After witnesses, video, judge rules excessive force complaints can be used in Stafford case

MARKSVILLE — After testimony from five witnesses and the first public viewing of body camera video from a Marksville police officer, a judge ruled Wednesday that prior excessive force complaints can be included in Derrick Stafford's trial on charges stemming from the fatal shooting of a 6-year-old Jeremy Mardis.

Stafford and Norris Greenhouse Jr., both former Marksville Ward 2 marshals, face separate trials on second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder charges. A motion from Stafford to have the trials consolidated was denied by Bennett when Greenhouse's attorney, George Higgins III, objected.

Twelfth Judicial District Judge William Bennett presided over several motion hearings in both cases on Wednesday, but nothing was more dramatic than the state's effort to have the prior excessive force complaints used against Stafford. To establish a pattern, the state played about eight minutes of the body cam video captured on the night of Nov. 3, 2015.

The first 30 seconds of the almost 14-minute video have no audio because Marksville Police Sgt. Kenneth Parnell III hadn't activated the button for audio, but the video shows Parnell with his weapon pointing toward Chris Few's Kia Sport that was stopped at the intersection of Taensas Street and Martin Luther King Drive. To Parnell's right, flares from the gun of Greenhouse — standing feet away from the driver's side door — can be seen before the audio starts.

Once the audio begins, gunfire is heard. Few can be seen with at least one of his hands outstretched and raised outside the window.

"... shots fired, MLK and Taensas, MLK and Taensas, shots fired," Parnell radios. He also calls for Acadian Ambulance to be dispatched.

Once the sirens are silenced, someone yells, "Get your hands up!" But there is no movement from Few's car.

None of the law enforcement officers present — Stafford, Greenhouse, Parnell and Deputy Marshal Jason Brouillette — approach the Kia immediately, and they don't realize until later that a second person is inside.

"Show me your hands, man!" someone else shouts.

Few slowly puts both arms out of the window and ends up slumped over the window's edge. Blood can be seen down the side of the driver's side door.

A profane shout is heard next, then, "Why the f*** did he do that s***?"

Although it's unclear who said it, both Stafford and Greenhouse can be seen to the left of Parnell. Stafford is pacing.

Few struggles to get out of the car as all of the officers realize a boy, Jeremy Mardis, also is inside the car. Few can be heard mumbling something about "my little boy."

Nobody at the scene attempts to help Few or Jeremy, either saying they have no gloves or asking for some.

Almost three minutes into the video, Parnell walks over to Few's car. He sees Few hanging out of the window and Jeremy, still in the front passenger seat in his seat belt. "Oh," he says under his breath, and walks away.

Seconds later, he encounters Greenhouse. His hand moves up to his body camera, and he bumps into Greenhouse's shirt, level with his name across his chest. He tells Greenhouse that there's a kid inside the Kia.

"No, don't tell me that, bro," Greenhouse says.

Immediately after, he tells Stafford the same. While Stafford doesn't have an immediate reaction, he and Parnell later have an exchange.

"Is he hit at all?" asks Stafford.

"Who?" asks Parnell.

"The driver," said Stafford

"Yeah," Parnell replies.

"I never saw a kid in the car, man," says Stafford.

"Yeah, the kid is ..." Parnell trails off.

"I never saw a kid, bro," Stafford continues, as he puts his hands on the trunk of one of the police cars and hangs his head.

Few ends up on the ground outside the driver's door, face down, while Parnell goes to the passenger's side. Both the front and rear windows are shattered, and Parnell tries to talk to Jeremy, who was still wearing his Lafargue Elementary School uniform.

Related stories:

AG's office: No more criminal indictments expected in Mardis case

At vigil for Jeremy Mardis: 'We need to keep this alive'

6-year-old remembered for his innocence

"Hey, buddy. Hey, buddy," he says.

Parnell checks for a pulse, then taps Jeremy's chest before leaving the car. Few still can be heard moaning and making retching sounds outside the Kia. He then goes to others and asks if they have gloves and can take the boy out of the car.

One officer tells him he hates to touch anything until Acadian arrives. Parnell says that Jeremy has a faint pulse. Then, after putting on some gloves, he makes a second trip to Jeremy's side.

He removes the shoulder belt from around the left side of Jeremy's head before saying, "Oh, my God."

Near the end of the video, Acadian paramedics are loading Few into an ambulance before taking him to Avoyelles Hospital to be airlifted to Rapides Regional Trauma Center. Parnell mentions Jeremy, and a paramedic says he's dead.

"You advising the juvenile's deceased?" asks Parnell.

"He's deceased" is the reply.

Louisiana State Police Detective Rodney Owens, the lead case agent, testified that a crime lab report found 18 shell casings at the scene. Fourteen were from Stafford's weapon, while four were from Greenhouse's. Neither Parnell nor Brouillette fired their weapons.

Owens said Jeremy was hit with three projectiles that came from Stafford's weapon, and the boy also had one or two other wounds where the source could not be determined. Owens also testified that Greenhouse never radioed in with a reason why he was chasing Few, although attorneys for both defendants claimed on Wednesday that Few was seen standing in a road and blocking another vehicle.

At different points during the hearings, the attorneys said Few either backed into or tried to ram Greenhouse's patrol unit, but the state — represented by Matthew Derbes with the Louisiana Attorney General's Office — asked Owens if there was any evidence of a collision.

Owens answered that there was no physical evidence that a collision had happened.

The state also presented five witnesses who testified that they were injured in some way by Stafford after they'd been taken into custody by others. Several had been shocked, one had her arm broken, and another had been sprayed with a chemical agent. In cross-examining each of them, Jonathan Goins, one of Stafford's attorneys, asked if Stafford ever had pointed a gun at them or had shot them.

Each person said no.

Derbes told Bennett that the previous examples establish a pattern of conduct going back five years. He said Stafford is motivated to inflict great bodily harm on those in his custody, questioning whether he's a sadist or "has something going on."

But Stafford's other attorney, Christopher LaCour, said the witnesses had broken the law. Police officers will have complaints against them, he said.

Derbes replied that the witnesses were being taken into custody for misdemeanor offenses, and that Stafford showed a pattern of excessive force after suspects were in custody.

Bennett agreed with the state, saying that the evidence was "beyond clear and convincing," and that all the incidents involved Stafford coming to the aid of an officer and then using unwarranted force.

After the hearing, LaCour said he and Goins would appeal Bennett's decision.