Cannon competent, will stand trial in shooting death of officer
By Miles Jay Oliver
The Shreveport Times
The man accused of gunning down a Shreveport Police officer was deemed mentally competent and will go to trial in 2017.
Grover D. Cannon, 29, appeared Tuesday in Caddo District Court for a sanity hearing reset from earlier this month. Following expert witness testimony, Judge Ramona Emanuel found Cannon competent to stand trial for the August 2015 shooting death of SPD officer Thomas LaValley, 29. The trial date — originally set for Feb. 6 — has been rescheduled for the summer of 2017.
A July motion to appoint a sanity commission alleged that Cannon lacked the mental capacity required by law to proceed in the matter. An order signed by Judge Emanuel appointed two doctors to conduct a mental examination of Cannon regarding his mental capacity to move forward.
Sanity commissions can be used to determine if a defendent was sane at the time of the offense or to evaluate the defendant's mental ability to continue trial proceedings.
Cannon's evaluation was not related to his sanity at the time of the offense.
According to the Caddo Parish District Attorney's office, Emanuel heard testimony from three expert witnesses before making her determination on Cannon's ability to proceed with trial.
Following a request by Cannon's defense, Cannon's February trial was reset for July 24. However, Cannon will again be in court for hearings and pending motions on March 2, the DA's office said.
Cannon is charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of LaValley, who was gunned down while responding to a call in the 3500 block of Del Rio in Shreveport.
Cannon was arrested the day after LaValley's death.
In addition to the first-degree murder charge, Cannon faces an attempted second-degree murder charge in connection with a July 2015 attack on another person. He also was charged with battery on a police officer related to a December 2015 incident in which he allegedly threw urine — stored in a milk carton — on a Caddo Correctional Center deputy who was passing out breakfast trays.
Cannon is being defended by the Capital Defense Project of Southeast Louisiana. Lead defense attorney is Kimya Holmes.
Prosecutors in the matter are Caddo ADAs Ed Blewer, Bill Edwards and Ron Stamps.
The prosecution is seeking the death penalty for the death of LaValley, who previously worked as a local sports reporter and had been with SPD since 2011.
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story...icer/94668516/
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