| Monday,
August 20, 2007
SERGEANT’S TEST UPDATE
On Monday, August 20, 2007, the Civil Service Commission
met and discussed the matter of the three sergeant-candidate officers
who had problems with the video portion of the recent sergeant’s
examination. The Commission gave the officers an opportunity to
explain what their problems were, and discussed possible solutions,
with input from PANO, the FOP, the BOP, and from Superintendent
Riley. The Commission voted to handle the entire matter promptly,
with one officer being given an opportunity to take the video portion
immediately today, and the other officers to take those portions
which were problematic to them. They will be addressed by the end
of the week. With those problems resolved, the test can then be
graded and published, which should be in very early September. We
will keep you
informed.
Sunday, August 19,
2007
Danziger Case
On Thursday, August 16, 2007, Judge Raymond Bigelow of Orleans Parish
Criminal District Court, Section I, delivered a critical analysis
of ADA Dustin Davis' motion for recusal. You may recall that at
the outset of the trial, Judge Bigelow disclosed in open court,
that one of his minute clerks is the daughter of Frank DeSalvo,
lead defense attorney, that another of his minute clerks is the
wife of Sgt. Donovan Livacarri, spokesman for the FOP, and that
his law clerk was a former partner of defense attorney Bruce Whittaker.
Judge Bigelow stated that he had arranged for replacements of these
personnel in matters concerning the Danziger case, and that he was
confident that he could sit and conduct a fair and impartial trial.
Judge Bigelow gave both the DA and the defense, an opportunity to
request that he recuse himself if anyone thought that those relationships
would compromise the case. Both Eddie Jordan and the Defense Team
agreed that they were comfortable with Judge Bigelow. Bigelow then
offered to entertain the motion later, if anyone felt that it might
still pose a problem. Six months later, after several rulings adverse
to the State, ADA Dustin Davis asked for Bigelow to recuse himself
based upon the earlier disclosed relationships.
In addressing Dustin Davis' motion, Judge Biglow cited
several flaws in the motion. In particular, he pointed out that
when he (Bigelow) offered to entertain the motion at any time after
the initial disclosure, he anticipated a time frame of perhaps a
few weeks. He did not anticipate that after six months of investing
considerable time and effort, and having made several significant
rulings, that now the DA would ask for recusal. When asked why they
waited so long, Davis could only say that it took that much time
to appreciate the cumulative effect of the relationships.
Further, Judge Bigelow noted that the motion followed
several rulings he made that were adverse to the state, suggesting
that the motion appeared to be more designed to "shop"
for a more favorable judge. And Judge Bigelow stated that ADA Dustin
Davis offered no legal basis for the recusal motion. Additionally,
the Judge noted that to send the case to another Judge, would seriously
delay the proceedings, which would be unfair to the defendants.
Out of an abundance of caution, however, Judge Bigelow
deferred the decision on the motion to another Judge, sending the
case for random allotment. The motion for recusal (not the case
itself) been alotted to Judge Julian Parker, of Section G, for a
decision. No date has been set as of yet.
We will keep you informed of the developments as they occur.
Sergeant Test
In speaking with Civil Service on Friday afternoon,
August 17, 2007, it appears that the publishing of the new Sergeant’s
Promotional Register will be delayed well past the first week of
August date initially expected. The problems are with three individuals
who reported experiencing difficulties with the video in-basket
and video scenario portions of the examination. Civil Service has
not yet come up with any equitable resolution of those difficulties,
and must present the problem to the whole Civil Service Commission.
That will take place on Monday, August 20, 2007. How the matter
gets resolved, and exactly when, remains open. However, even if
the Commission decides to just move straight forward with the grading
of the test, as is, it will still take a few more weeks to complete.
The bottom line is that the list will not be published during the
month of August, and no firm date is currently available. PANO will
keep you informed, as we closely monitor the matter and learn of
the developments.
ONE NOPD
Michael Glasser, President PANO
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