Norris Greenhouse Jr. faces possible bond revocation due to Caribbean vacation

Update: As of Saturday, September 2, the ankle bracelet was back on Norris Greenhouse Jr.

Norris Greenhouse Jr. -- a former law enforcement officer scheduled for trial on Oct. 2 in the case of the November 2015 murder of 6-year-old Jeremy Mardis and attempted murder of the child’s father Christopher Few -- will have to show why his $1 million bond should not be revoked in light of an apparently unapproved vacation to the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

  12th Judicial District Judge William “Billy” Bennett scheduled a hearing for 11 a.m. on Sept. 8 to consider whether the out-of-state trip violates the terms of Greenhouse's bond, particularly whether "the conditions of home monitoring have been violated," and to show why Greenhouse “should not be held in constructive contempt of court and why bail should not be revoked.” 

Greenhouse is currently on $1 million bond while he awaits trial on charges of 2nd degree murder of Mardis and attempted 2nd degree murder of Few.

Following a “slow speed” chase through Marksville on Nov. 3, 2015, Greenhouse and fellow Marksville City Marshal deputy Derrick Stafford fired a total of 18 shots into Few's stopped or almost stopped vehicle at the dead end of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Greenhouse initiated the pursuit and Stafford's patrol unit responded to Greenhouse's call for assistance.

Stafford was convicted of manslaughter and attempted manslaughter following a two-week trial in March. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

Although a condition of Greenhouse's bond is that he wear an ankle bracelet to monitor his movements, defendants on bail may be allowed to travel and their whereabouts monitored, if the court allows the travel.

Bennett's calling of a hearing on the issue of possible contempt and bond revocation appears to indicate the judge was unaware of Greenhouse’s leaving the state.

Prosecutors were unaware of Greenhouse's out-of-state trip.

“The Louisiana Department of Justice had no knowledge that the defendant would be traveling to the U.S. Virgin Islands,” Louisiana Department of Justice Press Secretary Ruth Wisher said. 

Defense attorney George Higgins would not comment on his client's trip.

News of Greenhouse's trip was originally posted on the Avoyelles Watchdogs for Justice internet blog site.

Greenhouse’s father is an assistant district attorney. Avoyelles Parish District Attorney Charles Riddle confirmed the elder Greenhouse was in the Virgin Islands, but could not confirm who, if anyone, else was with him.

An unidentified source in a position to know confirmed to Avoyelles Publishing that Greenhouse Jr. had gone to the Virgin Islands with family members.

State law requires a defendant on bail "will appear at all stages of the proceedings to answer the charge before the court in which he may be prosecuted, will submit himself to the orders and process of the court, and will not leave the state without written permission of the court. The court may impose any additional conditions of release that are reasonably related to assuring the appearance of the defendant before the court and guarding the safety of any other individual or the community.”

Those “additional conditions” can include electronic monitoring and house arrest. The extent of those conditions “shall be determined by the court and may include, but are not limited to, limitation of the defendant's activities outside of the home and a curfew.”