Charles Foti - Is he headed down the same path as Nifong?

On July 24, 2007 a New Orleans Grand Jury refused to indict Dr. Ann Pou on charges that she murdered several patients at Memorial Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana.  The allegations arose from Dr. Pou's actions in staying behind to care for patients who were stranded at the hospital as a result of Hurricane Katrina.  The fiasco surrounding the attempted prosecution of Dr. Pou was started when the Louisiana Attorney General, Charles Foti, began investigating second guessing the actions of Dr. Pou and then topped it all off with the grandstanding of her arrest.  The only problem was that under Louisiana law, the State Attorney General does not have the power to indict anyone for any crime, absent a written request for such action from the local District Attorney or special permission, given only with cause, from a District Court judge. 

    Caught writing proverbial checks that his $ss could not cash, Foti ultimately pushed the prosecution onto Orleans Parish District Attorney Eddie Jordan.  Jordan who had no interest in indicting Dr. Pou, then used the expedient process of presenting the indictment to a Grand Jury.  The Grand Jury after hearing the evidence presented to it by the District Attorney's office refused to indict Dr. Pou.  In other words they found that there was insufficient evidence to charge her with a crime.  Rather than praising the Grand Jury for doing its job, Foti decided to attack the decision of the Grand Jury and to attack Jordan's office for not doing the job the way he thought it should have been done.  The question of course is then raised as to why Foti did Foti not do the job - the answer is because he did not have the power or authority to do what he started.

Jeff Croure at the Bayou Buzz questions Foti's competence and experience to do the job.   As Croure points out running the Orleans Parish Sheriff's office is evidently not sufficient training to be a competent Attorney General. 

Foti was the Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff prior to being elected Attorney General. He basically ran a prison for 30 years and all voters of Louisiana are now painfully aware that the Orleans Parish prison is not a proper training ground for being Attorney General. It is apparent that Foti was elected to this position without the necessary experience as a prosecutor and trial attorney and without an in-depth knowledge of the legal system.
 

In the fall, the voters ofLouisiana can overturn the horrible mistake they made in 2003. They can elect a new Attorney General, one who can return competence and integrity to this important office.

   There are calls for sanctions by the Bar Association or Impeachment. Personally, both will take too long.  I agree with Croure that the fastest way to restore order to the Attorney Generals office is by voting Foti out this Fall.

Foti's response to the criticism has been to blame everyone but himself.  Oh well and then there was this response as well -

Comments

[margaret devillier]

Foti must go. Alexander is the only choice for reform. Caldwell is as corrupt as Foti and could teach Foti a thing or two about it.