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T u e s d ay, M ay 27, 2025
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Lawmakers struggle over split-jury verdicts 2025 LEGISLATURE
Bill to revert cases, create parole committees fails
BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer
Lawmakers in Louisiana have, for several years, been grappling with how to deal with an unusual portion of the state’s prison population: inmates who were convicted by nonunanimous jury verdicts. Such verdicts were banned in Louisiana in 2018, and the U.S. Su-
preme Court later ruled them unconstitutional. But the court didn’t apply the decision retroactively, leaving it up to Louisiana to determine how to Duplessis handle old cases. A proposal in this legislative session — Senate Bill 218, by Sen.
Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans — aimed to address that problem. It would have allowed prisoners convicted by split juries to apply to have their cases set back to pretrial status. From there, district attorneys could decide whether to hold a new trial, cut a plea deal or dismiss a case. But the bill died in the Senate on Wednesday on a vote of 26-9. The
CRIMINAL JUSTICE vote fell along party lines, with Democrats in favor of the bill and Republicans opposed. The primary opposition to the bill came from the Louisiana District Attorneys Association, which said it would be impractical to try old cases when witnesses may have died and evidence been de-
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stroyed. They also argued the cases would clog the courts. The Promise of Justice Initiative, an organization that represents prisoners convicted by split juries and that asked Duplessis to carry the bill, disputed that notion, presenting data that suggested the association was overstating the number of cases at issue. Duplessis said he is continuing to work with stakeholders to find a
ä See VERDICTS, page 4A
STAFF FILE PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER
The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority is backing a smaller river diversion project in Myrtle Grove in Plaquemines Parish instead of the $3 billion Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion underway.
Shift in La. coastal strategy proposed Project much smaller than Mid-Barataria pitched as replacement BY ALEX LUBBEN Staff writer
STAFF PHOTO By HILARy SCHEINUK
David Gabel, from left, hoists a soft drink to his brother, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Michael John Gabel, on Memorial Day on Monday. He is joined by his wife, Brandy Gabel, and son Jack Gabel at Port Hudson National Cemetery in Port Hudson.
Local buyers floated for Fair Grounds Race Course who has had runners in the Horse racing industry breeder Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, and owns a Kentucky breedthinks Benson, ing and rehabilitation facility, BenBernhard have interest son sought to buy the historic New
BY ANTHONY McAULEY Staff writer
With Churchill Downs Inc., the Kentucky-based owner of the Fair Grounds Race Course and Slots, threatening to leave the state if it doesn’t get a public subsidy, leading figures in the local horse racing industry are eyeing two Louisiana billionaires with ties to the sport as the most likely potential buyers should it be put up for sale. Top of the list is Saints and Pelicans owner Gayle Benson. A horse
WEATHER HIGH 89 LOW 72 PAGE 6B
Orleans horse racing venue eight years ago with her late husband Tom, according to four sources with direct knowledge of the Bensons’ past interest who weren’t authorized to speak publicly about it. Also mentioned as a potential buyer, according to interviews with a half-dozen horse industry players, is Jim Bernhard, the Baton Rougebased founder of Bernhard Capital Partners, who has accumulated with his wife Dana significant horse breeding and racing operations in
STAFF FILE PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
The potential sale of the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, which has a 76-day horse racing season, has been the talk of the local racing industry since Churchill Downs executives appeared at a contentious Louisiana Racing ä See RACING, page 4A Commission meeting May 13.
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Gov. Jeff Landry’s plan to abandon the $3 billion Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, once considered the cornerstone of Louisiana’s coastal restoration efforts, may see the state revive an old project to replace it that his administration says will be cheaper, faster and more effective. Not everyone is convinced. The Mid-Barataria project is on life support after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers suspended a key permit for it. Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Chair Gordon “Gordy” Dove is signaling a major shift in strategy that prioritizes protecting coastal fisheries over the original plan that took years to develop and has already cost $500 million. In a detailed presentation before the Senate Transportation Committee on Wednesday, Dove said that he supports the construction of a smaller river diversion in Plaquemines Parish called Myrtle Grove — a diversion project first proposed before Mid-Barataria was conceived. He presented it as a shovel-ready alternative to Mid-Barataria, which the state could pursue instead and save itself $1 billion in costs, all while freeing up funds to advance other restoration projects throughout the state. But the project is in reality far from shovel-ready, while proponents of the Mid-Barataria plan question the ultimate effectiveness and cost savings of what Dove is proposing. Myrtle Grove would be far smaller than Mid-Barataria. While Mid-Barataria would send 75,000 cubic feet of river water — roughly equivalent to the volume of 30 shipping containers — into the basin every second, Myrtle Grove would divert between 2,500 and 15,000 cubic feet of river water per second, roughly the volume of six shipping containers.
ä See COASTAL, page 5A
100TH yEAR, NO. 331