BATON ROUGE — Metro Councilman Cleve Dunn asked the court to throw out his indictment on a host of corruption charges Tuesday, citing the same alleged flaws in the grand jury process as those raised in a similar request by his former colleague LaMont Cole, who was indicted in a related case.
Attorneys Edmond Jordan and Harry Daniels III say the district attorney’s office did not delegate its exclusive authority to initiate prosecution to the attorney general’s office when the DA’s office asked the court to empanel a special grand jury for matters the AG’s office was investigating.
Without that specific step, Dunn’s attorneys say, “the resulting indictment is an absolute nullity, and it must be quashed,” the motion said.
Short of that, the motion asked that the court review relevant documentation from the grand jury process and hold a hearing to determine whether the case against Dunn should be allowed to proceed.
“We do think it’s going to be very effective,” Jordan said.
Cole’s attorneys made the same request on Friday. Court records show no action has been taken on that motion as of Tuesday afternoon.
Dunn is charged with public contract fraud, public bribery, conspiracy to commit public bribery, money laundering, conspiracy to commit money laundering, malfeasance in office, theft of $25,000 or more, conspiracy to commit theft of $25,000 or more and illegal splitting of profits, fees or commissions.
Terral and Eric Jackson, a married couple, have been charged alongside both Dunn and Cole. Terral Jackson joined Cole’s motion to quash the indictment on behalf of himself and his wife.
Dunn is accused of steering contracts with the Capital Area Transit System to a company owned by the Jacksons and getting kickbacks.
Dunn and the Jacksons have pleaded not guilty in the CATS contract investigation.
Cole, superintendent of the East Baton Rouge Parish school system and a former mayor pro temp on the Metro Council, and the Jacksons are scheduled for arraignment on Oct. 29. Cole is also accused of getting kickbacks related to government contracts.
The indictments are part of a broad corruption investigation that started at the federal level and was later handed off to the attorney general’s office. No federal charges were filed, but in addition to Dunn, Cole and the Jacksons, state charges have been brought against Courtney Scott, who was a top aide to Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome; Pearlina Thomas, the chief administative officer for CATS, and several contractors.
District Attorney Hillar Moore said Friday that he believes the indictments were handled properly
“My office is not involved in the investigation of these matters, however (my office) was involved in the selection of this grand jury and approved the request of the Attorney General to present matters before this grand jury. I believe the selection and authority of this grand jury are legal and proper as to the process employed by my office, the Attorney General and the Court,” Moore said.
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