Pending civil suit against Gretna police is stayed until ruling in plaintiff’s criminal case is rendered
18th July 2022 · 0 Comments
By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer
Top City of Gretna officials were unable to comment last week about a lawsuit filed by a Harvey man who alleges that several Gretna police officers brutally assaulted him and violated his civil rights.
Kevin Beauregard, 34, filed the lawsuit in April 2021, nearly a year after GPD officers arrested him on several charges following a traffic stop. The lawsuit, which was issued with the assistance of the ACLU of Louisiana, alleges that the officers violated Beauregard’s civil rights, particularly after he was taken to jail by the officers.
The ACLU helped file the lawsuit as part of its Justice Lab project, an effort to hold Louisiana law enforcement accountable to charges of brutality and violation of civil rights, especially regarding police interactions with people of color.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court and now being overseen by Judge Barry Ashe, has been stayed pending the outcome of Beauregard’s criminal case relating to the incident described in the lawsuit. Beauregard’s criminal case is pending in the 24th Judicial District Court before Judge Steven Grefer.
Until now, City of Gretna officials have not returned requests for comment by The Louisiana Weekly. Last week, outside City Hall after the Gretna City Council’s regular monthly meeting on July 13, Mayor Belinda Constant did not acknowledge a verbal inquiry from this reporter, who was then blocked from approaching or speaking further with Constant by two uniformed GPD officers.
The officers stated that inquiries to the mayor and City Council members can only occur during the time allotted each council for public comments. The officers added that this reporter could also call the mayor’s office during business hours.
Subsequent messages to Constant at her official email address that is available for the public to contact her were not returned before deadline last week.
However, Councilman and mayor pro-tem Wayne Rau did speak briefly with the newspaper and said he was unaware of the lawsuit at that time and couldn’t comment further.
Councilman Rudy Smith, the only African American on the council, also commented, saying that while he had been informed of the Beauregard case, he was unable to discuss it extensively.
“While I have been briefed on a summary of the event, any comments as to my opinion of the incident would be purely speculation and irrelevant to the facts of the judgment,” he said.
Smith said the GPD does an excellent job of protecting the city, especially compared to other locations in the area, and that any negative reputation the force might have in terms of the African-American community is very misunderstood.
“As to the community relationship with Gretna’s police department, African Americans in the community feel safe in relation to the runaway crime in New Orleans and parts of Jefferson Parish,” he said. “The Gretna Police Department’s reputation is based on their aggressive response to crime, which is being viewed as physical. It is also unfortunate that the majority of crimes involve African Americans, which statistics is interpreted [by critics] as Racism.
“As the only African American on the council, I can assure you I am vigilant about the concerns and needs of the community. [GPD] Chief Arthur Lawson has a strong relationship with the African-American community, which is reflected in the diversity of his department and his outreach to the community.”
Beauregard’s civil lawsuit against the GPD – in particular officers Christopher Breaux, Kayla English, Timothy Kennedy and Roland Kindell, who were specifically named as defendants – is becoming linked with his criminal case, which, since the original alleged incident in May 2020, has taken several unusual turns that might end up greatly affecting the outcome of Beauregard’s civil lawsuit.
Beauregard has been charged with marijuana possession, battery of a police officer and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon stemming from the inciting incident in May 2020. According to court documents, Beauregard has resisted being assigned a public defender to represent him in the case, a strategy that at one point involved Beauregard representing himself and filing motions and other documents himself.
Court documents written and filed by Beauregard himself contain accusations that might appear far-fetched, including that the Jefferson Parish Public Defender’s Office and the Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office are in collusion together to deny people’s civil rights, control their lives and use corruption to personally reap benefits from the court system. Court documents also show that Beauregard has alleged that the 24th Judicial District and the State of Louisiana courts as a whole do not have jurisdiction over his case.
As a result, Judge Grefer ordered a psychiatric evaluation to be performed by two court-appointed doctors to judge Beauregard’s psychological and mental competency to potentially stand trial.
The evaluation will eventually be followed by a competency hearing before Grefer; that hearing was originally slated for earlier this spring but has been delayed multiple times and is now scheduled for Aug. 24.
Attorney Taylor Lanson, who has recently been assigned by the Public Defender’s Office to represent Beauregard, said he expects to be in receipt of the competency report by then, although the psychiatric evaluation hasn’t occurred yet.
Lanson is the second public defender who’s been assigned to represent Beauregard. John Benz originally represented the defendant, but in May 2021 Beauregard requested that private attorney Aubrey Harris represent him.
But eight months later Harris withdrew from the case, at which time Beauregard began defending himself. However, Lanson was then appointed by the court to represent the defendant. Lanson said in a written statement that the defendant’s expressed beliefs about the judicial system will not change the way Lanson will battle for Beauregard in court.
“[D]efendants can represent themselves in court if they so desire, although most judges are hesitant to allow this, especially without an attorney on standby who can take over the representation if need be (such as in a case where a pro se defendant changes his/her mind about self representation in the middle of proceedings),” Lanson said.
“Mr. Beauregard may have certain opinions about being represented by a public defender and I’m sure he would be the best person to ask about that,” Lanson added. “Despite whatever feelings he may have on the matter, it’s my job to represent him and his interests.
“It doesn’t surprise me that he and many other indigent defendants may have concerns about being represented by a public defender. That’s something that my colleagues and I deal with on a daily basis. But the bottom line is that we must do anything and everything we can to reach the best outcome for our clients and that’s exactly what I intend to do in Mr. Beauregard’s case.”
Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office spokesperson Paul Purpura said the DA’s office doesn’t comment on pending cases. Beauregard has declined to speak on the record with The Louisiana Weekly.
New Orleans attorney Len Levenson, who is representing the GPD officers in Beauregard’s civil lawsuit charge officers with physical abuse, told The Louisiana Weekly last week that he and his law firm don’t comment specifically on pending cases. However, he did say that Beauregard’s eccentric statements in criminal court are certainly unusual, but he declined to comment specifically on whether Beauregard’s radical beliefs might affect the outcome of the civil lawsuit.
“Those comments speak for themselves,” Levenson said. “As previously stated, it is the general policy of Gretna Police Department to refrain from commenting on pending litigation. We shall continue to vigorously defend against the accusations made in the federal proceedings and continue to expect full vindication.”
Representatives and attorneys from the ACLU of Louisiana, which is representing Beauregard in his civil lawsuit alleging brutality by GPD officers, did not return inquiries for comment from The Louisiana Weekly.
As far as the other proceedings in Beauregard’s criminal case in 24th District Court, Grefer, and eventually the State Supreme Court, seem to have dealt several blows to Beauregard’s case.
Crucially, in July 2021, Harris moved to quash the evidence discovered during and after the traffic stop from the original May 2020 incident. In court filings, Harris argued that because the traffic stop occurred in Orleans Parish, not Jefferson Parish, the GPD did not have jurisdiction in the incident, meaning the stop is invalid and all the evidence seized should be thrown out.
According to the GPD incident report, Beauregard was observed near or at the intersection of Whitney Avenue and Anson Street, which does appear to narrowly sit in the City of Gretna. However, by the time Beauregard pulled over and the arrest occurred, Beauregard and the officer were located at the intersection of L.B. Landry Avenue and Vespasian Boulevard along the Fisher Housing Project, which is, in fact, located in Orleans Parish, meaning Beauregard’s actual arrest did not occur in the City of Gretna.
However, in August 2021, Grefer denied the defense’s motion to quash the evidence, a decision that was appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal and then to the State Supreme, but both higher courts rejected the motion to quash.
In addition to questioning the jurisdiction of the GPD, Beauregard’s defense also argued that the officer’s stated reason for initiating the traffic stop and her pursuit of Beauregard’s car were specious, flawed and therefore not valid. However, by denying the motion to quash, the courts also rejected those arguments as well.
Adding another wrinkle is the fact that two of the officers specifically listed as defendants in Bearegard’s civil suit, Breaux and Kindell, are facing further allegations about violence on their part.
Breaux was arrested in December 2020 on a charge of battery of a dating partner by strangulation and is now facing the charge in the 24th District Court, with a status hearing now scheduled for October 22.
Kindell also faces a charge of battery of a dating partner by strangulation leveled in December 2020, as well as a later charge of violation of a protective order. However, the status of his case in 24th District Court is unclear, because the Clerk of Court’s Web site does not have up-to-date information. The only recent event that appears is the dissolution of a protective order against Kindell that took place on July 11.
This article originally published in the July 18, 2022 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
