MONROE, La. — A lawyer representing the family of a Louisiana State Trooper who admitted to beating Ronald Greene asked a federal judge to place a gag order on the case, reports said.
"The false narrative surrounding this case has also been fostered by leaks of selective, one-sided, and misleading information by someone with access to investigative material," Attorney Scott Wolleson said in court documents, according to a WBRZ report.
Wolleson represents family members of LSP Trooper Chris Hollingsworth who turned his body camera off while arresting Green and later said "... I beat the ever living f— out of him, choked him and everything trying to get him under control.”
Hollingsworth acknowledged striking Greene in the head three times with a flashlight and jolting him six times with a stun gun out of fear for his own safety.
The trooper died in a car crash in September of 2020, the day after learning he’d be fired for multiple violations regarding Greene’s arrest.
Raising claims about leaks from LSP for some time, the lawyer spoke to the Louisiana State Police Commission earlier this year, speaking about another LSP trooper he represents.
"Mr. Brown was arrested Monday, and before we reached the jail, WBRZ was already reporting the arrest," Wolleson said. "Christopher Hollingsworth was suspended and received notice he was going to be terminated. I was involved in that. As we know, there were 17 seconds of audio released to WBRZ that has now been quoted in national news around the country."
Wolleson wrote that his defendants will argue that the crash fractured Greene's sternum and ruptured his aorta, killing him.
Greene, a 49-year-old barber, failed to pull over for a traffic violation and led troopers on a midnight chase across rural northern Louisiana at speeds of up to 115 mph (185 kph) before his car spun to a stop on a roadside near Monroe.
Troopers told Greene’s relatives hours later that he died on impact after crashing into a tree, an explanation called into question by photos of Greene’s body on a gurney showing his bruised and battered face, a hospital report noting he had two stun gun prongs in his back, and the fact that his SUV had only minor damage.