In November of 2006, A Bossier Deputy sheriff who was directing traffic at an accident scene had a close call when a car sped past him at 87 mph. A deputy stopped the car, which was driven by Richard Hahn. On observing Hahn’s slurred speech, five empty beer cans and two empty vodka bottles in the car, the deputy asked him how much he had to drink. “Not enough”, was the reply.
Hahn was charged by the Sheriff’s Department with DWI 3rd offense (a felony), a charge which could carry from one to five years in prison. He was also charged with speeding 87 in a 55, no drivers license, open container, careless operation and flight from an officer.
Sheriff’s spokesman Ed Baswell said "we'll arrest and keep on arresting. Someone else takes care of prosecution."
That person, of course, is the Bossier DA. Bossier Parish First Assistant District Attorney Lane Pittard said at the time, "we'll prosecute this guy to the fullest extent of the law." Pittard said
Hahn appeared before Judge Jeff Cox on
As to the other charges:
- Flight from an officer: Nol-prossed
- Careless Operation: Nol-prossed
- Open Container: Nol-prossed
- No Driver’s license: Nol-prossed
- Speeding 87/55: Nol-prossed
Is allowing him to plead guilty to a misdemeanor which had been reduced from a felony and dismissing the other five charges really the full extent of the law?
You’ll have to be the judge of that.
Same song, second verse
Hahn was back just a year later, in May of 2008, with a ticket from Louisiana State Police charging him with DWI 3rd offense, again a felony. He was charged by the DA with DWI 2nd offense, a misdemeanor. He was also charged with driving under suspension and improper lane change.
He appeared in court in January of this year and was allowed, in another plea bargain arranged by the DA’s office, to plead guilty once again to a DWI 1st offense.
This time, he was sentenced, also by Judge Cox, to 90 days in jail (suspended), a $750 fine and another one year’s probation. The other two charges were nol-prossed.
The fullest extent of the law?
It's time to clean out the DA's office. Mr. Pittard and his cronies have a bad habit of lazy prosecution. Perhaps they are not the right people for the job. I for one plan to exercise my vote come election time. What a HUGE disappointment Marvin and his bunch have become. They make me sick. The Bossier DA's office has become a joke to local law enforcement because of their record of nol prossing everything that comes across their desk. I wonder who the defense attorney was this time? Eric Johnson or Robinson, perhaps? We are all watching...
ReplyDeleteTotally disgusting, but not surprising coming from Marvin's office. As someone in the criminal justice field this is an ongoing issue with his office. Good ol' boy network at it's best. I'm sure this guy probably donated to Marvin's election at one time or another.
ReplyDeleteI find this a very disturbing commentary of facts. There is no shame.
ReplyDeleteThe truth is the is just one of many many cases like this. A closer look will reveal certain attorneys, high profile attorneys, get special deals and special treatment. Ive heard rumors the FBI has been investigating, and I certainly hope any wrong-doing is aggressively pursued. Certain attorneys charge a LOT of money for their services---logic would reveal that no one attorney is that much smarter than another, but when greasing is part of the process, well, that takes money. caddo judges have already been taken down, and I suspect some other high profile figures both public and private will as well.
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ReplyDeleteWe got the worst DA in the country!! He's making a mockery of our justice system. Merely slapping the wrists of these drunks, letting them right back on the road to kill our children. Marvin should be behind bars!!!
ReplyDeleteAnon at 1:13 PM. I removed your post because the person you mentioned appears to be single and there is no need to put the name out there. If you know otherwise, email me.
ReplyDeleteBy what means does she "appear to be single" Jim?
ReplyDeleteLet's cover 2006-07 first, Hahn appeared three times on these charges with three different indigent defender board attorneys, Randal Fish on 12/05/2006, Ian Taylor on 01/31/07 and David Noles on 03/09/2007 when they were nol prossed. How did a person using the IDB get all these charges nol prossed?
ReplyDeleteNow lets move on to 2008-09, 09/03/2008 he appeared with Ian Taylor AGAIN, 10/08/2008 with Darius Henderson and finally on 01/14 2009 with Santi Parks when he changed plea to guilty to
ReplyDeleteDWI(1st). Again I ask, how does a man using the PDI attorneys get all these charges reduced to misdemeanors? Is the DA's office that inept or were they paid by a third party?
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ReplyDeleteAnon at 3:11. She appears to be single by legal documents that are 15 years old and show her marital status 'single' with the same last name.
ReplyDeleteAnon at 3:52. I am reposting your post without the last tidbit.
ReplyDelete"Oh this just keeps getting better & better. Pleasant Bail Bonds only charged him a $435 bond fee on a $20,000 bond. That is a 2.175% fee that would have cost you and me between 10 and 15% depending on the charges."
Yea I didn't figure you wanted all the facts public Jim, just the ones you provide.
ReplyDeleteOK that's fair enough. You can delete 4:09PM
ReplyDeleteJim - looks like you run for office - you seem to have it all figured out. You have solved the City's budget crisis by just selling cyber and the board walk. Then - you can take over the DA's office and make sure every thug gets perfect justice - i am sure there will be plenty of court time to ensure that every case goes to trial (you know the judges make sure that every ounce of time that court room can be open from 9 to 5 - Monday through Friday - they have someone in there to handle cases. When you get around to looking into your buddy the sheriff's finances and his relationships down at the ministry - i am sure you will be ready to take that over as well. Jim for King - You are smart and awesome
ReplyDeleteThank you, I like to think so. Glad you enjoy the blog.
ReplyDeleteHe got the charges reduced and nol prossed because Bossier ADA's are notoriously lazy SOB's! Anyone who deals with them on a regular basis knows that! Bozo the Clown could represent them with the same result!
ReplyDeleteOh, I get it. Now, Damage Control has stooped to "Kill the Messenger". Sorry boys you are too transparent now. You have sung your last hurrah.
ReplyDeleteAnd isn't ironic that Henderson now works for the DA's office....
ReplyDeleteSo funny to see all these folks with all this alleged information about what is about to happen or what they are going to do next election cycle - what a huge joke - no one is going to do crap - only 20% of registered voters event turn out - that is about 8 percent of the Bossier citizens - happy people are lazy and dont get off their butts and vote - i know some all knowing individual will respond that it wont be that way this time - but it will - elections are about organizations, relationships and money - without them - you have a bunch of pissed off people that wont get organized - wont do anything other than post anon posts on blogs like this - cant wait to see who runs against Lo Walker, the 7 councilmen, the 12 school board members, and the DA - as this blog has called for all of their removal - ha - will not happen - blog away - but the same faces will be leading bossier in 10 years unless they die or quit
ReplyDeleteI like this website for its articles/information- comments are a little half-baked. but in this case the article itself needs some follow-up. google "louisiana law dwi" and click on the first link- shows all the penalties for dwi and the rules. first- says that the first dwi's that make a dwi a 2 or 3rd dwi have to be within 10 years of each other. second- the penalty for dwi one and dwi second are about the same.
ReplyDeleteso my questions are why was he arrested on a third and only charged with a first? how long ago were his prior dwi's and if they happened in another state or in some court were adequate records weren't kept can you put him on trial for a dwi third?
second question- you can call the clerk and ask what he was prosecuted for- they say the first case was filed against him for a dwi one and the second case was for a dwi second using that first conviction as the dwi that made it a second. So, he prosecuted for a dwi one and pled to a dwi one. and he was prosecuted for a dwi second and pled to a dwi one.
so the real question is why wasn't he charged with more than a one the first time? could the DA have done that or was it more than 10 years or they didn't have the information? seems like if he could only be found guilty of a dwi one on the first one, then he gat charged with two misdemeaner dwi's and was guilty of two misdemenaer dwi's. not much of a story here, unless someone (with more info than i can get on a tuesday from my office!) can show us that he could have been tried for a dwi second or third on that first one. Jim, i'd be glad to quit my job and do this full time but i need a salary for investigating! all the people that blog on here, someone can find this out! we either have a good story or no story and this should be followed up.
Jim, the actual arrest date was 09/26/06, the Bill of Information was filed 11/02/06 and according to the appearance bonds @ clerks website Pleasant bailed him out on 09/28/06. I still can't get over the 2% bond fees in 2006 & 2008. Something is just not right about that.
ReplyDelete11/17/09 9:05 commenter, am afraid you are so right!
ReplyDelete11/17/09 9:05 A. M. or I might add, unless he gets arrested or indicted as Sentell did.
ReplyDeleteAnon at 9:55. You could be right, although it doesn't make sense to me that you can plead to DWI 1st on year and the same thing the next year.
ReplyDeleteThe point no only the DWI he was allowed to plead to, it's the five charges that were nol-prossed when the DA promised to prosecute 'to the fullest extent of the law'.
all of this kind of begs the question---why did the judge not put him in jail? if the above post is correct about the possible sentences you get for DWI, then the judge could have put him in jail. so why didn't he??
ReplyDeletethe da's office is a complete joke. if someone was assigned to keep up with what they are doing and not doing, we would probably be a lot sicker than we already are, and folks would be storming the courthouse
ReplyDeleteJim, yes I see the point about all the other charges vs dwi first or seconds. this guy may be a "small fish" dwi, but it also seems he is a scofflaw because both of his dwis came with a bunch of other charges that show he clearly disrespects the law. appropriate thing to do if they could only get him on dwi first or seconds was to put put a couple of other charges on him too. at least if he did not go to jail, he would have at least paid a lot of fines and paid back our community for having to spend police resources on someone who obviously doesn't respect the law. Is there a rule that when you admit to a dwi conviction, all of the other charges go away? Is this only in our parish or is this the way they all treat dwi's
ReplyDeleteAnon at 4:15PM: Take your meds-you are obviously past due...
ReplyDelete