Latest Weather Blog
Senate colleagues could discipline Troy Brown after domestic violence arrest
Related Story
BATON ROUGE- The fallout continues tonight for State Senator Troy Brown, accused of punching a woman in the face.
There's a chance his senate colleagues could discipline him for his alleged actions. But, it's so rare, that's only happened once in Louisiana history. In 1981, Louisiana lawmakers took the unusual step of ousting State Senator Gaston Gerald from office.
Gerald was re-elected to a third term even though he was convicted for accepting a bribe. The senate rule allows a committee to vote on discipline and expulsion of senators, if one of the senators proposes a measure before the disciplinary committee.
All of this stems from Brown's arrest over the weekend. Troy Brown claims brain damage he received from a crash in 1991 left his memory cloudy in reference to the events Saturday night in New Orleans. But, police records are very clear as to what he allegedly did. A witness claims Brown got into a yelling match with a woman, then punched another woman in the eye.
"I want to see all abusers held accountable," Prosecutor Melanie Fields said.
Fields is a domestic violence prosecutor with the East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney's Office. She's not handling Brown's domestic violence arrest, but says the cases she's familiar with have always had warning signs before things escalated.
"To be charged with domestic violence, truly in my experience, the nature of that relationship is controlling that has escalated to violence," Fields said.
In this situation, police records detail that pattern. They would get into disagreements with grabbing, but this ws the work in public, according to records. The victim told police Brown is married, but she was the "side friend" for the past ten or more years.
Domestic violence experts like Fields say abusers must get counseling. Since this is Brown's first offense, that could be all that results from his arrest. We'll have a better idea of what happens when he's scheduled for another court appearance next month.
News
