By Paul Purpura, NOLA.com | The
Times-Picayune
A former Jefferson Parish
deputy whose 2013 run-in with Sheriff's Office narcotics agents put him on five
years' of probation for a felony traffic offense has had another brush with the
law. Albert Morris Jr., 49, was arrested at his Old Jefferson home Wednesday
night on narcotics and domestic violence charges, jail and court records show.
He also was accused of
violating his probation, in part because of the 108 guns and "large
amounts of ammunition including various smoke and gas grenades" hidden at
his home in the 800 block of Shrewsbury Road, according to a court record.
Morris' probation officer, Patrick O'Brien, filed a request Friday in the 24th
Judicial District Court to ask a judge
to revoke his probation. If granted, Morris could face 15 years in prison.
Morris was placed on five
years' probation after pleaded guilty in July to aggravated obstruction of a
highway. That stemmed from his chasing a narcotics agent involved in an
undercover investigation off his Old Jefferson property on Oct. 10. Morris
caught the agent investigating vehicles parked at Morris' property, which
includes four apartments over ground floor businesses.
His son, Albert S. Morris, 22,
was convicted Tuesday of several misdemeanors for helping Morris in the chase.
It ended in a parking lot at Jefferson Highway and Shrewsbury Road.
Morris testified Tuesday during
his son's trial that the narcotics agents were lying about him. He denied
knowing he was chasing an undercover officer, and he said he was skeptical that
the unmarked cars with police lights that were behind him during the chase were
law enforcement vehicles.
When the chase ended, the
narcotics agents said, Morris emerged from his car with a pistol. Morris denied
it and said he was getting his vehicle license and registration information
when "I was assaulted by men with guns," who pushed him to the ground
and kicked him in the back of his head and face, he testified.
"I think I got some
hits," he said. "Nothing real big on my body."
Judge John Molaison of the 24th
Judicial District, who presided over Tuesday's trial, said he found Morris'
testimony "incredible." He described it as "verbally sparring
with the assistant DA" who cross-examined Morris.
Morris remained in the parish
jail Friday His bonds on the domestic abuse battery, false imprisonment and
ecstasy possession total $8,500. However, he has no bond set on the probation
hold. He had not yet retained an attorney, his former lawyers said.
His latest arrest followed a
tip to authorities from a person who is not identified in court records.
Probation officers and Sheriff's Office narcotics agents and street crimes
deputies went to Morris' home about 7 p.m. and found one gram of Ecstacy in a
plastic bag "in plain view" on his bedroom nightstand, according to
an arrest report.
The Sheriff's Office also
booked him with domestic abuse battery and false imprisonment involving his
girlfriend. And because he was on probation, he wasn't supposed to have the
weapons.
A judge had given Morris until
Oct. 16 to remove the weapons from his home. On Wednesday, he told his
probation officers in a text message that he and his son had done so, O'Brien
wrote in the probation revocation request.
During the search Wednesday,
probation officers found the weapons "secretly hidden" in a large
tool chest, obscured by carpet and plywood underneath a staircase leading to
the upper-floor apartments, court records show. The Sheriff's Office seized the
weapons.
Probation officers also accuse
Morris of breaking the rules by "failing to refrain from consorting with
disreputable persons," because of his association with people with
criminal histories. He also hasn't submitted to random drug screens, his
probation officer says.
Morris has testified he was a
deputy for 19 years. Court records show he was investigated for suspicion of
rape and later charged in court with extortion, leading then-Sheriff Harry Lee
to fire him.
He was acquitted of extortion
and sued to get his job back. A federal jury in 2000 sided with Morris and
awarded him $5,000 in punitive damages and $47,000 in lost wages and back pay.
Three years later, a federal judge ordered the Sheriff's Office also to pay $31,500
for Morris' legal fees and interest.
