The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal has declined to hear confessed and convicted murderer-rapist Brandon Scott Lavergne's argument that his guilty pleas should be vacated.
The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal has declined to hear confessed and convicted murderer-rapist Brandon Scott Lavergne's argument that his guilty pleas should be vacated and he should be granted a new trial.
Lavergne pleaded guilty in August of last year to the 1999 murder of Lisa Pate and the May 2012 murder of UL student Mickey Shunick.
In hand-written December and January filings from Angola State Penitentiary, where Lavergne is serving two life sentences for the brutal killings, Lavergne claims he was abandoned by his attorneys and coerced into pleading guilty. He also alleges law enforcement leaked misleading information to local news outlets that led to a media firestorm, tainting the case and potential jury pool, and that Lafayette Parish was not the proper venue for his indictment in the Pate case.
The 3rd Circuit cited no reason for declining to hear Lavergne's appeal.
Read more about the case here.
Photo by Travis Gauthier Brandon Scott Lavergne, being led into district court on Aug. 24, 2012, where he pleaded
guilty to two counts of first degree murder for killing Lisa Pate and Mickey Shunick