A grand jury hearing the case of Ronald Greene, who died in 2020 in a high-speed, single-vehicle crash
The grand jury will finally hear the evidence in the case of Ronald Greene, who was violently arrested by Louisiana State Police troopers and died three years later.
Union Parish District Attorney John Belton told CNN he will present evidence in the incident involving Greene and the Louisiana State Police to a grand jury starting on November 10.
They’ve focused on a meeting where the state police commanders pressured detectives to hold off on arresting the trooper seen on camera hitting Greene in the head and later boasting, “I beat the ever living f— out of him.” That trooper, Chris Hollingsworth, was widely seen as the most culpable of the half-dozen officers involved, but he died in a high-speed, single-vehicle crash in 2020 just hours after he was informed he would be fired over his role in Greene’s arrest.
According to court documents, the troopers claimed that the death was caused by crash-related blunt force chest trauma that resulted in a fractured sternum and a torn aorta, and said they used force to protect themselves and the public.
An independent investigation looking into the circumstances of Greene’s death was conducted by the US attorney’s office at Belton’s request, the district attorney told CNN. The investigation took about two and a half years to complete, he said.
Over the last decade, there have been at least six cases in which state police troopers or their bosses ignored or concealed evidence of beatings of mostly black men, according to an Associated Press investigation. A group of current and former troopers said that the beatings were condoned by a culture of impunity, cronyism and racism.
The indictment against Master Trooper Kory York was the most serious and he was seen on body camera dragging a heavy set man by his ankle shackles and leaving him to face the dirt for more than nine minutes. York was charged with negligent homicide and 10 counts of malfeasance in office.
“We’re all excited for the indictments, but are they actually going to pay for it?” said Greene’s mother, Mona Hardin, who for more than three years has kept the pressure on state and federal investigators and vowed not to bury the cremated remains of her “Ronnie” until she gets justice. “As happy as we are, we want something to stick.”
Belton had long held off on pursuing state charges at the request of the U.S. Justice Department, which is conducting a separate criminal investigation. But as years passed and federal prosecutors grew increasingly skeptical they could prove the officers acted “willfully” — a key component of the civil rights charges they’ve been considering — they gave Belton the go-ahead this spring to convene a state grand jury.
The grand jury investigation of whether state police brass obstructed justice to protect the troopers remains open and prosecutors are not saying when they will make a decision on charges.
The body-camera video was not given to the initial autopsy because of ongoing investigations and officials in the area declined many requests to release it.
But then last year, the AP obtained and published the footage that showed what really happened: Troopers swarming Greene’s car, stunning him repeatedly, punching him in the head, dragging him by his ankle shackles and leaving him prone on the ground for more than nine minutes. He cried and begged for mercy and said, “I’m your brother!” I’m afraid! I’m afraid!
Louisiana State Police and the Greene Case: A “Paradigm or Practice” in a “Strong, Serious” Search for a State Attorney
Such reports were cited by the U.S. Justice Department this year in launching a sweeping civil rights investigation into the Louisiana State Police, the first “pattern or practice” probe of a statewide law enforcement agency in more than two decades.
A legislative panel launched an “all-levels” investigation into the state’s handling of the Greene case this year after the AP reported that Edwards had been informed within hours that the troopers arresting Greene engaged in a “violent, lengthy struggle,” yet stayed mostly silent for two years as police continued to press the car crash theory.
Another AP report found Edwards privately watched a key body-camera video of Greene’s deadly arrest six months before state prosecutors say they knew it even existed, and neither the governor, his staff nor the state police acted urgently to get the footage into the hands of those with the power to bring charges.
Edwards has repeatedly said he did nothing to influence or hinder the Greene investigation and has described the troopers’ actions as both criminal and racist. But he has yet to testify before the legislative panel, saying he was unable to appear at a hearing last month, instead attending a groundbreaking ceremony for an infrastructure project.