Louisiana news briefs

Grand jury indicts stabbing suspect
HOUMA (AP) — The Terrebonne Parish District Attorney’s Office says a man accused of the Oct. 25 fatal stabbing of his relative is set for trial May 11 in Houma following a grand jury’s indictment.
Alvaro Garcia, 29, of Houma, was originally charged with first-degree murder in the death of Enio Garcia Jimenez. It was unclear how the two men are related.
However, Assistant District Attorney Sye Broussard said the prosecution presented an argument for second-degree murder before the grand jury, which determined enough evidence existed to pursue the case.
Garcia’s Houma-based public defender, Tanner Magee, declined to comment about the case.

N.O. smoking ban prompts debate
in Baton Rouge
BATON ROUGE (AP) — Less than a week after New Orleans passed a law to ban smoking in bars and casinos, some Baton Rouge medical professionals and local leaders are pushing the capital city to strike while the iron’s still hot.
On Tuesday, Mayor-President Kip Holden and leaders from area hospitals announced a Tobacco-Free Awareness campaign they dubbed “Breathe Free Baton Rouge.” They also announced that all major Baton Rouge hospitals and medical centers have committed to smoke and tobacco-free campuses.
But while Holden applauded the medical campuses for leading the way to create smoke-free environments, he said he wasn’t prepared to say whether he would support a smoke ban.
The New Orleans smoking ban has prompted some other cities, such as Lafayette, to also consider banning smoking in bars.

Woman pleads guilty in mom’s death
ST. MARTINVILLE (AP) — A Breaux Bridge woman has admitted to a judge that she was one of two people who strangled her elderly mother in 2011, drove her body to Lake Martin and left it in a car for others to find.
Marie Dupuis, 51, pleaded guilty to manslaughter Tuesday in the November 2011 killing of 83-year-old Jessie B. Messex, whose body police found with the rope still around her neck.
Dupuis acknowledged to Judge Lori Landry that she and an accomplice, her 33-year-old daughter, Toni Marie Dupuis, carried out the crime.
Heller Dupuis did not say why they killed Messex. She will be sentenced on for March 13.
Toni Dupuis also has agreed to plead guilty to manslaughter, though no court date has been scheduled.

Former School Board consultant face ethics charge
LAFAYETTE (AP) — The Louisiana Board of Ethics says the Lafayette school board’s former insurance consultant allegedly violated ethics laws by offering a board member tickets to a Saints game while conducting business with the school board.
The Ethics Board filed a charge against Rina Tikia on Jan. 15 for giving then-board member Mark Cockerham two tickets to the Nov. 17, 2013, New Orleans Saints game against the San Francisco 49ers. The face value of the tickets was $300 apiece.
The board’s decision was not released until Tuesday.
The charges were referred to the ethics adjudicatory board to conduct a hearing and determine any penalties.
Tikia could not be reached by phone for comment.
Cockerham had admitted publicly to receiving the tickets and said he attempted to return them.

Groundbreaking for new streetcar line in N.O.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled today for a new streetcar line in New Orleans.
The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority says the ceremony will take place at 2 p.m. on North Rampart Street near the New Orleans Athletic Club.
Construction began earlier this month on the 1.6-mile line, which will run from Canal Street up Rampart along the edge of the French Quarter. It will end at Elysian Fields Avenue, connecting to the existing Canal Streetcar line and the Union Passenger Terminal.
The new line will cost $41.5 million and is being funded through a 2010 bond. Construction is estimated to last two years.
Sen. J.P. Morrell says the new line will provide affordable, convenient transportation for the more than 70,000 residents who live in the area.

Loyola Law’s first black graduate, Francis, honored
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The retiring president of Xavier University is being honored by Loyola University.
Norman Francis will receive the St. Ives Award from the Loyola College of Law Alumni Association next month.
The award is presented annually to Loyola alumni who have volunteered services to the College of Law or the university.
Francis was the first African-American to graduate from Loyola’s College of Law in the 1950s.
The 83-year-old Francis has been president of Xavier since 1968. He is to retire in June.

NCIS: New Orleans cast to ride
in Orpheus parade
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The cast of NCIS: New Orleans will ride as monarchs in the Krewe of Orpheus parade, which rolls on Lundi Gras, the day before Fat Tuesday.
Stars Lucas Black, Rob Kerkovich, Zoe McLellan and CCH Pounder will join the television show’s creator, Gary Glasberg, in the parade through the city’s streets before Mardi Gras day.
Krewe Captain Sonny Borey, who founded the organization with singer Harry Connick Jr., said Tuesday the show has been a great ambassador for New Orleans so it’s only fitting that the krewe honor the stars with a celebrity ride during the parade.
Glasberg says they’re thrilled to be participating in the 2015 parade and can’t wait for the experience.
The krewe’s black-tie gala after the parade will feature a performance by country singer Dierks Bentley.

Consultant: 15 more fire stations needed in parish
LAFAYETTE (AP) — A consultant says fifteen additional fire stations are needed in unincorporated parts of Lafayette Parish to protect citizens and keep insurance costs down.
Tom Cassisa, a fire rating consultant hired by Lafayette Consolidated Government, presented the findings Tuesday of the parish’s fire protection operations.
The city of Lafayette has paid firefighters, but unincorporated parts of the parish rely on volunteers. With jobs and family demands, Cassisa says volunteers are often hard to find in some parts of the parish.
The fire rating for unincorporated Lafayette Parish was Class 5 in 2013, the most recent evaluation. Cassisa says it would have been Class 6 except LCG provided radios that barely provided enough points in the rating system to boost it to Class 5.

Former teacher gets trial date
in sex case
HAHNVILLE (AP) — Former Destrehan High School teacher Shelley Dufresne, accused of having sex with a 16-year-old student, is scheduled to stand trial in May on the felony charge of carnal knowledge of a juvenile.
Judge Anne Lennan Simon, the retired judge chosen to hear the case in St. Charles Parish’s 29th Judicial District Court, set trial proceedings to begin May 20 during a short hearing Monday in Hahnville that was attended by Dufresne and her Luling attorney Deanne Williams.
Dufresne remains free on a $200,000 bond that was set by Judge Lauren Lemmon immediately after her arrest, but is under house arrest.
While a trial date has been set, whether the case actually goes to trial remains to be seen.
If convicted as charged, Dufresne faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine up to $5,000.
Dufresne, 32, of Montz, was arrested Sept. 30 by St. Charles Sheriff’s deputies and booked with carnal knowledge of a juvenile. She is accused of having sex with a 16-year-old student at a house in Montz between Aug. 22 and Sept. 27.
The following day, on Oct. 1, Dufresne and fellow Destrehan High School teacher Rachel Respess, 24, were arrested by Kenner police and booked with carnal knowledge of a juvenile, indecent behavior with a juvenile and contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile. They are accused of having sex with the same 16-year-old boy at Respess’s apartment in Kenner.
The Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s office is currently reviewing those cases and has not determined whether any charges will be filed.
Dufresne and Respess were suspended without pay after their arrests.