State Supreme Court upholds separate trials for Dennis Perkins and wife

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - The Louisiana State Supreme Court has agreed that separate trials should be held for former Livingston Parish sheriff’s deputy Dennis Perkins and his wife, Cynthia. The court made its decision public Tuesday, Dec. 21.

The move supports a ruling earlier this year by District Court Judge Erika Sledge in which she ordered the two to be tried separately. The First Circuit Court of Appeal had already upheld the decision.

The couple is accused of a number of charges including rape, producing child pornography, and participating in feeding desserts laced with his semen to school children. The couple has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Dennis Perkins is represented by defense attorney Jarrett Ambeau.

During a hearing last June, Ambeau asked the court to separate the trials after learning that Cynthia Perkins planned to point the finger at her husband and claim that Dennis put her up to it all.

He also said it was because some evidence ruled inadmissible at trial against his client has been ruled admissible for Cynthia Perkins and vice versa.

“My client has the constitutional right not to sit next to someone who will point the finger at him,” Ambeau said during the hearing.

Prosecutors from the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office pushed for a combined trial and appealed Sledge’s ruling.

Prosecutors said having just one trial would save witnesses, some of whom are minors, from having to publicly tell their stories twice. And, they said it would save time and money for the court system.

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