The attorney for fired Lafayette police officer Pablo Estrada is pushing for recently appointed Lafayette Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board member Kenneth Boudreaux to recuse himself from Estrada’s termination appeal hearing on Wednesday, our media partners at The Advocate report.
Estrada, 35, was fired from the department effective Feb. 22, 2021 for use of excessive force. The use of force was tied to Estrada’s arrest of 25-year-old Dennis Lazard on Nov. 28, 2020, the newspaper reports.
Estrada's attorney, Allyson Melancon, has asked Boudreaux to recuse himself from the hearing, citing an episode of Boudreaux's radio program which aired prior to his appointment to the board, The Advocate reports.
According to the Advocate story, Boudreaux was “...offering his personal and biased commentary regarding the dynamics of the event, law enforcement training, the presence or not of a threat to Estrada, and the propriety of the action taken by Estrada. All of his commentary was directed at and critical of Estrada, and are the very issues which this Board will be called on to decide,” Melancon argues.
The newspaper reports that she argues Boudreaux’s participation would be biased and “create, at the very minimum, the appearance of impropriety and deprive Estrada of the imperative of fairness.”
The motion will be discussed during Wednesday’s hearing, The Advocate reports.
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