Who is vermilion parish district attorney

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Don't have an account? Sign Up Today. Purchases made via links on our site may earn us an affiliate commission. With the support of his wife, Rebecca, and the rest of his family, Landry put his name on the ballot. Landry won the three-parish race for 15th Judicial District Attorney on Nov. Don Landry will be the district attorney for Lafayette, Acadia and Vermilion parishes. Before making his own run at district attorney, Landry worked in the office as an assistant district attorney for 34 years under Stansbury and Harson.

When Stutes took over in , Landry was not retained and instead focused on his Lafayette private practice, Perrin, Landry, and deLaunay. Broussard Mayor Ray Bourque, who has worked with Landry for the last decade, said it was bittersweet to see Landry elected as district attorney.

He said he plans to stay involved with those organizations. He wants to work with local officials for ideas on how to address that problem. Both candidates said the backlog of untried cases is a big problem throughout the 15th Judicial District. Don Landry said it's the biggest problem, especially when felony cases such as murders and armed robberies remain open for years. Those cases need to be advanced, he said. It will send a message to those sitting in jail that the District Attorney's Office is going to try cases and they should get their attorney to work out a plea deal.

Part of the blame for the backlog of cases is the coronavirus pandemic, he said, but that's only been around since March.

The lack of funding for the Public Defender's Office is a contributing factor, he said. But another problem, Don Landry said, is too many hearings and trials are continued. If elected district attorney, his instructions to his assistant district attorneys will be to fight all continuances unless there's good reason to delay the trial.

That will ease crowding and the financial strain on the jail and parish, which provide inmates with medication, clothing, food and dental care, he said. When someone is convicted of a felony, they're sent to a state facility, which will bear those costs. Danny Landry said perhaps the biggest problem with the criminal justice system is lack of funding. Nobody likes to pay for jails, defense attorneys and such, he said.

Danny Landry said judges need to be assigned to the criminal division specifically to advance some of the backlogged cases. The system, he said, needs more judges, prosecutors and public defenders, but the pandemic hurt funding sources. When there's no court, there are no fines paid.

The tax base, Danny Landry said, was hit when businesses were closed, the oil and gas industry is in a tailspin, and discord with the city and parish over funding all hurt. He suggested, until there are dedicated criminal court judges, creating "super dockets," which was done in the mids, where several judges agree to dedicate three weeks to try specific older cases. In May , Stutes sued Lafayette Consolidated Government for not providing funding for his office as required by state law.

A month later, Stutes and Lafayette Consolidated Government had worked out an agreement and dismissed the lawsuit. Danny Landry said he "has been very active in the funding process" with Stutes as they negotiate cuts annually and still maintain a balanced budget. He was a clerk with the state 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal before starting his own firm, which he now runs with his son. He started with the District Attorney's Office in as a felony assistant district attorney under Stansbury and Harson, serving on the prosecution teams of some of Lafayette's biggest cases, including Dalton Prejean, a Lafayette man who was tried, convicted and executed for the murder of a state trooper; Richard Schmidt, a former Lafayette doctor serving a year prison term for injecting his girlfriend with the AIDS virus; and Brandon Lavergne, who is serving a life sentence for the murder of Lafayette resident Mickey Shunick.