(Jefferson Parish, LA) After refusing murder charge, JPDA wants to charge victim's father $18k for public records
Source: WWL-TV
After refusing murder charge, JPDA wants to charge victim’s father $18k for public records
It took the DA’s office more than seven months to tell him in September that 37,000 pages of documents were ready for him.
Author: David Hammer / WWL Louisiana Investigator
Published: 7:56 PM CST January 17, 2024
Updated: 8:33 PM CST January 17, 2024
JEFFERSON PARISH, La. — Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office was unwilling to charge Randy Schenck with killing Shawn Arthur last year, even after a federal judge ruled Schenck’s theft and sex-trafficking crimes had caused Arthur’s death in 2017.
But DA Paul Connick’s office was willing to charge Arthur’s father, Bob, thousands of dollars to get public records related to the investigation.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, Bob Arthur argues the DA is violating the Louisiana Public Records Act by trying to charge him more than $18,500 for paper copies or upwards of $5,500 for electronic copies of the closed file, even though it has already prepared the documents and told him he could review them for free if he came to the office to look at them in-person.
“To file a request for public records and finally be told seven months later that the records are ready, with a price tag of over $18,000, is ridiculous,” Arthur said.
Arthur’s case was filed by the Tulane Law School First Amendment Law Clinic. ...
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Read more: https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/investigations/david-hammer/jefferson-parish-victim-public-record-murder-randy-schenck-killing-shawn-arthur-charge/289-0fe7d0b3-f552-4494-bfb7-3c626b9a68e4