Changes

{{Infobox officeholder

{{Infobox officeholder

|name=Terry Ray Reeves

| name=Terry Ray Reeves

|office=District  Attorney for the [[Louisiana]] 8th Judicial District Court (Winn Parish)

|term_start=January 1991

| office=District  Attorney for the [[Louisiana]] 8th Judicial District Court (Winn Parish)

|term_end=July 22, 2005

| term_start=January 1991

|successor=Martin Sanders "Marty" Sanders, III

| term_end=July 22, 2005

| successor=Martin Sanders "Marty" Sanders, III

| spouse=Name of spouse unabailable (divorced)

| spouse=Name of spouse unabailable (divorced)

| children=Jessie Ray Reeves<br/>

| children=Jessie Ray Reeves<br/>

===Connor v. Reeves===

===Connor v. Reeves===

Early in his tenure as DA, Reeves swore out a warrant which charged Gary R. Connor (born January 1956), a Democrat</ref>who as the chief criminal deputy for the Winn Parish Sheriff's Department, was charged with [[malfeasance]] in office stemming from the investigation into the death on October 24, 1990, of Lisa Meyers Stevenson. Connor was a personal friend of her father. The charge was dropped by the trial court because of the lack of specificity in what constitutes malfeasance in this particular case. Connor and his wife, Rachel, then brought a civil suit against Reeves on the premise that the DA acted maliciously and in concert with the [[grand jury]] to [[Indictment|indict]] Conner. The suit claimed that Reeves's prosecution caused Connor "humiliation, embarrassment, mental anguish, and injury to his reputation." The Connors in their suit set forth three causes of action against Reeves: malicious prosecution, abuse of process, and invasion of privacy. However, the Louisiana Court of Appeal for the Second Circuit in [[Shreveport]]  rejected the suit on the ground that the DA had absolute immunity in the prosecution of Connor. The court held that the Connors "neither allege nor present evidence of any wrongful conduct by Reeves outside of his prosecutorial duties. There is no evidence that he was performing administrative or investigative duties. All of his actions at issue were purely prosecutorial, and thus protected by absolute immunity."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.leagle.com/decision/19951452649So2d803_11129.xml/CONNOR%20v.%20REEVES|title=''Connor v. Reeves''|date=April 28, 1995|publisher=leagle.com|accessdate=August 25, 2020}}</ref>

Early in his tenure as DA, Reeves swore out a warrant on Gary R. Connor (born January 1956), a Democrat who as the chief criminal deputy for the Winn Parish Sheriff's Department, was charged with [[malfeasance]] in office stemming from the investigation into the death on October 24, 1990, of Lisa Meyers Stevenson. Connor was a personal friend of her father. The charge was dropped by the trial court because of the lack of specificity in what constitutes malfeasance in this particular case. Connor and his wife, Rachel, then brought a civil suit against Reeves on the premise that the DA acted maliciously and in concert with the [[grand jury]] to [[Indictment|indict]] Conner. The suit claimed that Reeves's prosecution caused Connor "humiliation, embarrassment, mental anguish, and injury to his reputation." The Connors in their suit set forth three causes of action against Reeves: malicious prosecution, abuse of process, and invasion of privacy. However, the Louisiana Court of Appeal for the Second Circuit in [[Shreveport]]  rejected the suit on the ground that the DA had absolute immunity in the prosecution of Connor. The court held that the Connors "neither allege nor present evidence of any wrongful conduct by Reeves outside of his prosecutorial duties. There is no evidence that he was performing administrative or investigative duties. All of his actions at issue were purely prosecutorial, and thus protected by absolute immunity."<ref name=nugentsuit>{{cite web|url=http://www.leagle.com/decision/19951452649So2d803_11129.xml/CONNOR%20v.%20REEVES|title=''Connor v. Reeves''|date=April 28, 1995|publisher=leagle.com|accessdate=August 25, 2020}}</ref>

===Nugent v. Phelps===

===Nugent v. Phelps===

In a lawsuit ''Nugent v. Phelps'' stemming from the April 2002 election for Winnfield police chief, Reeves's political opponents claimed that "as DA, Reeves rules Winn Parish through fear and terror." The suit claimed that Reeves had exerted undue pressure on Sheila White, whom he had recommended for the position of executive director of the Winnfield Housing Authority. White declined to write a $100,000 check on housing authority funds as requested by Reeves as a donation to the city for the construction of a  community center. Thereafter, Reeves began demanding various public records, including multiple requests for the same information, which she had already forwarded. The suit stemmed from three voters who were subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury during the week of the election. This prevented the three from engaging in campaigning for and casting ballots for their preferred candidate, the incumbent Chief Prentice Gleason Nugent (born c. 1949), who had first been elected in 1994. Instead, Reeves's choice for the position,<ref name=nugentsuit/> Benjamin Louis "Benji" Phelps, prevailed by four votes, 911-907.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns (Winn Parish), April 6, 2002.</ref> The court refused to order a new election as requested by Chief Nugent and his co-plaintiffs, who were removed from the suit for lack of standing.<ref name=nugentsuit>{{cite web|url=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/la-court-of-appeal/1228640.html|title=''Nugent v. Phelps''|publisher=caselaw.findlaw.com|date=April 23, 2002|accessdate=August 25, 2020Ok0WeABQP8C&pg=PA345&lpg=PA345&dq=Terry+Reeves,+former+DA+of+Winn+Parish&source=bl&ots=dYV6d41MZI&sig=ZCRK9hWwRT7XqBlL3a227dn46cM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=zE1jVYvZH8KHsAX974LIBg&ved=0CE0Q6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=Terry%20Reeves%2C%20former%20DA%20of%20Winn%20Parish&f=false|title=The Resolution of Election Disputes: Legal Principles that Control Election Challenges|author=Barry H. Weinberg|page=345|date=2008|publisher=International Foundation for Electoral Systems|location=[[Washington, D.C.]]|isbn=1-931459-29-0|accessdate=May 25, 2015}}</ref> Phelps (born June 1967) subsequently moved to [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches Parish]], where he is a registered Republican voter.

In a lawsuit ''Nugent v. Phelps'' stemming from the April 2002 election for Winnfield police chief, Reeves's political opponents claimed that "as DA, Reeves rules Winn Parish through fear and terror." The suit claimed that Reeves had exerted undue pressure on Sheila White, whom he had recommended for the position of executive director of the Winnfield Housing Authority. White declined to write a $100,000 check on housing authority funds as requested by Reeves as a donation to the city for the construction of a  community center. Thereafter, Reeves began demanding various public records, including multiple requests for the same information, which she had already forwarded. The suit stemmed from three voters who were subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury during the week of the election. This prevented the three from engaging in campaigning for and casting ballots for their preferred candidate, the incumbent Chief Prentice Gleason Nugent (born c. 1949), who had first been elected in 1994. Instead, Reeves's choice for the position,<ref name=nugentsuit/> Benjamin Louis "Benji" Phelps, prevailed by four votes, 911-907.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns (Winn Parish), April 6, 2002.</ref> The court refused to order a new election as requested by Chief Nugent and his co-plaintiffs, who were removed from the suit for lack of standing. Phelps (born June 1967) subsequently moved to [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches Parish]], where he is a registered Republican voter.

One of the initial plaintiffs in ''Nugent v. Phelps'', Johnny Ray Carpenter (born July 1953), an [[Independent voter|Independent]], was elected after Reeves's death as Winnfield police chief in April 2006 by a margin of sixty-six votes.<ref name=aprilelection/>  More than a decade earlier, Carpenter had been [[pardon]]ed for a [[narcotics]] violation by then [[Governor]] [[Edwin Edwards]], who at the time of Carpenter's election had begun serving a term for racketeering at the Federal Correctional Institution in Oakdale in Allen Parish.<ref name=cnn>{{cite web|url=https://aftermathnews.wordpress.com/2008/07/25/|title=Man dies after cop hits him with Taser 9 times|date=July 25, 2008|publisher=https://aftermathnews.wordpress.com/2008/07/25/|accessdate=May 17, 2015}}</ref>

One of the initial plaintiffs in ''Nugent v. Phelps'', Johnny Ray Carpenter (born July 1953), an [[Independent voter|Independent]], was elected after Reeves's death as Winnfield police chief in April 2006 by a margin of sixty-six votes.<ref name=aprilelection/>  More than a decade earlier, Carpenter had been [[pardon]]ed for a [[narcotics]] violation by then [[Governor]] [[Edwin Edwards]], who at the time of Carpenter's election had begun serving a term for racketeering at the Federal Correctional Institution in Oakdale in Allen Parish.

===Later years as DA===

===Later years as DA===

Reeves ran without opposition for his third uncompleted term in 2002. After Reeves's death, the Democrat Martin Smith "Marty" Sanders, III (born July 1956) served as DA on an interim basis and immediately faced questions about financial irregularities in the office remaining from Reeves's tenure.  Richard Christopher "Chris" Nevils (born December 1969), a Democrat who later turned Independent, polled 57.8 percent of the vote in the [[special election]] held on April 1, 2006, to choose Reeves's successor.<ref name=aprilelection>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, April 1, 2006.</ref> Still the DA, Nevils had previous experience in the DA's office in East Baton Rouge Parish and, in his words, was the "only candidate to have prosecuted successfully [[misdemeanor]] and [[felony]] criminal cases and continued with their appeal through state, federal, and U.S. supreme courts."<ref name=jleggett/> Sanders sought the position too but finished a distant second to Nevils in the four-candidate field with less than 22 percent of the votes cast.<ref name=aprilelection/>

Reeves ran without opposition for his third uncompleted term in 2002. After Reeves's death, the Democrat Martin Smith "Marty" Sanders, III (born July 1956) served as DA on an interim basis and immediately faced questions about financial irregularities in the office remaining from Reeves's tenure.  Richard Christopher "Chris" Nevils (born December 1969), a Democrat who later turned Independent, polled 57.8 percent of the vote in the [[special election]] held on April 1, 2006, to choose Reeves's successor.<ref name=aprilelection>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, April 1, 2006.</ref> Still the DA, Nevils had previous experience in the DA's office in East Baton Rouge Parish and, in his words, was the "only candidate to have prosecuted successfully [[misdemeanor]] and [[felony]] criminal cases and continued with their appeal through state, federal, and U.S. supreme courts."<ref name=jleggett/> Sanders sought the position too but finished a distant second to Nevils in the four-candidate field with less than 22 percent of the votes cast.<ref name=aprilelection/>

In 2004 alone, Reeves donated a combined $8,725 to several Democratic political candidates, including then [[U.S. Representative]] [[Rodney Alexander]] of Louisiana's 5th congressional district, but his contribution came before Alexander switched to the [[Republican Party]]]. He also contributed to the successful candidate [[Charlie Melancon]] of Louisiana's 3rd congressional district. He gave to Representative Chris John of the former 7th congressional distric,  who ran unsuccessfully for the [[U. S. Senate]] against Republican [[David Vitter]] to fill the seat vacated by Democrat [[John Breaux]]. Reeves gave more than $2,000 to the Louisiana Democratic Party.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/terry-reeves.asp?cycle=04|title=Terry Reeves Political Contributions in 2004|publisher=campaignmoney.com|accessdate=May 24, 2015}}</ref> In 2000, he contributed $3,950, mostly to his state party, but $450 to then U.S. Senator [[Mary Landrieu]]'s pending successful bid for a second term in 2002.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/terry-reeves.asp?cycle=00|title=Terry Reeves Political Contributions in 2000|publisher=campaignmoney.com|accessdate=May 24, 2015}}</ref>

In 2004 alone, Reeves donated a combined $8,725 to several Democratic political candidates, including then [[U.S. Representative]] [[Rodney Alexander]] of Louisiana's 5th congressional district, but his contribution came before Alexander switched to the [[Republican Party]]. He also contributed to the successful candidate [[Charlie Melancon]] of Louisiana's 3rd congressional district. He gave to Representative Chris John of the former 7th congressional district,  who ran unsuccessfully for the [[U.S. Senate]] against Republican [[David Vitter]] to fill the seat vacated by Democrat [[John Breaux]]. Reeves gave more than $2,000 to the Louisiana Democratic Party.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/terry-reeves.asp?cycle=04|title=Terry Reeves Political Contributions in 2004|publisher=campaignmoney.com|accessdate=August 25, 2020}}</ref> In 2000, he contributed $3,950, mostly to his state party, but $450 to then U.S. Senator [[Mary Landrieu]]'s pending successful bid for a second term in 2002.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/terry-reeves.asp?cycle=00|title=Terry Reeves Political Contributions in 2000|publisher=campaignmoney.com|accessdate=August 25, 2020}}</ref>

==Suicide by firearm==

==Suicide by firearm==

Reeves died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound two weeks after his 59th birthday,<ref name=jleggett>{{cite web|url=http://wesawthat.blogspot.com/2006_03_01_archive.html

Reeves died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound two weeks after his 59th birthday,<ref name=jleggett>{{cite web|url=http://wesawthat.blogspot.com/2006_03_01_archive.html

|title=Web site hit for criticising  Winn DA candidate|author=Jim Leggett|date=March 31, 2006|publisher=''The Alexandria Town Talk''|accessdate=May 17, 2015}}</ref> amid allegations of [[embezzlement]] and [[extortion]] in office.<ref name=cnn/> He was accused of having used at least $49,000 in public funds for personal dinners and trips. He killed himself with a single bullet to the chest from a .38 caliber handgun between 5:30 and 9 p.m. on July 22, 2005, at an empty house in Winnfield that he owned. According to the coroner, Dr. Randolph Layne Williams (born April 1948), the bullet entered the left front chest and exited from the back but did not hit the heart. Williams said that Reeves had "been under a good deal of scrutiny and investigation by various agencies recently," but Reeves left no suicide note.<ref name=nola>{{cite news|url=https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.obituaries/V0yd4ADDDnM|title=Winn Parish district attorney apparently kills himself|publisher=''The New Orleans Times-Picayune''|date=July 22, 2005|accessdate=May 24, 2015}}</ref>

|title=Web site hit for criticising  Winn DA candidate|author=Jim Leggett|date=March 31, 2006|publisher=''[[Alexandria Town Talk]]''|accessdate=August 25, 2020}}</ref> amid allegations of [[embezzlement]] and [[extortion]] in office. He was accused of having used at least $49,000 in public funds for personal dinners and trips. He killed himself with a single bullet to the chest from a .38 caliber handgun between 5:30 and 9 p.m. on July 22, 2005, at an empty house in Winnfield that he owned. According to the coroner, Dr. Randolph Layne Williams (born April 1948), the bullet entered the left front chest and exited from the back but did not hit the heart. Williams said that Reeves had "been under a good deal of scrutiny and investigation by various agencies recently," but Reeves left no suicide note.<ref name=nola>"Winn Parish district attorney apparently kills himself," ''The New Orleans Times-Picayune,'' July 22, 2005.</ref>  

The office of the then state Attorney General Charles Foti would not confirm whether Reeves was facing an indictment. Several months before Reeves's death, the office of then Louisiana Legislative Auditor [[Steve Theriot]] said that the DA had not kept proper records of $169,000 for costs of conference and seminars. Reeves spent his $275,000 budget for 2005 by June and still carried a deficit of $400,000 from the preceding year. Reeves sued to force the Winn Parish Police Jury to pay the cost overruns; he claimed the proper budget should have been $500,000 per year, not $275,000.<ref name=nola/> The [[Internal Revenue Service]] investigated to determine if Reeves had paid payroll taxes for his employees. Interim DA Martin Sanders, subsequently defeated in a bid for the office, cut some employee salaries by 25 percent, reduced hours for others, but still called for the $500,000 budget that Reeves had requested from the police jury. Sanders continued to pursue the suit against the jury.{{cn|date=January 2020}}

The office of the then state Attorney General Charles Foti would not confirm whether Reeves was facing an indictment. Several months before Reeves's death, the office of then Louisiana Legislative Auditor Steve Theriot said that the DA had not kept proper records of $169,000 for costs of conference and seminars. Reeves spent his $275,000 budget for 2005 by June and still carried a deficit of $400,000 from the preceding year. Reeves sued to force the Winn Parish Police Jury to pay the cost overruns; he claimed the proper budget should have been $500,000 per year, not $275,000.<ref name=nola/> The [[Internal Revenue Service]] investigated to determine if Reeves had paid payroll taxes for his employees. Interim DA Martin Sanders, subsequently defeated in a bid for the office, cut some employee salaries by 25 percent, reduced hours for others, but still called for the $500,000 budget that Reeves had requested from the police jury. Sanders continued to pursue the suit against the jury.

   

   

Reeves's maternal uncle, Calvin Marion Robinson (1908-1957), a native of Jamestown in Bienville Parish and a former Winn Parish sheriff,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Robinson&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=20&GScnty=1172&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=8875090&df=all&|title=Calvin Marion Robinson|publisher=''The Winn Parish Enterprise''|date= December 5, 1957|accessdate=August 25, 2020}}</ref> also committed suicide. Robinson was forty-nine at the time of his death from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and had earlier lost his bid for re-election in 1956.<ref>Tom Kelly, "The Only "Extra! Edition" (of ''The Winn Parish Enterprise''), ''The Piney Woods Journal,'' May 25, 2015.</ref>

Reeves' maternal uncle, Calvin Marion Robinson (1908-1957), a native of Jamestown in Bienville Parish and a former Winn Parish sheriff,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Robinson&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=20&GScnty=1172&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=8875090&df=all&|title=Calvin Marion Robinson|publisher=''The Winn Parish Enterprise'' through Findagrave.com|date= December 5, 1957|accessdate=August 25, 2020}}</ref> also committed suicide. Robinson was forty-nine at the time of his death from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and had earlier lost his bid for re-election in 1956.<ref>Tom Kelly, "The Only "Extra! Edition" (of ''The Winn Parish Enterprise''), ''The Piney Woods Journal,'' May 25, 2015.</ref>

Reeves is interred along with his parents at Garden of Memories Cemetery in Winnfield.<ref name=bio/> He was the last Louisiana DA to die in office until April 2015, when [[Charles Scott]] of Shreveport, a Natchitoches native and like Reeves an undergraduate of Northwestern State University, failed to complete his second term as the DA for Caddo Parish in northwestern Louisiana when he died of a [[heart attack]] while on official business in Baton Rouge.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/local/2015/04/24/cox-takes-caddo-da-oath-apparent-louisiana-first/26286263/|title=Cox takes Caddo DA oath after predecessor's death|author=Maya Lau|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=April 24, 2015|accessdate=April 25, 2015}}</ref>

Reeves is interred along with his parents at Garden of Memories Cemetery in Winnfield.<ref name=bio/> He was the last Louisiana DA to die in office until April 2015, when [[Charles Scott]] of Shreveport, a Natchitoches native and like Reeves an undergraduate of Northwestern State University, failed to complete his second term as the DA for Caddo Parish in northwestern Louisiana when he died of a [[heart attack]] while on official business in Baton Rouge.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/local/2015/04/24/cox-takes-caddo-da-oath-apparent-louisiana-first/26286263/|title=Cox takes Caddo DA oath after predecessor's death|author=Maya Lau|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=April 24, 2015|accessdate=August 25, 2020}}</ref>

==References==

==References==