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Former State Police leader faces fine, held in contempt by lawmakers leading Ronald Greene probe

2 years 6 months 2 weeks ago Tuesday, May 10 2022 May 10, 2022 May 10, 2022 11:00 PM May 10, 2022 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE- A special committee of lawmakers seeking the truth about what happened at Louisiana State Police after Ronald Greene's death voted to hold former Superintendent Kevin Reeves in contempt Wednesday, claiming he's been uncooperative with their investigation. They also recommended that the House assess a $5,000 fine.

                       

Late this afternoon, Reeves' lawyer said his client has been cooperative the entire time.

"I have no idea what the legislature is doing," Lewis Unglesby said.

It involves journal entries that the committee was seeking that Reeves wrote pertaining to the Greene case. At issue is three journal entries he kept in a diary that were not turned over to the committee. Reeves' lawyer did provide 11 handwritten pages last week but argued the rest of the journal does not have anything to do with the Greene case.

Representative Tanner Magee who is the chairman of the committee said he was originally told that there was nothing pertaining to Ronald Greene in Reeves' journal. Later, journal entries were turned over that showed there were things pertaining to Greene.

The journal entries so far have shown that there were major issues with the Greene case, with Reeves writing "realize there is a problem must address immediately."

With Reeves being held in contempt by the committee, it will now move to House and Governmental Affairs committee. If that committee passes the measure, it would then move to the full House. A vote for contempt would allow lawmakers to file court action to force Reeves to comply and turn over the entries.

The committee will meet May 26 to discuss Reeves being held in contempt and what will happen next. 

Three years ago, Ronald Greene led state troopers on a high-speed chase through north Louisiana. When he died, his family was told it was caused from injuries sustained in a car crash at the end of the chase.

When Greene was pulled from his car, he was alive and apologizing, and body camera footage showed he was brutally beaten. A cover-up ensued and top State Police leaders had their phones wiped amid a state and federal investigation.

A pair of retired, high-ranking troopers who worked directly under Reeves at the time testified before the committee after the motion to hold Reeves in contempt.

Lt. Colonel Adam White, who was over the Bureau of Investigations at the time of Greene's death, was among the first at State Police to see the footage, calling it the "most shocking video" he'd seen and saying it would "shock the public senses."

The committee hearing is expected to continue into Wednesday afternoon.

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