Rotary goes in session

Speaking at the Rotary Club of Ville Platte’s last regular meeting of the year was the honorable Judge Chuck West of the 13th Judicial District Court Division B.
Judge West spoke about recent legislative action, such as the Justice Reform Act of 2017, that has brought confusion to judges around the state. He said the act was “designed to reduce the prison population and reinvest in treatment programs.”
He went on to say there has been mixed results with offenders being released early and going on to commit other offenses such as the individual who was charged with cutting former Turkey Creek Chief of Police Robert Leggett in the face.
The judge went on to say how COVID has impacted the local judicial system. One of the ways was due to the fact the courts were shut down for about four months. Upon reopening, the courts had to abide by the governor’s orders.
“I was supposed to have a murder trial on November 30, but we went back to Phase 2,” said Judge West. “Now we can’t have over 30 people in the courtroom. If you count the lawyers and just my staff, that’s 28. So, how do you put 200 prospective jurors in a room to pick a jury? It’s causing some issues especially when you start balancing speedy trial rights.”
Other related issues in the funding of prisoners who are awaiting prosecution.
“Our new sheriff is taking the drug problem very seriously,” the judge said. “That’s a good deal, but, at the same time, we are housing all these people. The police jury is having to pay for all these people being housed who can’t get to trial. That means they don’t convert from a local prisoner to a state prisoner which means we pay the tab. We can’t get them to trial because of COVID.”
Judge West also touched on some recent decisions coming out of the Louisiana Supreme Court that bring more confusion than clarity to the bench. One in particular dealt with a prisoner’s Miranda rights.
“A guy goes in to be questioned for a sex crime,” shared the judge. “It’s the second time they bring him in. They mirandize him, and, after a little while, he gets tired and says, ‘Y’all say I did it. I didn’t say I did it. I say I didn’t do it. If you don’t believe me, get my lawyer, dog.’”
Judge West then said a motion to suppress was filed because the police continued to question the suspect which led to some incriminating statements being said.
“The defense attorney was saying the defendant clearly invoked his rights to an attorney, and it should of stopped then and there,” Judge West said. “But, the police unscrupulously continued to question him without an attorney.”
In a hearing on the motion, according to Judge West, the judge “said the request for a lawyer dog was not a clear request for an attorney.”
Judge West went on to say the matter went before the Supreme Court and that Justice Scott Crichton agreed with the district judge’s decision.
The Supreme Court, according to Judge West, “said the request for a lawyer dog is not a clear indication of your right of request for a lawyer.”
He went on to say, “I often wonder if it had been typed ‘get me my lawyer comma dawg’ would that have been a clear request for a lawyer. Or, since it was typed ‘get me my lawyer dog’ did the police understand that there was actually a lawyer dog they would find.”
He concluded, “It just goes to show you English is an important subject and so is punctuation.”