58°
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
7 Day Forecast
Follow our weather team on social media

AG dismisses charge against West Feliciana attorney charged by political foe, headed to grand jury

6 years 1 month 4 days ago Thursday, November 08 2018 Nov 8, 2018 November 08, 2018 11:56 AM November 08, 2018 in The Investigative Unit
Source: WBRZ

ST. FRANCISVILLE- Nearly a year after District Attorney Sam D'Aquilla brought up a decade-year-old molestation charge on his political foe, David Opperman, the Attorney General's Office dismissed the charges this week.

In a fax filing to the Clerk of Court Wednesday, November 7, Assistant Attorney General Matthew Derbes said the charge against David Opperman is dismissed. The matter was removed from the docket where a hearing was scheduled for Thursday, November 8, 2018.

The Attorney General's Office didn't release much information about their reasoning for the dismissal. A spokeswoman said a grand jury will convene to hear evidence in this case. That would take place before any sort of criminal prosecution proceeds.

From the beginning, Opperman has maintained his innocence and claimed the charge was retaliation. Opperman and D'Aquilla have a long-standing history. Opperman ran against D'Aquilla and lost his battle to unseat him in 2014. He also represented D'Aquilla's ex-wife in a divorce proceeding recently.

Despite those connections, it took a salacious court filing for D'Aquilla to finally recuse himself from the case of prosecuting one of his political foes. D'Aquilla recused himself in July of this year, and that's when the Attorney General's Office was called in.

Opperman's legal team spelled out the case against him as retaliation by D'Aquilla. That court filing outlined a plethora of alleged wrongdoing by D'Aquilla where Opperman and D'Aquilla's now ex-wife went to the FBI to report it.

The meeting focused on "domestic abuse of Kelly {D'Aquilla's ex-wife} sexual affairs and planting of evidence," according to the court filing.

After his arrest, FBI agents distanced themselves from Opperman, his attorney Jim Boren said. Boren believes that was D'Aquilla's intention.

A potential federal investigation "gives D'Aquilla a personal interest in the arrest and prosecution."

D'Aquilla's also accused of destroying DNA that ties his bloodline to a man convicted of sexual crimes against children, in the filing. Boren also claimed, D'Aquilla orchestrated a sweetheart plea deal where the man only received a three-year sentence.

In addition to the official court filing, Boren included nearly 80 pages of other records he argues support the claims against D'Aquilla.

D'Aquilla did not answer the phone, but responded to a text message saying he could not comment.

More News

Desktop News

Click to open Continuous News in a sidebar that updates in real-time.
Radar
7 Days