Hearing to decide if former BRPD Street Crimes officers can get their jobs back postponed indefinitely
BATON ROUGE - A hearing to determine if three former Baton Rouge Police officers can get their jobs back has been postponed indefinitely.
Doug Chutz, Todd Thomas and Troy Lawrence Sr. say they should not have been fired because a technical error in the department's investigation violated the Officer's Bill of Rights.
In 2020, all three former officers were accused of beating a man in custody and discarding the body camera video as part of the now-disbanded Street Crimes Unit.
After last month's meeting in which the Civil Service Board voted not to grant summary judgment and instead have a full hearing, the officers filed for a judicial review of that decision, which means it is now in the appeals process.
"The appeal process can take months," said BRPD's attorney Jim Raines. "It does postpone things, which delays the chance of them being put back to work at the department."
The board's decision to "continue without date" means they won't consider the matter until the appeals process is resolved.
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Chutz, Thomas, and Lawrence all pleaded not guilty to criminal charges they face based on the accusations. They are awaiting trial for malfeasance in office and obstruction of justice.