Former Jeanerette Police Officer Convicted of Two Counts of Aggravated Battery

      New Iberia, Louisiana:  On February 28, 2019, Emmanuel Butts, Jr., a former Jeanerette Police Officer, was convicted of two counts of aggravated battery stemming from an altercation between he and a former Jeanerette Marshal.  During the altercation which took place on September 29, 2016, Butts hit the former Marshal in the back of the head with a portable police radio, sprayed him with mace, and later retrieved an aluminum baseball bat from the trunk of his patrol unit and struck the victim on the arm with it.  The entire altercation took place in the parking lot of the Jeanerette Police Department and was captured on surveillance footage as well as the defendant's own body camera.  Butts was originally charged with three counts of aggravated battery.  The jury unanimously convicted him of two of the three counts.  The Honorable Judge Lewis Pitman presided over the trial which was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney, Alister Charrier.  The case was investigated by the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office, Detective D. Hughes and the defendant was represented by Harry Daniels, III.  Butts is set for sentencing before Judge Pitman on May 8, 2019.  Each count of aggravated battery has a sentencing range of up to ten years.