Inside Report for Nov. 22, 2011

Some intriguing dynamics were at play during a recent court hearing on condemned killer Henri Broadway’s claim that his former attorneys were deficient at his 1995 capital murder trial in the slaying of Baton Rouge police Cpl. Betty Smothers.

East Baton Rouge Parish First Assistant District Attorney Prem Burns, who prosecuted Broadway, found herself 16 years later defending the performance of Broadway’s trial attorneys — Fred Kroenke and Robert Randolph.

Burns acknowledged later it was an “unusual’’ situation.

Veteran Lake Charles criminal defense lawyer Tom Lorenzi, the man hired by Broadway’s current legal team to evaluate Kroenke’s and Randolph’s performance at the guilt phase of the trial, found himself defending not only his conclusions but also his qualifications as an expert witness.

Lorenzi, who said his criticism of Kroenke and Randolph was not a personal attack, had high praise for the way Burns prosecuted the Broadway case.

Michele Fournet, Broadway’s lead post-conviction attorney, had a heated exchange at the Nov. 15 hearing with state District Judge Mike Erwin. The judge did not preside over Broadway’s trial but is handling his latest appeal.

While Lorenzi was testifying, Fournet accused Erwin of not conducting a fair and impartial hearing — drawing an immediate “I resent that” from the longtime judge.

Lorenzi, after testifying he has handled 40 death penalty cases but taken only one to trial, was asked by Burns if he has ever testified that an attorney effectively represented a capital murder defendant.

“I don’t think so,’’ he answered, later telling Erwin he is not anti-death penalty.

The judge questioned Fournet, asking, “Why would you bring me a witness who only tried one capital case?’’

Fournet called that a badge of honor for Lorenzi, “not an indictment of him.’’

“The really good capital lawyers do not try many cases,’’ she added, noting that the goal is to work for something that does not carry a possible death sentence.

Lorenzi faulted Kroenke and Randolph for, among other things, putting Broadway on the witness stand at his trial and bringing up the fact that Broadway had arrests as a juvenile and as an adult. Lorenzi said eight of Broadway’s roughly 10 juvenile arrests did not result in a conviction, and his only adult convictions were for two misdemeanors.

Lorenzi raised Burns’ and Erwin’s eyebrows when he testified he did not speak with either Kroenke or Randolph. The judge said an expert opinion should be based on “every bit of information’’ the expert can gather.

Burns, Fournet and Broadway will return to Erwin’s courtroom for a hearing in June on Broadway’s claim that his trial attorneys were also deficient at the penalty phase of his trial.

Joe Gyan Jr. covers courts for The Advocate. He can be reached at [e-mail].