A New Orleans man is demanding answers after the juvenile who he says robbed him at gunpoint was allowed to walk free.
"I was robbed once December 22 a year ago," Patrick Dennis told WWL's Newell Normand. "I feel like I got robbed again by the way the District Attorney's Office has handled the entire manner."
Dennis said he went to court for what he thought was the suspect's trial. That's when he learned that the teen had been found not guilty.
"They told me that the now 16-year-old male who was the individual who put the gun in my face had already been adjudicated and had gone to court. There were no witnesses (and) no evidence, and so he was found not guilty."
Dennis says he had made it clear to the district attorney's office that he wanted to testify at the teen's trial. Dennis said that he never received a subpoena to appear in court. Dennis now wants to know what happened and who let the suspect off the hook.
"I don't know exactly what's going on in their office," Dennis said. "I don't know if it's just incompetence or if they're doing this on purpose and hoping its gets lost in the weeds."
He also wants to know how many other people have experienced the same situation.
"I don't know that I'm the only case that this has happened in," Dennis said. "I have no idea if this has happened before. I don't know if this is an ongoing process."
Dennis says this is just one example of ineffective government in New Orleans.
"This is not about me. This is more about what's going on in the city. It's about what's going on with our elected officials, from the district attorney to the sheriff to our mayor, because it seems like we have no leadership in this city at this point."
When asked for comment, District Attorney Jason Williams sent the following statement to WWL via email from his communications director:
“I heard Mr. Dennis was going to be a guest on your show; firstly, please relay my sincerest apologies to him. After learning of this matter, I personally reached out to Mr. Dennis to apologize on Friday after recessing the Darren Bridges First Degree Murder case I am personally trying. My office is clear that the system is not supposed to work this way. We desperately wanted him in court to help us convict this perpetrator, and based on what I know he desperately wanted to be there for the same reason. We have certified records of our Attorneys requesting in court that subpoenas be issued to Mr. Dennis. Additionally, we have records of multiple attempts of subpoena service at his address prior to the July 14th trial date. Nonetheless, victim engagement is a pillar of our office and Mr. Dennis has my word - I will work to get to the bottom of where this breakdown occurred. As the victim in this matter, he is our priority and we will make sure to figure what happened in this case. We hope that Mr. Dennis knows we were able to secure the conviction of one of the juvenile co-defendants who has been sentenced to 5 years and the other defendants’ cases are open and our office will work to see justice through in those matters.”
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