Greenhouse’s attorney blasts AG’s attempt to introduce evidence of past misconduct

A motion by the state Attorney General’s Office in the upcoming murder trial of Norris Greenhouse Jr. is a “thinly veiled attempt to tarnish” his reputation, attorney George Higgins III said.

Higgins said he was unaware of the state’s motion until after it was filed in the Avoyelles Parish Clerk of Court’s office.

A clerk’s office employee said the motion was “under seal” and could not be released. Higgins said the motion “is not sealed, but should have been.” He said at least one news organization has obtained a copy of the motion.

Greenhouse is accused of 2nd degree murder in the death of 6-year-old Jeremy Mardis and attempted 2nd degree murder of the boy’s father, Christopher Few, in connection with a traffic pursuit on the night of Nov. 3, 2015. Greenhouse and Derrick Stafford were working as Ward 2/Marksville City Marshal’s deputies when they and two other law enforcement officers cornered Few at the dead-end of Martin Luther King Dr. in Marksville. Greenhouse and Stafford fired 18 bullets into the vehicle. Stafford was convicted of manslaughter and attempted manslaughter last month and sentenced to a total of 40 years. Greenhouse's trial is set for June 12.

HIGGINS' COMMENTS

Higgins would only say that the information the state seeks to use at trial are allegations that “are completely unfounded.

“Frankly,” he continued, “it is disappointing and concerning that the Attorney General’s Office will not allow the case to be tried using facts. Instead, they have chosen this route -- using allegations from years ago as a thinly veiled attempt to tarnish my client’s reputation prior to trial by using clearly inadmissible and unfounded allegations.”

Higgins said the public is “smart enough to know a distraction when they see one.” He sarcastically added that the AG’s Office “believes this to be helpful in determining what happened the night of the shooting” of Nov. 3, 2015. “The AG’s Office is well-aware that these allegations are irrelevant and inadmissible at trial.”

Higgins said the allegations the prosecutors seek to introduce at trial are not the same as the “bad acts” evidence they introduced at Stafford’s trial.

“That was about allegations of abuse by Stafford in his capacity as a police officer,” Higgins said. “That is not the case with these allegations.”

While he said the substance of the motion was cause for concern, “adding insult, we did not receive a copy, phone call or any notice of their motion until today (Monday), when the motion was filed several days ago."

Higgins said the lapse in communication between the defense and prosecution “is surprising, because the Attorney General's Office has emailed my office on a regular basis.”

He noted that the impact of this type of maneuver could taint the jury pool.

“I can only speculate that, for some reason, the AG's Office does not want to try the Norris Greenhouse Jr. case in Avoyelles Parish,” Higgins remarked.

Motions in the case are expected to be heard on May 2.

Asked if he had recently filed any motions in Greenhouse’s defense, Higgins said, “No, but I’m about to file a bunch.”