St. John the Baptist Parish president, Jaclyn Hotard faces perjury allegation
16th December 2024 · 0 Comments
By Drew Costley
Contributing Writer
(Veritenews.org) — Lawyers for an environmental advocate in St. John the Baptist Parish alleged in a new court filing on December 10 that Parish President Jaclyn Hotard lied in court filings and during a deposition as part of an ongoing lawsuit related to a controversial, and now-defunct, grain terminal project.
The instances of alleged perjury came in response to requests for communications – including text messages and emails – between Hotard and her mother-in-law about the project: a grain elevator proposed by Greenfield Louisiana that drew criticism over its proximity to antebellum plantations and, opponents believed, unmarked graves of the enslaved people who once worked there.
The project required rezoning the area for industrial use. As parish president, Hotard submitted the application in October 2023 to the parish’s planning commission to rezone the property.
Hotard’s mother-in-law has long owned an adjacent property that was to be included in the rezoning measure and could have benefited from it. In response to requests from the plaintiff in the suit – environmental activist Joy Banner – Hotard initially claimed that no such communications existed and she had no knowledge of her relative’s property.
But text messages included in Tuesday’s filing show Hotard and her mother-in-law, Darla Gaudet, repeatedly discussing the property, the grain terminal project and the rezoning.
The court filing also included texts in which Hotard insulted and used violent language about Banner – co-founder and co-executive director of The Descendants Project – calling her a “bitch” and saying that she wanted to choke her.
“I do feel frightened. I do feel scared, and I am sad and I’m upset about it,” said Banner, who found out about the text messages a few days ago, in an interview. “To be honest with you, I’m still in a state of shock.”
Banner’s attorneys, Dave Lanser and William Most, are now asking a federal judge to sanction Hotard, award Banner attorney’s fees and order Hotard to appear for another deposition. Neither Hotard nor her attorney, Ike Spears, responded to requests for comment.
The lawsuit, filed late last year, stems from a November 2023 St. John Parish Council meeting at which Banner tried to give public comment.
Prior to the meeting, Banner had filed a state ethics complaint against Hotard over her role in moving the industrial rezoning forward, which she said was a conflict of interest because of Gaudet’s potential financial interest.
Banner told Verite News that she wanted to give comment opposing a council motion to retain a private law firm, using taxpayer funds, to defend Hotard from any potential charges by the Louisiana Board of Ethics.
But, Banner alleges in the lawsuit that she was not allowed to speak at the council meeting and was threatened with prosecution if she continued to try to comment, violating her First Amendment rights. The suit was filed in December against Hotard, St. John the Baptist Parish and Parish Councilman Michael Wright.
When the lawsuit went into discovery, Banner’s attorneys asked Hotard to produce correspondence with Gaudet in which the two discussed Banner, The Descendants Project, Greenfield Louisiana, LLC or its grain terminal or property owned by Gaumet Holdings, a company owned by Gaudet.
Hotard responded, according to the court records, that “no such documents exist.” She also testified during an Aug. 6 deposition that she did not know anything about her mother-in-law’s property or business.
“I don’t know about their business or what land they purchase or don’t purchase. So anything you would tell me about that company would be a [surprise] to me. Because I’m just not involved at all,” Hotard said during the deposition.
By that point, however, Most had already subpoenaed Gaudet for correspondence with Hotard. Gaudet fought the subpoena, but federal Magistrate Judge Karen Wells Roby this month ordered her to turn hundreds of text messages in which Gaudet and Hotard discussed the Greenfield Grain Terminal, the value of Gaudet’s land, and St. John the Baptist Parish Council votes regarding Greenfield and Banner.
“These communications show that Defendant Hotard lied when she swore under oath that ‘no such documents exist’ and that she was not aware of Ms. Gaudet’s business,” Tuesday’s filing says.
Verite News reached out to Hotard and Ike Spears, an attorney representing her in the case, but did not immediately receive a response.
The filing includes text messages that show Hotard texting her mother-in-law images of Gaudet’s land highlighted on a map and them talking about the valuation of Gaudet’s land. The document also includes messages from Gaudet to Hotard before and after the parish council voted, on April 9, 7-2 in favor of rezoning. (Greenfield later canceled the grain terminal project.)
In the texts,Hotard and Gaudet also discussJoy Banner and her sister Jo, the other co-founder and co-executive director of The Descendants Project. Hotard also sent pictures of Banner to her mother-in-law and shared a screenshot of one of Joy’s financial disclosures.
“I wanted to choke that woman,” Hotard texted Gaudet in October 2023, referring to Banner.
Banner said hearing about the text messages was highly concerning, considering how much power Hotard has as parish president.
“It’s very frightening to have someone like her that’s at the helm of the ship in a parish like St. John that goes through emergencies, natural disasters, industrial accidents,” she said. “And if that’s the kind of lack of levelheadedness she’s displaying, I feel frightened as a citizen.”
This article originally published in the December 16, 2024 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
Tags: Jaclyn Hotard, perjury, St. John the Baptist Parish president
