Judicial career
After two years in the military,Brown in 1968 became an assistant district attorney in New Orleans under the legendary Jim Garrison. He moved back to Bossier City and was the chief assistant district attorney for the 26th Judicial District,which encompassed both Bossier and Webster parishes. When DA Charles A. Marvin of Minden was elected in 1975 to the Second Circuit Court of Appeal in Shreveport,Brown became the interim DA and then ran for the office in a special election held on October 2,1976. In the heated campaign against fellow Democrat Glenn Armstrong of Bossier City,Brown said that his principal opponents were "bar owners". He was sued for slander by Bossier Novelty Company. [1] Brown also drew the open opposition of J.E. "Pat" Patterson,the mayor of Minden,because Brown did not prosecute Patterson's nephews,Bill and Bert Chanler,in a family and business dispute. Patterson had been in business with his brother-in-law,W. D. "Bill" Chanler (1924–1988) [2] in the C&P Construction Company in Minden. Chanler's two sons attacked their uncle at a site a mile north of town on Dorcheat Bayou. Patterson's older daughter,then Connie Patterson Yocom,later Connie Paul of Bossier City,was charged with pulling a pistol on her cousins,Bill and Bert Chanler. [3] A grand jury declined to indict the Chanler brothers,and Brown dropped the case. Patterson endorsed Armstrong and asked state Attorney General William J. Guste to re-open the case. [4] The issue never came to trial.
Brown defeated Armstrong,13,854 votes (59.2 percent) to 9,557 (40.8 percent). [5] Had he been elected,Armstrong,an attorney without a law degree,had proposed to appoint two Minden lawyers,former State Senator Jack Montgomery and Paul Kitchens,as his top assistants. [6]
DA Brown was known for his determined prosecution of murder cases. He sent five persons convicted of murder to the electric chair. For this role,he was featured in episodes of CBS's 60 Minutes and the Fox Channel's The Reporters . The magazine The Angolite,published at Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola,referred to Brown as "The Deadliest Prosecutor". [7]
One of the Brown prosecutors was overturned by the Louisiana Supreme Court. In 1986,Brown was the district attorney in State of Louisiana v. James M. Monds, referring to James Marvin Monds (born December 1963) of Keithville in Caddo Parish. At the time,Monds,a surgical technician at Barksdale Air Force Base was convicted of the murder the preceding summer of Vicki Thomas,who was raped,assaulted,mutilated,and killed at a parking lot at Parkway High School in Bossier City. Monds became the key suspect when his vehicle,a Ford Bronco,was identified as the one at the scene of the murder. Monds testified that he had never met Thomas and had no knowledge of her death but had cut his hand while working on a flat tire the night of the crime. The Louisiana Supreme Court,which heard the case after the Second Circuit Court of Appeals recused itself,ruled in 1994 that insufficient evidence,most of a circumstantial nature,existed to continue to incarcerate Monds. He was therefore declared "acquitted" and released after serving nearly nine years in prison. [8]
John Milkovich,elected in 2015 as a member of the Louisiana State Senate,was then Monds' attorney. He accused both DA Brown and the presiding judge in the case,Graydon K. Kitchens,Jr.,of Minden in Webster Parish of serious legal errors in the case. Milkovich accused Judge Kitchens of trying to block testimony which would have cleared Monds,and he accused Brown and Monds' former wife,Shea,of plotting the killing of Thomas. [9] The charge against Brown was quickly repudiated by James Bullers,who succeeded Brown as district attorney of Bossier and Webster parishes. In a rebuke of Milkovich,Bullers said,"The theory was and is so ridiculous that it's almost unbelievable. I personally believe that Milkovich is totally obsessed with Henry Brown. I really don't know if he believes it himself." [10]
In 1979,Brown endorsed the successful Republican gubernatorial candidate David C. Treen in the general election against the Democrat Louis Lambert,a member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission. In his endorsement,Brown called upon Treen to adopt a "get-tough" approach to crime. He added,"I am a Democrat,but I am also a voter,and voters have a responsibility of voting for the best man regardless of race,religion,or party affiliation." [11]
In September 1984,Brown narrowly won reelection as district attorney over State Representative Bruce M. Bolin of Minden,the son of Judge James E. Bolin and himself later a judge of the 26th Judicial District. [12] Brown prevailed by 122 votes;the tally was 16,447 for Brown to 16,326 for Bolin. [13] Bolin carried forty-one of the forty-eight precincts in Webster Parish but only two in Bossier Parish,which made Brown's reelection possible. [14] In that campaign,Bolin accused Brown of having dropped 230 charges against suspects,including some who were accused of rape,narcotics violations,and driving while intoxicated. Bolin also said that Brown had not adequately prosecuted murder cases. [15]
In 1990,after some fifteen years as district attorney,Brown was elected to the Louisiana 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal seated vacated by the retiring Fred W. Jones Jr. of Ruston,Louisiana. He defeated fellow Democrat Jean Talley Drew of Minden,the wife of Judge Harmon Drew Jr.,Brown's judicial colleague. Brown polled 48,935 votes (57.5 percent) to Drew's 36,217 (42.5 percent). [16]
On October 1,1994,Brown ran for the Louisiana Supreme Court. He led the three-candidate field in the nonpartisan blanket primary with 43,811 votes (37.5 percent). In second place was his circuit judge colleague,Jeffrey P. Victory of Shreveport,then a Democrat,who received 36,522 (31.27 percent). Charles R. Scott,also a Democrat originally from Natchitoches and subsequently the Caddo Parish district attorney,ran third with 36,480 votes (31.23 percent),42 ballots behind Victory. [17] In the second round of balloting on November 8,1994,Victory prevailed over Brown,69,864 (53 percent) to 62,048 (47 percent). Supreme Court terms in Louisiana extend for ten years. [18]
Henry Brown was the t Chief Judge of the Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Shreveport. He was reelected to the Circuit Court in 2000 and 2010,when he was unopposed. His current term extends until December 31,2020. He is serving his third and final term under current age requirements for state judges.
