Gretna police officers accused of civil rights violation previously arrested for battery
31st January 2022 · 0 Comments
By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer
Two of the Gretna officers named in a 2021 police brutality lawsuit were each arrested in December 2020 for alleged battery of a dating partner, court records show.
Christopher Breaux, 33, of Harvey, and Roland Kindell, 39, of Gretna, who are two of the four GPD officers listed as defendants in a civil suit filed by Harvey resident Kevin Beauregard, were charged Dec. 8, 2020, with battery of a dating partner by strangulation in Jefferson Parish, according to records in 24th Judicial Criminal Court.
The charge is a felony, and court data states that Gwen’s Law could possibly be applied to the alleged actions of Breaux and Kindell. Gwen’s Law requires a judicial hearing on imposing bond for the defendant, and examines whether the defendant would inflict further harm if released on bond.
Details of the arrest are unclear, but both cases are still pending in district court. According to court records, Breaux’s most recent court appearance was on Jan. 5 of this year, with his next court appearance slated for April. Kindell last appeared on Jan. 3, with his next appearance set for March 28, according to court records.
Breaux is being represented by attorneys Joseph A. Marino III and Davidson S. Ehle III of Gretna. Neither attorney responded to a request for comment from The Louisiana Weekly. Gaynell Williams, the attorney of record for Kindell, declined to comment.
Breaux, Kindell and fellow GPD officers Kayla English and Timothy Kennedy were named as defendants in a lawsuit filed on behalf of Beauregard in U.S. District Court in April 2021. The suit alleges that the four officers physically and brutally assaulted Beauregard while the latter was incarcerated in Gretna jail. The May 2020 incident reportedly began with a traffic stop on West-bank Expressway that ended in Beauregard’s arrest on several charges.
Beauregard’s initial lawsuit asserts that the defendant officers violated Beauregard’s Constitu-tional rights, an action the suit says is all too common for people of color in Gretna.
“Mr. Beauregard is one of numerous individuals who allege they have endured senseless violence at the hands of GPD, a department with a disturbing history of discrimination and violence against Black people,” the suit claims.
“… The abuse that Mr. Beauregard endured at the hands of GPD was a continuation of this pattern of discriminatory treatment that he and many people of color are forced to confront from a young age,” it adds. “… It is evident that, unless and until Defendants are held accountable for their racially motivated misconduct and violence, they will continue to violate the rights of Black people – regardless of whether those individuals are cooperative, subdued, or otherwise pose no threat.”
Also named as a defendant in Beauregard’s suit is Gretna Police Chief Arthur S. Lawson Jr.
The judge in the civil suit, Barry W. Ashe, approved a motion by the four officers to have the lawsuit stayed until the criminal charges against Beauregard stemming from the May 2020 incident are settled.
In his October 2021 approval of defendants’ motion to stay the civil proceedings, Ashe noted that Beauregard has declined to waive his right to self-incrimination in his criminal case, which Ashe ruled would end up disrupting the discovery phase of the civil case, to the point that it might prejudice the GPD defendants.
The parties in the civil suit are tentatively scheduled to appear in court again on Feb. 13. New Orleans attorney Leonard L. Levenson, who represents the five defendants in the civil suit, did not respond to requests for comment from this story. Multiple inquiries for comment to the GPD offices and Gretna Mayor Belinda C. Constant have not been answered.
In the defendants’ initial July 2021 filing of response to Beauregard’s lawsuit, their attorneys rejected the charges of abuse and misconduct.
“Although no response is required, all allegations contained in each and every Prayer for Relief contained in the complaint are denied,” the response said. “At all times, the defendants acted objectively, reasonably, properly, and in accordance with applicable state and federal laws, and the U.S. and Louisiana Constitutions.”
Beauregard is being assisted in his lawsuit by attorneys from the ACLU of Louisiana as part of the organization’s Justice Lab project, through which the group has helped dozens of Louisiana residents to file police abuse and brutality lawsuits. Representatives from the ACLU of Louisiana declined to comment neither on the current status of Beauregard’s suit nor Breaux and Kindell’s criminal cases.
As a result of the initial May 2020 incident, Beauregard, now 33, was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana, illegal possession of a firearm, resisting arrest and battery of a police officer. Beauregard pleaded not guilty to all charges in 24th District Court and last appeared in court on Jan. 12, at which time his case was stayed until Feb. 22. He was released on bond following his arrest, and his case was sent before Judge Stephen C. Grefer.
Until recently, Beauregard had been represented in his criminal case by New Orleans attorney Aubrey Harris, but court records say she withdrew from his defense on Jan. 24. Harris declined to comment when contacted by The Louisiana Weekly.
Beauregard’s criminal case has been punctuated by a battle over whether a large amount of evidence in the criminal case can be used in court. Beauregard’s attorneys at first filed to quash much of the evidence based on several arguments, but the motion to quash was denied. Beauregard appealed the ruling, which eventually ended up in front of the Louisiana State Supreme Court, which just this month upheld the denial of motion to quash, in effect further deepening the intrigue of how the two cases – the civil and criminal – have become entwined.
In addition to their arrests in 2020, both Breaux and Kindell were hit with restraining orders, with Kindell being arrested again for violating the protective order placed on him.
Following Kindell’s initial arrest, Kayla English – another one of the GPD officers named in Beauregard’s civil suit – was granted an order of protection from Kindell, who appears to have violated that order less than a month after it was issued and was subsequently arrested on that count.
Breaux similarly was ordered to stay away from a 30-year-old Marrero woman.
This article originally published in the January 31, 2022 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
