Former M-P Josh Guillory files ‘motion to quash' in felony case

Former Lafayette Mayor-President Josh Guillory has filed a Motion to Quash all four felony charges brought against him by St. Martin Parish prosecutors earlier this year, the Stockstill Defense Firm announced Tuesday afternoon. 'Guillory maintains his innocence and calls the prosecution what it is. Lawfare. It is a politically motivated attempt to use the criminal justice system to punish him for decisions made while serving the people of Lafayette Parish,' Guillory's defense attorneys said in the press release. A St. Martin Parish grand jury indicted Guillory in February on four counts of malfeasance in office in connection with a covert drainage operation that cleared spoil banks along the Vermilion River, four years after that project was carried out. 'The St. Martin DA chose to indict a political opponent over abandoned dirt that the Corps of Engineers has said needed removal since the 1990s,' the firm continued in its release. St. Martin Parish is one of three parishes in the 16th Judicial District, headed by District Attorney Michael Haik. Guillory was indicted a week after 15th Judicial District Attorney Don Landry announced that his office would not pursue charges related to the rogue drainage project. A 12-page memo from Landry's office declining to investigate or prosecute Guillory, a close political ally, surfaced just days before the four-year statute of limitations expired. In Tuesday's release, Guillory's attorneys argued that there were 'fundamental defects' in the prosecution, including that the case was brought in 'the wrong parish,' after Landry, a close ally of Guillory declined to bring charges. Guillory has pleaded not guilty. View on thecurrentla.com