DA to request special grand jury to prosecute ‘those involved’ in Ronald Greene’s death
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - The U.S. Attorney’s Office should be close to handing down federal indictments in the death of motorist Ronald Greene.
That news came during the fourth meeting of a state legislative committee looking into Greene’s death which happened just outside Monroe, La. The District Attorney for that area, John Belton, told lawmakers today he plans to move forward and prosecute some of the officers involved in the incident on state charges. And, he hinted, federal charges should be coming down soon.
Ronald Greene died following a high-speed chase and crash that ended in Union Parish. State Police body camera video shows troopers beating, tazing, and dragging him.
“The video I saw of Mr. Ronald Greene was while in the custody of state police was the worst thing I had ever seen,” said Belton to the entire committee.
Belton told lawmakers today that the FEDs told him on two occasions last year that they would be handing down federal indictments within a matter of weeks. That still has not happened.
“I was asked by the United States Attorney’s Office not to institute formal proceedings in state court until they initiated prosecution on the federal level,” Belton explained.
However, Belton says that recently changed and the feds have given him the green light to proceed with filing separate state-level charges.
“After receiving the United States Department of Justice’s investigative report, I will request that a Special Grand Jury be impaneled in Union Parish. My plan is to present all relevant evidence to the grand jury for their determination of appropriate charges,” Belton continued.
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Not only will Belton be able to use his own evidence but also evidence obtained from the federal investigation and testimony from these state legislature committee meetings.
“I did not recuse my office. In fact, I have maintained prosecutorial power to prosecute state crimes that occurred in my district, specifically the parish of Union. I believe some of the officer’s actions were above the law. They committed criminal acts including violating Mr. Greene’s civil rights,” Belton added.
Belton was asked about previous testimony before this committee that LTC. Doug Cain, now the number two man at State Police, disagreed with him about what charges should be filed in the case. He told the committee that he and Cain vehemently disagreed on what the charges should be and if they should be filed.
Belton was asked if Doug Cain is among those under investigation by the FED’s, but he would not say. He did say however that the FED’s are not looking at charges against current State Police Superintendent Colonel Lamar Davis and or former Colonel Kevin Reeves.
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