Two assistant district attorneys from Caddo Parish are special prosecutors in the case of the "Angola Five" -- inmates at the Louisiana State Penitentiary who are accused of killing a corrections officer.
A pretrial hearing is underway in state district court in St. Francisville, where a judge will decide whether to throw out statements made by the inmates, who face first-degree murder charges in the December 1999 death of Capt. David Knapps' slaying. Prosecutors also want to use statements given by other inmates during the investigation into Knapps' death.
Caddo Assistant District Attorneys Hugo Holland and Lea Hall are part of the prosecution team. The district attorney in St. Francisville was recused from the case because he once represented one of the defendants. The districts attorney in Caddo and Jefferson parishes volunteered to provide prosecutors in the case, Holland said.
Defense attorneys say the statements should not be allowed at trial because they were made under duress.
Four prisoners testified Monday that prison guards beat them severely in the wake of Knapps' slaying. Three of the four denied being coerced when they made
statements to Angola investigators, prosecutors or lawyers in civil rights lawsuits.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against David Mathis, Robert G. Carley, Jeffrey Cameron Clark, Barry S. Edge and David Brown. All five are already serving life sentences for murder.
Knapps, 49, was beaten and stabbed to death in an educational building.
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