'No vagueness': Judge rules lawsuit against Rapides Police Juror Jay Scott can proceed

A Rapides Parish judge ruled late Monday afternoon there are enough specifics in a petition filed by the Police Jury president against an individual juror accused of threatening and harassing other jurors and parish employees to proceed with the case.

Juror Jay Scott's attorney, Thomas Davenport, had filed a motion claiming the allegations in President Joe Bishop's March lawsuit were too vague for him to mount any type of defense.

Bishop's petition was backed by the other seven jurors, who filed verifications of the petition. In it, he accused Scott of threatening jurors in public and in front of parish employees, as well as using "indecent, repugnant vulgarisms" with jurors.

He allegedly used his criminal record to threaten others, too, reads the petition.

Scott also was accused of sharing explicit photos and videos of a female parish employee he allegedly had an affair with to another female employee while she was on her lunch break at an area restaurant.

After hearing from both sides, 9th District Judicial Court Judge Mary Lauve Doggett denied Davenport's motion. He immediately filed a notice of his intent to appeal the decision to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal in Lake Charles.

He had argued during the hearing, which didn't begin until after 5 p.m., that the petition contained "baseless accusations" and opinions, but nothing that said Scott had violated any policies. He said no reasonable person could read the petition and know what Scott did.

Davenport also said what one person could consider vile language could be considered OK by another person. He also questioned how Scott supposedly threatened anyone, asking if he pulled a gun or a machete.

"What threats? What are the threats?," he asked, adding that Scott is being sued because he used curse words.

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While discussing the allegedly explicit photos and videos Scott is accused of sharing with a female parish employee, Davenport named the woman who was in those images. He said she sent those to Scott on her own, adding he didn't understand why people share intimate materials, but acknowledged some do.

"What business is that of Mr. Bishop?," he asked.

As for Scott's "ancient arrest record," Davenport said there was nothing to that.

"People can talk about their convictions," he said. "It's who they are."

He called Scott "a champion" of showing young people that they can make mistakes and still go on to lead productive lives. Scott, sitting beside Davenport, nodded his head.

But attorney Joshua Dara Jr., representing Bishop, said the purpose of the petition is straightforward — to again have a workplace free of harassment and threats. Nothing in the petition is vague, he said.

Davenport might disagree with it, but it's not vague, Dara said.

"There's really not a lot of ambiguity about what the issue is," he said.

He pointed to complaints from parish employees regarding Scott's behavior that were reported to their supervisor, who told Bishop about it. She said the complaints came after "an incident" at a committee meeting, according to the petition.

The employees were "very uncomfortable and worried" about escalation, it reads.

"They found the severe curse words and racial undertones used by Mr. Jay Scott offensive and unprofessional," she stated, saying it was her job to provide a safe and positive work environment for her employees.

"There's no vagueness to this," Dara told Doggett.

As for the employee who was shown the supposedly explicit photos and videos, Dara said that showed what Scott was on notice about.

"There's plenty of fodder here for him to respond to."

He said, in that instance, there's a juror talking to a subordinate about inappropriate issues. He also said it doesn't matter who sent the material to Scott and that, unless the owner of those images consented, he had no right to share them.

There's a Louisiana law forbidding the nonconsensual disclosure of private images, he said.

Dara said the petition is anything but vague, and Scott has been given more than he needs to prepare a defense.

"There's example after example after example," he said.

He also told Doggett he would be seeking a protective order regarding the photos and videos to protect the employee.

Doggett said she believed there were enough specific examples in the petition, but she did say Bishop would be limited to arguing only what was contained in the petition. Dara had questions regarding the images and video, so he asked to speak with Doggett off the record.

As he and Davenport spoke with Doggett at her bench, the conversation became heated. Dara was heard telling Davenport he needed to calm down.

After that was finished, Davenport said he would not go forward with two other exceptions he had filed and said he intended to appeal the decision.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Judge rules lawsuit against Rapides Police Juror Jay Scott can proceed