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Louisiana police to pay $4.85m to daughter of Black motorist who died at officers’ hands in 2019

Police and sheriff’s office agree to settlement after Ronald Greene was fatally shocked and punched during 2019 arrest

Louisiana’s state police and a local sheriff’s office have agreed to pay $4.85m to the daughter of Ronald Greene, a Black motorist who was fatally shocked with a stun gun, punched and dragged during a 2019 arrest.

The settlement agreement was reached during a mediation that concluded on Tuesday evening, according to a source with direct knowledge of the talks. It is one of the more substantial legal outcomes for a death that otherwise yielded only misdemeanor convictions for two of the officers involved.

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© Photograph: Michael M Santiago/AP

© Photograph: Michael M Santiago/AP

© Photograph: Michael M Santiago/AP

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New Orleans child molester questioned on unsolved killings takes the fifth 700 times

Stanley Burkhardt, convicted abuser and ex-investigator of sex crimes against children, gives deposition in civil case

Convicted child molester Stanley Burkhardt – a former investigator of sex crimes against children who has been in and out of prison for decades – invoked his constitutional right against self-incrimination more than 700 times while being questioned under oath recently, including when asked whether he committed a series of unsolved murders of youths in his orbit.

Burkhardt’s decision to remain silent came when faced with questions about the killings during a deposition in a civil lawsuit by an alleged sexual abuse victim of his – a case aimed at him and the New Orleans police department (NOPD) which used to employ him.

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© Photograph: Brett Duke/AP

© Photograph: Brett Duke/AP

© Photograph: Brett Duke/AP

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New Orleans sheriff indicted on 30 counts just days before term ends

Susan Hutson accused of malfeasance and other crimes that enabled 2025 mass escape from Louisiana jail

The sheriff of New Orleans was hit on Wednesday with a sweeping 30-count indictment alleging malfeasance and payroll fraud amid an outside investigation into her office that was prompted by a massive jailbreak nearly a year earlier.

The indictment against sheriff Susan Hutson, whose duties include operating the New Orleans jail, was brought by Louisiana state attorney general Liz Murrill. It came days before Hutson was set to leave office, bringing a sudden and sharp conclusion to a tenure that began in 2022 with promises of sweeping reform.

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© Photograph: Sophia Germer/AP

© Photograph: Sophia Germer/AP

© Photograph: Sophia Germer/AP

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Louisiana judge in abuse case belatedly recuses himself after ruling in favor of church on whose finance panel he sits

Kendrick Guidry, alone among judges, initially ruled that the state supreme court’s decision to uphold a ‘lookback window’ for abuse claims did not set a binding precedent

Only one judge in Louisiana has ruled in favor of the Catholic church’s ongoing attempts to strike down a law there which allowed old abuse claims their day in court – even after a state supreme court decision upheld the constitutionality of that so-called “lookback window”.

But now, that judge – Kendrick J Guidry of Lake Charles – is being forced to acknowledge that his ruling benefited a specific church on whose finance committee he sits, giving him a direct financial interest that required his recusal under the state’s judicial code.

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© Photograph: 14th Judicial District Corut

© Photograph: 14th Judicial District Corut

© Photograph: 14th Judicial District Corut

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