Prosecutors in Union Parish have dropped criminal charges against the ranking Louisiana State Police trooper at the scene when Ronald Greene died in May 2019 after other troopers beat, tased and held him prone on a rural roadway.
District Attorney John Belton's office filed papers Tuesday dismissing charges of malfeasance in office and obstruction of justice against Lt. John Clary, one of five officers who were indicted last year over their alleged roles in Greene's death after a high-speed chase and crash, and an alleged coverup.
Belton said in a statement that he made the decision after discussing it with Greene's family, adding: "Mr. Clary has and will continue to cooperate with the state and testify truthfully in this matter."
Clary's purported cooperation will now come against the two defendants who remain in the case: Master Trooper Kory York and a Union Parish sheriff's deputy, Chris Harpin. Last month, a Union Parish judge refused to throw out negligent homicide and malfeasance charges against York, who faces the most serious charges. Harpin is charged with three counts of malfeasance.
A Union Parish judge tossed the charges against two other troopers charged in the case in July.
Greene, a 49-year-old Black man, had sped off from an attempted traffic stop in Monroe and led troopers on a lengthy high-speed chase north into Union Parish. He ultimately crashed his car, and two troopers — Christopher Hollingsworth and Dakota DeMoss — quickly charged his vehicle.
State Police originally told Greene's family he had died as a result of injuries sustained in a crash. In May 2021, the Associated Press published video from several of the officers on the scene that showed officers tasing Greene, then beating and dragging him by his ankles while facedown and shackled.
Clary, who was not among the first on the scene, was accused of lying about the existence of his body-cam video to keep it from State Police investigators, who sent their file on Greene's death to Belton's office without it in fall 2019. The investigators said it was later discovered by a State Police training instructor.
Clary denied withholding the footage, and the state agency said an administrative investigation ended with a finding of "not sustained," due to insufficient evidence.
Belton declined to comment further on the decision to drop the charges against Clary, a 30-year veteran of State Police.
Greene's mother, Mona Hardin, expressed frustration Tuesday over the duration of the case, but not at Belton's decision to dismiss the counts against Clary given his cooperation.
"You're glad to see anybody flip, but it absolutely has no meaning until we're through," she said.
Criticism around LSP's handling of Greene's death, and allegations that agency officials tried to cover it up, helped spark a federal civil rights investigation into State Police over possible patterns of excessive use of force and racial discrimination. That probe appears to be ongoing.
In the meantime, State Police this month released an outside assessment that made several recommendations for changes to policies and audits of uses of force and their investigation.
