Controversial death penalty lawyer joins prosecution of cops in Ronald Greene case

A freelance north Louisiana prosecutor known for his controversial persona and prolific ability to obtain capital murder convictions has joined the prosecution of five police officers charged in the 2019 beating death of Black motorist Ronald Greene.

Hugo Holland, who by 2020 had under his belt at least 11 death penalty convictions in state courts, was tapped to join the Greene prosecution because of his record of winning particularly tough cases, said John Belton, the Union Parish district attorney. Belton’s office in December secured indictments from a grand jury against officers involved in Greene’s death.

“He is one of the, if not the, best prosecutors in the state of Louisiana,” Belton said in an interview. “I have a very small office compared to the larger jurisdictions…It would have been very difficult for my prosecutorial staff to handle this case with their normal daily docket.”

The addition of Holland to the high-profile case sets up an unorthodox dynamic: A so-called “circuit rider” prosecutor and vocal advocate of the death penalty who has decried justice system reform is poised to lead a rare criminal prosecution of law enforcement agents facing allegations of misconduct and excessive force.

The Shreveport lawyer, who could not immediately be reached, is controversial not only for his stance on the death penalty — which remains legal in the state although it has not been carried out in years — but also for accusations that he wrongly took payments from multiple government offices as he traveled the state prosecuting cases in different parishes. Holland has denied those accusations.

He is known for unusual antics inside and out of the courtroom, including hanging a portrait of Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan founder Nathan Bedford Forrest in his office. Holland said at the time that he simply admired Forrest as a cavalry commander.

Belton said that he was focused on Holland’s record within the court system, and not his record outside of it. The skill Holland has displayed before juries in death penalty cases, which fall among the criminal legal system’s most challenging to litigate, made him a clear choice to help with the Greene case, Belton said.

“I know him to be a prosecutor who seeks one thing, and that’s justice,” Belton said. “That’s my main focus.”

Understaffed district attorneys have enlisted Holland’s help with public corruption cases, a cold-case murder and racketeering prosecutions. But he is best known for his prowess in capital murder trials. 

In one five-year stretch, Holland and another prosecutor together secured six death sentences in Caddo, a parish of just 256,000 people — half of all death row convictions in Louisiana in that period, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, a non-profit organization that studies capital punishment. Many of those sentences have been overturned and none have been carried out.

Charges against the officers Holland will help prosecute are more than three years in the making.

Four Louisiana State Police troopers and a Union Parish sheriff’s deputy were indicted in December on malfeasance in office and obstruction of justice for their roles in Greene’s brutal beating — one of several alleged uses of excessive force against Black motorists that spurred a tangle of investigations into Louisiana State Police, including an ongoing U.S. Department of Justice civil rights probe.

Greene, 49, died in the wee hours of May 10, 2019, after troopers chased him from Monroe into West Monroe and then north into Union Parish until his car crashed. When they caught up to him, troopers beat the unarmed Greene, dragged him by his leg shackles and forced him prone on his belly until he went limp and died.

The indictment secured by Belton’s office marked the first criminal charges filed in the deadly traffic stop which became yet another flashpoint over police violence inflicted against Black people. Attorneys for the officers have maintained their innocence. 

Asked how Holland’s skill as a prosecutor in death penalty cases would translate to the Greene case, Belton said he could not discuss trial strategy.

Former staff writer Jim Mustian contributed to this report.