Prosecutors are expected to present additional criminal charges against former Lake Charles police Deputy Chief Thomas “T.J.” Bell Jr., according to a motion filed in Bell’s lawsuit.
Bell is accused of allowing an employee to be paid for time she didn’t work and was indicted in 2015 on one count of malfeasance in office. He is to go on trial for the charge on Jan. 30 in state district court.
Bell was fired in early 2015, and the Lake Charles Civil Service Board upheld the decision. But in April, Judge Sharon Wilson ordered the Police Department to reinstate him.
In July, Bell filed a petition in court seeking civil damages and named Mayor Randy Roach, Police Chief Don Dixon, Deputy Chief Mark Kraus and Sgt. Richard Harrell as defendants. The document described collusion between officers, falsified grand jury testimonies and abuses of procedure.
Bell also contends in the petition that during the legal proceedings in 2015, he and his wife endured injuries to their reputations, loss of income, public humiliation, embarrassment and mental anguish.
On Oct. 17, the District Attorney’s Office filed a motion to stay discovery by any party in the civil matter, contending that it is “both in the interests of justice and for good cause” and that “no party to the proceedings suffers any prejudice from awaiting conclusion of the criminal proceeding.”
The D.A.’s Office contends that the integrity of its case “may be irreparably harmed if a law enforcement officer or lay witness is forced to answer questions outside the criminal case proceeding and beyond the scope of discovery in criminal cases.”
The prosecution, according to the motion, is also “actively investigating additional criminal charges which will likely be presented to a Grand Jury within the next eight weeks.”
Prosecutor Hugo Holland said the new felony charges stem from the ongoing investigation and not from any new facts. But he wouldn’t say what the charges would be.
Bell’s attorney, Todd S. Clemons, characterized the introduction of new charges against his client as “bogus.”
“It is obvious that they do not believe the Bell family has suffered enough,” he said. “Regardless, I remain extremely confident that my client will be completely vindicated once this matter is heard by a panel of 12 of his impartial peers.”
Judge Clayton Davis has set a hearing on the motion for Nov. 10.
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