Changes

In 2010, Judge Mitchell sentenced Kendra Hoffpauir, a teacher's aide who confessed to engaging in sexual activity with a 15-year-old pupil, to seven years at hard labor, but he suspended four of those years. Hoffpauir pleaded guilty in Vernon Parish to carnal knowledge and  indecent behavior with a juvenile. She had also faced four counts of contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile, a third count of carnal knowledge, and one of oral sexual battery. ''The Leesville Daily Leader'' reported that Mitchell set the sentences to run simultaneously. She was also fined $1,000 on each charge. Hoffpauir was working at  Vernon Middle School when she was arrested. Some of the charges stemmed from her previous place of employment, Leesville Junior High School.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legalnews.com/detroit/697510|title=Teacher's aide gets hard labor for sex crime|publisher=legalnews.com|date=September 9, 2010|accessdate=July 26, 2015}}</ref>

In 2010, Judge Mitchell sentenced Kendra Hoffpauir, a teacher's aide who confessed to engaging in sexual activity with a 15-year-old pupil, to seven years at hard labor, but he suspended four of those years. Hoffpauir pleaded guilty in Vernon Parish to carnal knowledge and  indecent behavior with a juvenile. She had also faced four counts of contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile, a third count of carnal knowledge, and one of oral sexual battery. ''The Leesville Daily Leader'' reported that Mitchell set the sentences to run simultaneously. She was also fined $1,000 on each charge. Hoffpauir was working at  Vernon Middle School when she was arrested. Some of the charges stemmed from her previous place of employment, Leesville Junior High School.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legalnews.com/detroit/697510|title=Teacher's aide gets hard labor for sex crime|publisher=legalnews.com|date=September 9, 2010|accessdate=July 26, 2015}}</ref>

In May 2015, the  Louisiana Court of Appeal for the Third Circuit in Lake Charles upheld the conviction in Judge Mitchell's court of Jerry Vaughn Clifton (born c. 1937) of [[Anacoco, Louisiana|Anacoco]] in Vernon Parish, a 20-year United States Army veteran who served in the [[Vietnam War]]. In 2014, Mitchell sentenced Clifton to two consecutive 61-months of confinement at hard labor, just over ten years, for double counts of aggravated [[incest]] committed in 2001 against two of Clifton's step-granddaughters. Clifton was charged with the crimes nine years later in 2010 but did not face trial for another four years. He appealed to the circuit court on grounds that there were problems with three jurors biased against him and that the sentence was overly harsh. Speaking for the appeals court, Judge Elizabeth Pickett affirmed the conviction and said that the sentence was fitting for the crimes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://caselaw.findlaw.com/la-court-of-appeal/1701965.html|title=State of Louisiana v. Jerry Vaughn Clifton|publisher=Caselaw.findlaw.com|date=May 27, 2015|accessdate=July 23, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.leesvilledailyleader.com/article/20140516/NEWS/140519721|title=Jerry Clifton sentenced to 10 years|publisher=''Leesville Daily Leader''|date=May 16, 2014|accessdate=July 20, 2017}}</ref>

In May 2015, the  Louisiana Court of Appeal for the Third Circuit in Lake Charles upheld the conviction in Judge Mitchell's court of Jerry Vaughn Clifton (born c. 1937) of Anacoco in Vernon Parish, a 20-year United States Army veteran who served in the [[Vietnam War]]. In 2014, Mitchell sentenced Clifton to two consecutive 61-months of confinement at hard labor, just over ten years, for double counts of aggravated [[incest]] committed in 2001 against two of Clifton's step-granddaughters. Clifton was charged with the crimes nine years later in 2010 but did not face trial for another four years. He appealed to the circuit court on grounds that there were problems with three jurors biased against him and that the sentence was overly harsh. Speaking for the appeals court, Judge Elizabeth Pickett affirmed the conviction and said that the sentence was fitting for the crimes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://caselaw.findlaw.com/la-court-of-appeal/1701965.html|title=State of Louisiana v. Jerry Vaughn Clifton|publisher=Caselaw.findlaw.com|date=May 27, 2015|accessdate=July 23, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.leesvilledailyleader.com/article/20140516/NEWS/140519721|title=Jerry Clifton sentenced to 10 years|publisher=''Leesville Daily Leader''|date=May 16, 2014|accessdate=July 20, 2017}}</ref>

 

==Family and death==

==Family and death==