Since reporting Monday that guilty pleas may come as early as this week in the ongoing federal bribery investigation involving District Attorney Mike Harson’s office's handling of OWIs and other types of cases, IND Monthly has since confirmed that Barna Haynes was scheduled to enter a guilty plea to an undisclosed charge (or charges) Monday at 10:30 a.m.
For unknown reasons, it didn't happen. Haynes is Harson's former office administrator.
 |
|
| According to this screen shot, captured early Tuesday morning, DA Mike Harson's longtime office administrator, Barna Haynes, was scheduled to plead guilty in the ongoing federal bribery investigation into the office's handling of OWIs and other cases. |
U.S. Attorney Stephanie Finley’s office listed the scheduled guilty plea on its calendar for Monday. An email inquiry to Finley spokeswoman Mona Hardwick about the matter was not immediately answered Tuesday morning, and Haynes’ scheduled guilty plea has since been removed from the calendar.
 |
|
| Barna Haynes' scheduled guilty plea did not take place Monday for undisclosed reasons, according to her attorney, and has since been removed from the U.S. Attorney's calendar. |
On Monday Hardwick said the office would have no comment on questions IND Monthly posed about possible plea deals this week.
Haynes’ criminal defense attorney, Frank Dawkins, would not comment on widespread speculation of a guilty plea Monday, but on Tuesday did confirm that his client was slated to enter a plea yesterday morning. “It was scheduled [for Monday],” he says. “But it got put off.”
Dawkins declined further comment.
Haynes is believed to be a target in the investigation along with private investigator Robert Williamson; her office and Williamson’s home were searched by the feds on the same day in February of last year. Haynes, Harson's office administrator for more than three decades (she also worked for him before he was DA), was placed on unpaid leave after the feds searched her office and resigned Aug. 28.
An undisclosed number of people, including local attorneys, received letters from the U.S. Attorney’s Office offering plea deals. KLFY obtained a copy of one of the letters (it is unclear if everyone received the same offer) and posted it here.
“I do know that there are ongoing plea discussions with some people, some of the targets of the investigation,” says Alexandria criminal defense attorney Mike Small, who represents Williamson. “It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that there are pleas entered.”
Small says his client will not be among those pleading guilty. “We have not had any offers of a plea to resolve the Williamson case. ... Unless things change I really don’t anticipate it,” he says. Read more about Williamson's checkered past here.
MAY 22 This post was written the day after the second line shooting in NOLA, by Brentin Mock. Mock is a friend of Deb "Big Red" Cotton, a blogger who was shot in the back and was seriously injured. It is a raw, emotional piece of writing, something the writer obviously felt he needed to get off his chest. But it raises questions that can't be easily dismissed, and might give some insight into where the source of these events truly is.
MAY 22 In this Baton Rouge Business Report post, Rolfe McCollister considers the privatization of bus service in Baton Rouge. After decades of under-funding, it is a mess, and although a tax (partially) passed last year, improvement hasn't happened yet. McCollister apparently feels it is time to let private business get in on the transit business.
MAY 22 This post on Bayou Buzz by Jeff Crouere urges the defeat of a bill that would grant modest pay increases over the next several years to the state's judges and clerks of court. The state is in no position to fund pay hikes, Crouere argues, with the pay increases costing a total of $9 million over several years. It sends the wrong message to the (proverbial) hard-working people of Louisiana, he says.
MAY 22 The Advocate reports here that State Treasurer John Kennedy is complaining about a meeting of the corporation that oversees the state's tobacco settlement. The Governor wanted it restructured, and he has some support, but not a lot. The corporation agreed with his plan, but Kennedy didn't, and it appears that the meeting was noticed in a manner completely different than that of all previous meetings. Kennedy's given to hyperbole, but in this case the fish don't smell too fresh.
MAY 22 In this Advocate story, Carencro Police Chief Carlos Stout says the recent federal indictment of a strip club owner is all wrong. The indictment alleges that drugs and prostitution went on with impunity because club staff made arrangements with "local" police. Stout says it never happened, and while his cops do work security in the parking lot, they're not allowed inside.
MAY 22 This amusing post in DIG Baton Rouge recounts an ad that ran on Craig's List recently; the advertiser was seeking tenants for a Beauregard Town house. He knew his market, and wrote an ad that the most ironical hipster couldn't resist. Apparently, he really did know his market, because the ad worked like a charm.
MAY 22 In this post in The Lens, Mark Moseley comments on the rhetoric Gov. Jindal employed in trying to save his tax "reform" package. One interesting point concerns Jindal's use of his brother, Nikesh, in a little story. Nikesh left Louisiana because of his inability to get a decent job, the story goes, but the story won't hold water: Nikesh lives in DC, which has an income tax level comparable to Louisiana, Moseley says. If income taxes caused the dismal situation, it should exist in DC too. Right?
MAY 22 This post by columnist John Maginnis traces the trajectory of the bill that would fund construction at community and technical colleges -- and bypass the Board of Regents and traditional higher ed funding mechanisms. Sure, it will bust the legislature's self-imposed debt limit, but some leges feel that there's more need (because there is more growth) in the community and technical college area than in the university area, he says.
Most Read
in case you missed it
Subscribe to this comment's feed