Competency hearing begins Friday in double murder

Beginning Friday morning, defense attorneys for Quentin Watson will try to convince 22^nd Judicial District Judge William Knight that he is not competent to stand trial.

Quentin Watson

Watson, 29, faces the death penalty in the double murder of Anita Smith, 46, and her nephew, William Lewis, 32, in Smith’s East Acres Subdivision in Franklinton. Family members discovered their bodies on Feb. 6, 2008.

It will be up to Judge Knight to sort through the presentations of both defense and prosecution and decide if Watson, who initially admitted guilt when arrested in August 2009, can aid in his own defense.

If ruled competent, jury selection in the trial can get under way as quickly as Judge Knight decides.

Anita Smith

Watson pled “not guilty” during his arraignment and continued to profess his innocence during a jailhouse interview with the Bogalusa newspaper.

In the newspaper interview, Watson even claims to have talked with the person he believes to be the real killer and said his confession to police was out of fear for the safety for his family and himself.

Watson said he received a call on his cell phone the day the bodies were discovered and was told that if he said anything, he “would be next.”

Law enforcement discounted Watson’s claims and said he was looking for a way out. They also said the person Watson was referring to was never a suspect and that Watson’s claims are not supported by the evidence collected — which includes his DNA.

It was a contact DNA sample taken from the crime scene that resulted in Watson’s arrest. Watson was arrested for prescription fraud in November 2008 and had his DNA collected by Pardons and Paroles in March 2009.

A backlog delayed the entry of Watson’s DNA into the state system until July 2009 but when it was finally entered, investigators got a hit.

Police began tracking Watson’s movements before bringing him in for questioning when, Franklinton Police Chief Donald Folse said, “he took full responsibility” for the killings.

Jason Melerine sentenced to 18 years in prison in vehicle deaths of Beth Bria, Jason Crain

Jason Melerine, who was convicted on two counts of vehicular homicide and one of DWI in April, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison on each count, according to Rick Wood, spokesman for District Attorney Walter Reed. Melerine must serve the first three years without benefit of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

Beth Bria and Jason Crain

Melerine’s imprisonment came as a result of the deaths of 18-year-old Beth Bria and 23-year-old Jason Crain, both of Angie, in an early morning crash on a rural Washington Parish highway in June of last year. Bria, a student at Varnado High School at the time, and Crain were engaged to be married on Oct. 8, 2010.

22nd Judicial District Judge William Crain sentenced Melerine Monday and set the penalties to run concurrently. In addition, Melerne was fined $10,000 and will be required to undergo the Blue Waters substance abuse program and to also complete his GED while imprisoned. Melerne could have been sentenced to up to 30 years on each count of vehicular homicide.

Melerine was 18 at the time of the crash, which occurred about 4:50 a.m. on Sunday, June 30, 2010. Law enforcement officials said the crash occurred on Louisiana 424, north of Pine (which runs from Pine through Thomas and to the Mississippi line) as Melerne was southbound in a pickup.

Reports indicated Melerine failed to maneuver a curve, causing the pickup to cross the center line. At that point, as the vehicle entered the northbound lane, Malerine steered sharply to the right, causing it to rotate clockwise and run off the road to the right. The pickup continued to rotate as it left the roadway and struck several trees before coming to a stop.

Neither Bria nor Crain were wearing seatbelts and both were pronounced dead at the scene. Melerine, who was also not wearing a seatbelt, was not injured. He submitted to a breath alcohol test and registered over the legal limit. In addition to the first offense DWI and two homicide charges, he was also charged with no seatbelt and careless operation.

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Supreme Court ruling second for parish in less than six months

A second ruling this year by the Louisiana Supreme Court in favor of the assessment process employed by Washington Parish is good news for the parish.

Randy Seal

In February, the high court denied an appeal of a ruling by Florida Gas Transmission that would have resulted in the parish having to refund $971,308.42.

Now, the court has dismissed an appeal filed by Southern Natural Gas Pipeline that would have resulted in more than $800,000 having to be refunded.

The ruling means the contested money may now be released from escrow and used to help fund the day-to-day operations of the parish.

The court fight is one that began more than a decade ago, when a group of oil-related businesses, including Southern Natural Gas Pipeline and Florida Gas Transmission, challenged the way the State of Louisiana assessed the value of its property.

What was happening, explained Washington Parish Tax Assessor Randy Seals, is that the state tax commission set the taxable value at 25 percent and the companies didn't think that was fair.

"They told the court that rather than 25 percent of the value placed on their business, they thought they should pay 15 percent of fair market value, like all other businesses. The court agreed, but said local assessors should do a formal assessment of the properties involved and go from there."

Seal said, in short, the companies didn't like the way the tax was configured to begin with — and didn’t like the new rule that was established.

"They discovered that 15 percent of fair market value might be higher than the taxes they were paying under the old rules," he said.

So, back in December 2006, Seal started asking the taxing entities in Washington Parish to authorize a resolution allowing him to hire an attorney to sue Southern Natural Gas, with the attorney working on a contingency.

Seal said the oil-related businesses had an advantage over the affected taxing entities because of the cost of a court fight. At the time, the attorney general ruled the tax money in question would be held in escrow and that local courts would have jurisdiction.

Seal said there was no appreciable difference in the amounts collected under the old and new methods, despite the difference in percentages.

"They (Southern Natural Gas) wanted to tell us what their values are," Seal said. "It would be just like any business operator in the parish saying they didn't want to pay any taxes this year and us not being able to do anything about it. They didn't like it the first way ... now, they don't like the way their suit turned out ... they can't have it all ways.”

In May 2007, Florida Gas Transmission, by this time known as El Paso Natural Gas, notified council members they wanted to appeal their assessment, which was upheld by the council.

Then, in September 2008, the Louisiana Tax Commission ruled that Washington Parish would have to return $1.5 million in taxes paid under protest. That ruling was overturned by Judge Peter Garcia in 22^nd District Judicial Court in February 2009, which led to the appeal to the state supreme court.

Affected entities included Washington Parish, Washington Parish Schools, Washington Parish Hospital Service District 1 (Riverside Medical Center), Washington Parish Sheriff, Florida Parishes Juvenile Center and three fire districts.