ExposeDat case is now officially closed

The criminal investigation relating to an anonymous website and its allegedly defamatory statements about Terrebonne Parish public officials has ended, state and local officials confirm, bringing a close to one of the most tempestuous conflicts between local government and private citizens in modern memory.

A decision released Friday by a Louisiana appeals court, ruling that a judge’s refusal to quash a search warrant relating to the case may have laid the lid atop the investigation’s coffin. But a decision by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry drove in the nails.

“We respect the decision made by the First Circuit and don’t plan to appeal,” said Landry’s spokeswoman, Ruth Wisher. “The case is closed.”

The case arose when insurance broker Tony Alford made a formal complaint to Terrebonne Parish Sheriff Jerry Larpenter, alleging a violation of Louisiana’s criminal defamation statute.

In most states libel and slander are purely civil matters, allowing money damages to be claimed in court. In Louisiana, as in about a dozen other states, the criminal law allows for arrest and prosecution for what amounts to a misdemeanor offense. The anonymous “ExposeDat” site and a related Facebook page under the pseudonym John Turner suggests that Alford’s contract with the Sheriff’s Office was connected to the insurance firm’s employment of the Sheriff’s wife, Priscilla, something that began long before their marriage. It also alleges an unholy alliance between Alford and a longtime business associate, Parish President Gordon Dove, as regards the parish’s consideration of an insurance contract with Alford’s firm. Dove had already received a green light for the deal from the Louisiana Ethics Commission; he now awaits an attorney general’s opinion on the matter.

When a perturbed Alford – who is president of the Terrebonne Levee and Conservation Board – made his complaint, detectives sought to determine the identity of the poster. A court order secured from Judge George Larke resulted in disclosure from Facebook that the posts on its site originated from a computer linked to AT&T.

A court order directed at AT&T resulted in a disclosure that the computers were at the home of Wayne and Jennifer Anderson in Houma.

Detectives then prepared a probable cause affidavit

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry has chosen to close investigation into criminal wrong-doing in connection with the ExposeDay website.

Sheriff Jerry Larpenter asked Landry to take over the case, begun after a complaint was made by insurance broker Tony Alford.

COURTESY