ณาฐฟฑทดดกณขทกณงฬโ A state district judge upheld an attempted election bribery indictment against Ascension Parish President Kenny Matassa, rejecting an attempt to throw out the charges over questions about his accuser's qualifications as a candidate.
Matassa's attorney has claimed that former Gonzales City Council candidate A. Wayne Lawson was never a qualified candidate for the November 2016 race and so couldn't be a bribed "candidate."
In written reasons, Judge Thomas Kliebert Jr. of the 23rd Judicial District Court ruled April 19ย he did not have the authority at this stage in the case to make decisions about Lawson's election qualifications, including whether he lived in Gonzales at least a year before qualifying. The judge said theย parish leader can raise the issue again at trial
At the same time, Kliebert also rejected prosecutors' attempts to keep the qualification question away from jurors who would sit at any trial in the future, instead finding that a candidate for City Council does have to meet the qualifications rules at the time a notice of candidacy is submitted.
"The fact that the defendant may have a good defense to the crime charged is not sufficient to quash the indictment," Kliebert wrote in the ruling.
Matassa is set for trial July 10 and 11. Assistant Attorney General Jeff Traylor declined to comment Thursday. Attorney Lewis Unglesby, who represents Matassa, also declined on Thursday to comment on the ruling.
Kliebert noted that among those qualification shortcomings alleged by Matassa's attorney is that Lawson was living in Baton Rouge in February, less than a year before he filed for the Gonzales office on July 21, 2016.
Unglesby also claimed, the judge said, that Lawson falsely swore he did not owe any campaign fines or fees to the state when he qualified for office.ย ย
Unglesby brought to light Lawson's vagabond life with various addresses where he allegedly lived in and out of Gonzales and outstanding fines during a hearing last month before Kliebert at the Parish Courthouse Annex.
Prosecutorsย in the ถถา๕h Attorney Generalโs Office had said in court papers that Lawsonโs election qualifications are immaterial to whether Matassa and Berthelot believed Lawson was a candidate at the time of the alleged bribe. Lawson stood for election with his qualifications unchallenged, garnered votes and lost in the Nov. 8, 2016, race to incumbent Gonzales Councilman Neal Bourque.
Prosecutors have accused Matassa and Gonzales businessman Olin Berthelot of trying to bribe Lawson to drop out of the race for City Council Division E in exchange for $1,200 and a parish job.
Matassa and Berthelot have denied the charges.