed a false police report in which they indicated Sentell threatened their jobs with the department and tried to use his position to avoid arrest.”
According to the District Attorney, Sentell made no threat with the intent to influence the conduct of the officers.
Hopefully, the in-car video will be released sooner rather than later.
Also, according to the Press-Herald in referring to the charge of domestic abuse battery, “No slapping, hitting, punching or extreme violence is visible during the approximate 30-minute video. “
Okay. The law says:
A. Domestic abuse battery is the intentional use of force or violence committed by one household member upon the person of another household member.
You can judge that by all the videos that are available. What do you think? What would you think if it was your daughter or your sister?
On Wednesday morning, I had an email from Danny Lawler at The Inquisitor asking for my comments on information he had received from Sentell’s defense team.
1. That the officer (Wells) had a ‘bone to pick’ with Schuyler Marvin for dismissing an attempted homicide charge against a suspect who had committed battery on the the officer.
2. That the operator of My Bossier is the officer’s father.
3. That the father is a good friend of Judge Burchett.
I was happy to answer Danny’s questions, and I will answer them here.
Yes, I am responsible for My Bossier. That’s no secret.
I endorsed Judge Burchett in the last election, an election which was won by Mike Craig with the help of Schuyler Marvin. So far as being good friends, I know Judge Burchett but I don’t think of it in the ‘good friend’ category. I am proud, however, to call Judge Burchett a friend, and I have no regrets for supporting him last fall.
What in the world Judge Burchett has to do with this arrest, I have no idea.
One of the best friends I ever had in the world, from the time we crawled on the floor in church nursery together until we graduated from high school together, was Cecil Campbell. I still hold him in very high regard. Perhaps the defense team should consider whether or not that friendship affected the situation.
Now to the first question – does my son have a ‘bone to pick’ with the DA. My answer, and of course I can’t answer for him, is that I have never heard him say anything negative about the DA. Police officers realize that most cases end in plea arrangements out of necessity. We don’t have the court resources to try every case.
As to the incident they were referring to, I didn’t intend to blog on it and told Bossier ADA Lane Pittard that I would not. Since Sentell’s defense team brought it up, I suppose I need to do so.
In a nutshell, a man hit my son and another person with his vehicle. They were able to move out of the way and stop him. He was charged with 2 counts of aggravated battery (felony), 1 count of battery on a police officer (felony), 1 count of resisting arrest (misdemeanor) and with misdemeanor 1st DWI.
I was aware of it, and checked on it the day after his court appearance. The DA’s office had sent the misdemeanor DWI to court, accepted a $500 fine on the misdemeanor resisting charge, and nol-prossed the three felonies. I contacted Lane Pittard and asked him if it was customary to nol-pross felonies in favor of a misdemeanor charge, and he looked into it. He told me that the plea should not have gone through, and that the ADA responsible should not have done it. Lane even called in my son to explain what happened. I thanked him for his forthrightness.
Now, apparently, someone in the Bossier DA’s office passed it on to the Sentell lawyers in an effort to discredit me and to invent some ‘grudge’ that doesn’t exist. Lawyers, lawyers. They have more spin than a washing machine.
Can’t say that I’m surprised, by now everyone knows that all those guys are tighter than ticks.
Like Forrest Gump, that's all I have to say about that. For now.

22 comments:

  1. This is the oldest trick in the book of getting the attention off the crime....Perhaps this is the way this group operates, but i dare say most of us do the best we can without any big plots or conspiracies......or for that matter no hatred....dislike for their tactics yes....wish they would accept responsibility for their mistakes and move on...may they rest in peace....and I with you Jim and Forrest Gump...that is all I have to say about that. lol

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  2. Forst Gump is just about right!!!! Sherb Sentell is a fine man you just don't know.

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  3. I am afraid his actions speak louder than your words.

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  4. "Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."

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  5. I wish that Sherb would acknowledge that his behavior towards his wife and those officers was not the behavior a husband and public offical should display. We all do things that we are not proud of but it is the way that we "take our licks" that make us men.Attacking police officers to save face is what you would expect from a criminal that is desperate and grasping straws.Sherb, TAKE YOUR LICKS! If the attacks on these officers persist, we should all be aware of what they really are, a poor attempt at diverting our attention from the fact that Sherb had too much to drink, was kicked out of a casino,abused his wife, and is now blaming the arresting officer for over reactig or holding a grudge. Mr Marvin, we are all watching, how are you going to fix this broken window? Are you really going to allow this terrible behavior by YOUR ADA to be hidden and downplayed by throwing peace officers under the bus?? I had more faith in the people involved in this episode until I witnessed the attempt to fix poor ol sherb's problems by smearing other people's names or alledging misconduct. LOW RENT! Grow the hell up and admit you were in the wrong and in need of help Sherb!

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  6. Assuming ADA Sentell is "a fine man," even the best of us make mistakes. But as a previous poster said, we man-up and do not pass the buck. Unless we are not such sterling characters after all.

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  7. Perhaps the wife of Mr.Sentell and the Bossier police officers that attempted to subdue Mr. Sentell had it comming! How DARE they find fault in his actions! He is Sherb Sentell for godsakes! are you kidding me?? Ltcnl. Sentell is above all of that! What would the U.S. Army say if they knew that one of their own was being admonished for something as trivial as mistreating his spouse and getting kicked out of a casino for being overly intoxicated? Sherb is above these kinds of "common citizen" judgements! Those who think he should be held to the same standards as everyone else must not know who his family is.poor Mr.Sentell, I hate that the same rules that govern everyone else apply to you.Please have mercy on the rest of us when we make the same mistakes.I'm happy to know that if I shove my wife around at a casino and am caught on tape that is not something Sherb finds illegal. Everyone needs to allow Sherb the chance to discredit his accusers before they watch these videos and pass their own judgement!

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  8. I was not surprised by the article by The Minden Press-Herald. I mean-REALLY? Their “article” (and I use the term loosely), was full inconsistencies and untruths. D.A. Schuyler…. Tell us about the “incident” a year ago where the arresting officer and Sentell had an encounter. . I hear someone is telling it on KTBS.COM in the comment section. Sound familiar? Did you get another phone call about Sentell that night? To everyone reading-you do know they give the “privileged” a courtesy call, right? What say you Schuyler? I read that Mrs. Sentell put out a 2nd revised statement this week. Go figure! Poor thing- can’t think for herself. “ Good Old Boy” Thug Politics in Louisiana-alive and well!

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  9. sorry to hear about your son mr wells. This is about the biggest cover-up one can imagine. the balls to actually be on tape and still not admit any wrong doing, completely narcasistic. if nothing was on tape this would have gone away for sure, and they are still trying to get rid of it in broad daylight. sentell's "defense team" is a group of you know what trying to bully folks around. sentell has just squashed any aspirations he may have had, i will work VERY hard to campaign against this whole group (marvin, sentell, pittard) et al

    if danny lawler comes out with his biased reporting bs and goes after the officers or this blog it will be par for the course I guess. danny went after deen until he got in bed with the auctions with him. lawler is a self serving smear artist that tells half truths and misrepresents information to influence people in my opinion. someone needs to do an expose on lawler

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  10. Wow, if this were not so serious, it would be comical....could the defense team be suffering from a little paranoia...have they totallly lost their minds....and to think I voted for Marvin...be careful what you vote for, you may get it!!!

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  11. William Hill at Oct 8th 2009 12:32 PM Well I had been aware that Marvin, Sentell, and their crew are utterly corrupt since the trial where the uneducated, minimum wage staff at Hope Youth Ranch were convicted in the death of Alex Harris. While these men who had no authority in the organization were used as scapegoats, the leadership of Hope Youth Ranch, who were responsible for the torture and murder of a child go about their "business" with other children with impunity. But as corrupt as I know these men to be, what they have done in this case is shocking to me: the bald-faced lying to the public, saying that they would recuse themselves, and then proceeding to discredit the police and retaliate against them just as Sentell had threatened to do.
    comment fr ch3 online post

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  12. Sick of politics at Oct 8th 2009 7:05 AM I wonder if anyone is aware that Marvin is planning on supporting and endorsing Halphen in his run for Bossier Sherrif against Deen. At least that's what the locals are saying. Puts a whole new spin on corruption and ole boy politics...
    comment ch 3 online

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  13. jim, i think your headline is incorrect (it seems to be a pattern on your blog.) I havn't seen anywhere where Eric Johnson claims to represent Sentell. The Inquisitor article only states that they have volunteered their services to Sentell and then proceed to make stupid, irrational comments. Why do you make the assumption that they are "sentell's defense team?" That is a irresponsible statemnt for you to make. But again, par for the course.

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  14. As for the trial of the Hope Youth Ranch folks, Sentell had nothing to do with that trial. what did happen is that several adults punished a child by making him run until his brain swelled, killing him. they are in prison where they deserve to be

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  15. Anon at 6:15 - Eric Johnson's name is not mentioned in the article, don't know where you got that from. I based the title on an email from Danny Lawler that said:
    "the Sentell defense team is putting out information" . . . .
    That was yesterday, before the Inquisitor came out. If you would like to take Mr. Lawler to task, I suggest you do so. Perhaps he would re-word his email to read "Sentell's imaginary defense team".

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  16. I wonder if Ron Miciotto was aware that Eric Johnson was going to volunteer his services in The Insquisitor and then proceed to say something like that?

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  17. Stupid, irrational comments seem to follow Johnson wherever he goes. He needs to tread lightly, the good people of Minden have a long memory about Johnsons own past dirty deeds. I wonder if that restraining order is still in affect. Hmmm. As for Sentell, he's has his own prior brushes with the BCPD that might come to light if he keeps pushing this.

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  18. One thing I haven't seen anyone else comment on is the fact that two defense attorneys even volunteered their services to an ADA in the first place! What does that say about the extent of corruption in the 26th district? Even indigent defendants have to pay $40 to have representation "provided" to them under constitutional dictate.

    Add in the "recused" comments and administrative actions, and the greatly reduced bond, and "even Hellen Keller" can see it's the whole system that stinks, from the lawyers through the DA all the way to the judges... God help us...

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  19. I must have seen a different tape. The tape I saw indicated that the disturbance was insufficient for passersby to notice. The reaction of the law enforcement was obviously over reaction and reflected poor training.

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  20. anon@4:35

    Hmmmm... posting the same comment in two different threads, 6 minutes apart... what's "obvious" is the spin and attempted white-washing of this incident... Despite your efforts, this will NOT be going away...

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  21. You have really great taste on catch article titles, even when you are not interested in this topic you push to read it

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  22. Sentell is about to run for Minden City Judge in 2014. What a shame if he wins...

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