BATON ROUGE — A guilty verdict for terminated Baton Rouge Police Officer Donald Steele has been reinstated by the First Circuit Court of Appeal. Donald Steele has now been found guilty of malfeasance in office after going through a bench trial with 19th JDC Judge Eboni Johnson Rose in March 2024.
“We now conclude the trial court abused its discretion in granting the judgment of acquittal. The trial court found the defendant guilty of La. R. S. 14:134, then later, on a subsequent court date, decided to change the guilty verdict to not guilty. Accordingly, the April 18, 2024 ruling is reversed, the conviction of count II (malfeasance in office) is reinstated, and this matter is remanded for further proceedings,” read the ruling from the First Circuit Court of Appeal.
“We are thankful that the appellate court reinstated defendant Steele’s felony conviction for Malfeasance in Office, in violation of 14:134. This verdict was fully supported by the victim’s testimony and thorough police investigation, all presented to the district court at trial. The appellate court’s ruling recognizes the importance of following proper procedures and restores our victim’s faith in our system,” District Attorney Hillar Moore told UWK.
Franz Borghardt represents Donald Steele and tells UWK they plan to appeal the reinstated guilty verdict. “This case was always going to have to go to a higher court. We respectfully disagree with the First Circuit and plan to go to the Louisiana Supreme Court.”
The First Circuit Court of Appeal rendered its decision on Sept. 26, 2024, nearly three months after District Attorney Hillar Moore and Assistant District Attorney Dana Cummings appealed Judge Rose’s ruling.
“For this trial court to render a guilty verdict then later reverse that verdict is a legally erroneous action that must be corrected by this Court,” said the DA’s office in their appeal.
The overturned verdict is the latest of Judge Rose’s problems she’s faced this year prior to her suspension. Since this case, the Louisiana Supreme Court has suspended Judge Rose and she remains off the bench currently. Despite her suspension, she is still on the ballot and running for a judge on the First Circuit Court of Appeal. It’s all discussed in the latest episode of UWK‘s podcast Louisiana Unfiltered.
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Donald Steele case goes before Judge Eboni Johnson Rose
It was around 2 a.m. on June 23, 2021, when a 19-year-old was driving down Burbank Dr. and was pulled over by Baton Rouge Police Officer Donald Steele for a possible DWI. During that stop, Steele was accused of inappropriately touching the teenager, forcing her to follow him to an isolated location in exchange for not ticketing her. He was on duty, but out of the area where he should have been working in.
WATCH INVESTIGATION INTO DONALD STEELE
August 25, 2021, nearly two months since the alleged incident, Steele was arrested & charged with two felonies: second-degree kidnapping & malfeasance in office. In addition to the felonies, Steele was also arrested for a misdemeanor sexual battery. BRPD placed him on paid administrative leave and he stayed on leave for an entire year until UWK‘s investigation. His case was immediately assigned to Assistant District Attorney Dana Cummings. The case went before a grand jury where he was indicted for second-degree kidnapping (felony) & malfeasance in office. He was fired from BRPD a few hours later.
Donald Steele went to trial in late March 2024 before Judge Eboni Johnson Rose. The teen victim testified along with numerous other witnesses. In the end, Judge Rose found Steele not guilty of the kidnapping and sexual battery charges, but found him guilty of a misdemeanor malfeasance in office. The issue is that the charge of ‘malfeasance in office’ is only a felony per Louisiana law, not a misdemeanor. Due to that technicality, all parties returned to court on April 18, 2024, at which time Judge Rose acquitted Donald Steele of all charges. That meant he was not guilty of any wrongdoing, had nothing on his criminal history and could have reapplied to be a police officer again.
Malfeasance in Office carries a sentence up to five years behind bars and/or a fine up to $5,000.
UWK has reached out to Judge Rose’s office in the past requesting any comment in response to all the reports. They chose not to comment.
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One Response
Keep up the good reporting!