Trial dates set for two defendants in Ronald Greene death case

This report had been updated with new information - Oct. 12 @ 7 p.m.

FARMERVILLE – Trial dates have been set for two of the three law enforcement officers who still face charges in the beating death of Black motorist Ronald Greene.

Third Judicial District Judge Thomas Rogers on Thursday set a tentative trial date for Louisiana State Police Lt. John Clary, of Ruston, for Feb. 26, 2024.

Rogers also set a trial date of March 25, 2024, for Union Parish Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Harpin.

If those dates stand, the jury trials will take place almost five years after Greene died on May 10, 2019, alongside a rural Union Parish road after leading troopers on a high-speed chase that began in Ouachita Parish.

Assistant District Attorney Hugo Holland, who was brought in specifically to work on the Greene case, said District Attorney John Belton’s office is preparing for trial.

“We’re planning to move forward,” Holland said.

Body camera video made public almost two years after Greene’s death shows troopers beating and tasing Greene after he was handcuffed and shackled.

Clary, who was the ranking officer on the scene, faces one count of obstruction of justice for allegedly failing to provide LSP investigators with his body camera video, while Harpin is charged with two counts of malfeasance in office.

Both men were originally indicted on more counts, but Rogers has since thrown those out.

Former state police trooper Kory York still faces negligent homicide and malfeasance charges, but he has an appeal pending to the Second Circuit Court of Appeal that must be resolved before any potential trial can be set.

Also on Thursday, Rogers took under advisement a request from Harpin’s attorney to quash at least one of the two malfeasance counts.

Harpin's attorney, Eugene Cicardo, claims both the purported wrongdoings in the two counts arose from the same incident and should be wrapped into one count.

One of the counts alleges Harpin stomped on Greene, and the other, that he pepper sprayed Greene after Greene was subdued.

Mona Hardin, Greene’s mother, said she still wants to see the officers’ “butts in jail.”

“Every time you come here, it’s obvious they’re trying to water down those cops killing Ronny,” Hardin said.

“You wish, you pray for a better outcome but we always come away empty handed,” she said. “In the end, it’s a bunch of cops getting away with the killing of another man.”

York is charged with the most serious crimes, all of which involve alleged excessive use of force. Prosecutors say York beat Greene and pepper sprayed him after Greene, who was handcuffed and shackled, was subdued.

York appears prominently on some of the body cam video. At one point he can been seen yanking Greene’s leg shackles and dragging Greene on his stomach, even though Greene’s isn’t resisting.

In a ruling issued Monday, Rogers rejected York’s claims that prosecutors improperly allowed expert witness Seth Stoughton access to statements York gave after Greene’s death as part of an LSP internal investigation.

York’s attorney, Mike Small, argued at an Aug. 22 hearing that prosecutors violated York's 5th Amendment rights by allowing Stoughton to hear York’s statements as Stoughton prepared his own testimony to give the Union Parish grand jury that indicted York.

Small is appealing Rogers’ decision.

Rogers has paused any action on York’s case until the appellate court makes its decision. The judge did schedule a tentative status conference for York on Feb. 23.