BATON ROUGE - A US District Court judge has dismissed a civil rights claim against a former Pointe Coupee sheriff.

Judge John deGravelles on Tuesday dismissed, with prejudice, the case filed by Adrian Slaughter against Beauregard "Bud" Torres III.

Slaughter sued in 2018, claiming he had been targeted by the sheriff (at that time) after Slaughter announced his own intention to seek the top law enforcement office in the parish.

The initial matter involved alleged payroll fraud -- as identified by Torres -- that led to multiple criminal charges against Slaughter, an office captain, and to his firing.

But Torres refused to testify in the trial, and the case was dismissed. The director of the criminal division of the Louisiana Department of Justice called Torres a "critical witness" and said his refusal to testify was "fatal to the State's prosecution."

Slaughter alleged racial discrimination, false arrest and civil rights violations in his lawsuit.

DeGravelles found numerous causes to grant the dismissal -- some technical, but including the merits of the claim, as well.

In Depth: Read the judge's ruling for dismissal

Slaughter passed away in December at the age of 56.