Palermo evidence declared off-limits by judge
Published 9:34 am Thursday, October 9, 2014
Neither prosecutors nor Joe Palermo’s defense team is to look at the U-Haul truck worth of evidence taken from businesses in Lake Charles and Sulphur until further notice, a judge ruled Wednesday.
State district court Judge Ron Ware also halted grand jury proceedings against the Sulphur businessman.
Palermo was previously indicted on charges related to allegations that he possessed stolen bulldozers, excavators and trailers. Ware, however, previously threw out possession of stolen goods charges, leaving charges of forgery and altering or removing a manufacturer’s number. Ware said prosecutors failed to present evidence that showed the possession of stolen goods charges were still within the statute of limitations to be prosecuted.
Palermo is also under investigation for gambling violations. His attorneys say the documents seized in an Aug. 20 raid related to the gambling investigation contain attorney-client-privileged information.
Ware previously ruled that a neutral party was to be designated to view the documents before the District Attorney’s Office or investigators viewed them. Efforts by the two sides to come to an agreement have stalled, Ware said, and he vacated all previous rulings related to the documents. Ware said he made his new ruling Wednesday out of an “abundance of caution.”
District Attorney John DeRosier said the decisions were “inappropriate” because any defendant could make a similar claim and halt prosecution.
“If it’s up to the defense, we’ll never look at it, so I wanted the judge to make a definitive ruling so we can go up to the court of appeals,” DeRosier said.
Because the case is unique, it merited such a “rare” ruling, defense attorney Todd Clemons said.
Attorneys for Palermo filed motions in the last week to have DeRosier’s office recused and to have it disqualified due to improper viewing of the documents in question.
“We feel like Mr. DeRosier has a personal interest in the outcome of this prosecution,” Clemons said. “We feel that disqualifies him and his office from doing a fair and just prosecution.”
“The purpose of all this, of course, is to keep this office from prosecuting Joe Palermo,” DeRosier said. “That’s very simply because the defense knows that this office is thoroughly capable of prosecuting this case to conclusion. … We’re not afraid to face them, they’re trying to get us recused so they don’t have to face us, because they know what’s going to happen when the time comes.”
Clemons said the grand jury should be stayed until it is determined whether the District Attorney’s Office is recused. The defense has also requested that a grand jury subpoena for David Dwight, a civil attorney who represents Palermo, be quashed.
Rick Hickman