St. Tammany Sheriff Randy Smith and his co-defendant Gregory Saurage will stand before Judge Alan Black at the St. Tammany Justice Center on Aug. 20.
The St. Tammany District Attorney’s office confirms the prosecution leading the case remains undecided.
The Attorney General’s Office is currently leading the investigation.
Saurage is the second arrest in the case. Agents at the AG’s office claim surveillance video shows Saurage walking past the victim and gesturing to Smith toward the victim.
“I was also surprised to see that in the report that was written up that he was instigating the interaction between the two, but that kind of surprised me.” Terry King of Concerned Citizens of St. Tammany said.
Agents believe Saurage encouraged or incited the attack, according to a news release issued by LBI.
The attorney general’s office is charging Gregory Saurage with principal second-degree battery, which is a felony.
WDSU’s legal analyst Stavros Panagoulopoulos breaks down the charge.
“This individual encouraged the individual to actually commit the offense; the offense might not have been committed, but for his gesture; but for his involvement of encouraging the action to occur.”
However, for Saurage to be convicted of this, Panagoulopoulos said the prosecution is going to have to prove without a doubt his gestures provoked the offense.
“A gesture toward somebody could be simply somebody saying, ‘Look at this guy,’ or ‘Ugh, I can’t stand him.'” Panagoulopoulos said, “A gesture doesn’t necessarily mean go commit this offense. So, if that’s the only information they are basing these charges on, it seems a little weak.”
While both men will be arraigned by the same judge, the legal analyst believes because of the high-profile nature of the case, that judge may not be permanently assigned.
“Oftentimes the judge would recuse themselves, and state is a potential conflict, and somebody else would have to administer,” Panagoulopoulos said.
READ MORE:Judge assigned in case against Sheriff Randy Smith and co-defendant
