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Former deputy Chad Roy Louviere, who held employees of a Houma bank hostage for 25 hours in 1996 while in uniform, killing one and raping three others, will be spared the death penalty that was imposed by a jury after his first-degree murder conviction.
An agreement between Louviere’s current attorneys and the Terrebonne Parish District Attorney’s office, announced in open court Tuesday afternoon, provides that he will agree to a sentence of life in prison with no parole. In return he will drop his quest for a new trial, which means execution is off the table.
District Attorney Joe Waitz Jr. said he agreed to the deal after consulting with Louviere’s victims, as well as the parents of Pamela Duplantis, who was killed during the bank standoff. The maneuvering began months ago, with Waitz willing to make a deal only if the victims agreed.
Louviere had sought a new trial during proceedings over the past 18 months before Terrebonne Parish District Judge Johnny Walker, alleging that his plea of guilty to first-degree murder was the result of sub-standard legal representation.
Piece-meal testimony during sporadically scheduled hearings suggested that Louviere’s trial attorney did not provide good representation or counsel; Louviere was denied the option of an insanity defense because attorney David Stone never presented it to him. A claim made by Louviere that the shooting of Duplantis was unintentional never made the defense case, the former lawman’s current attorneys said.
The deal will be cemented in place by a formal acknowledgement that Louviere at this time is sane, and competent to commit to life in prison with no parole, Waitz confirmed.
Louviere was brought in shackles to the Terrebonne Parish courthouse Tuesday morning from the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.
Post-conviction relief hearings based on a massive legal brief filed by Louviere’s current attorneys began in January of 2014.
Post-conviction relief, according to legal experts, is an unusual step usually taken only in capital cases, although it is available in other cases as well.
A key component of getting a new trial is sufficient evidence that even one member of a jury choosing death might have been swayed to find for life in prison if certain facts had been presented.
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