Sentencing for Jourdain postponed, no new date set:
The headline pretty much says it all. Louis Jourdain, the alleged co-conspirator in the Red Lake shootings, had his sentencing postponed. If you remember Jourdain pleaded guilty threatening interstate communications and charges of conspiracy to commit murder, and conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States were dropped. No new date has been set. The threatening interstate communications charge carries a maximum five-year sentence.
Teen Pleads Guilty for Role in Shootings:
Louis Jourdain, the teen arrested for allegedly being a co-conspirator in the Red Lake shootings, has pleaded guilty threatening interstate communications. Conspiracy to commit murder, and conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States charges were dropped.
The docket, some of which had been blacked out, gave few details of the charge, saying only that Jourdain used a computer to conduct interstate communications that “could be taken by an objective observer as threatening” sometime between Jan. 1, 2003 and March 2005.
No sentencing date has been set yet.
But according to this article even though Jourdain may get off easy in criminal court he’s still looking at problems with possible civil trials.
“The civil part is just beginning,” Minneapolis attorney Marshall Tanick said. “The end of the criminal case is just the turning point to start the wheels moving in the civil end, of which there’s no shortage of plaintiffs and an abundance of defendants.”
Personally, I don’t see how a civil suit could be filed unless Jourdain had implicit knowledge of the exact time and place of the attack. Since according to the judgment reached it doesn’t seem to me that he had such knowledge. Then again I’m not a lawyer. I really should keep one around here. Any volunteers?
Mother of Jeff Weise seeks to be appointed trustee:
The mother of Red Lake school gunman Jeff Weise has asked to be appointed as trustee for her son’s next of kin – a move that could be a precursor to a wrongful-death suit.
According to the article being appointed trustee would also allow access to information such as medical records or investigative reports.
For those of you who may not remember the circumstances regarding Jeff Weise’s mother…
Joanne Weise is still recovering from a brain injury suffered 6 1/2 years ago when she survived a traffic accident that killed the driver of the car she was in.
Now its just speculation at this point but if she is going to file a wrongful death I wonder who she could possibly sue. Has anyone seen Jack Thompson in the Minnesota area?
Red Lake victims’ families seek access to Louis Jourdain’s trial:
Families of Red Lake school shooting victims filed a motion in federal court Wednesday seeking access to the trial of a juvenile arrested in the case, according to sources familiar with the case.
The government has filed a similar motion seeking to allow the families into the trial, one of the sources said.
So hopefully the victims’ families will be able to attend. And the media will be shut out.
Shut out of trial, families frustrated:
I am no longer torn on the decision to keep the trial of accused Red Lake accomplice Louis Jourdain closed to the public. Yes, he is a minor. No, the media does not have the right to be in on every little thing. However, I do believe the victims’ families of the Red Lake shootings should be entitled to attend the proceedings.
A day after a federal judge ruled court proceedings for the only person charged in the case will remain closed to the public, the father of one victim said he and other families have hired an attorney to seek access. A victims’ rights group says getting answers is an important step in the healing process.
“If nobody is going to go into the courtroom, we will all have unanswered questions,” said Al Thunder, a cultural coordinator and Red Lake tribal courts judge, whose grandson Cody Thunder was one of seven people injured in the March 21 shootings. “All the ruling is going to bring is frustration.”
“We have never had access to any evidence gathered,” said Francis Brun, a retired tribal administrator and the father of Derrick Brun, a security guard slain at the high school. “I would like to know what exactly happened and whether people could have done something to prevent what happened.”
Hopefully, they will allow the victims’ families to attend while keeping the vultures of the press at bay.