Louisiana State Police release videos from 2019 in-custody death of Ronald Greene

Bodycam video from police officers at the scene of his fatal encounter was released to media outlets over this past week without state police approval, Davis said.

The autopsy lists Greene’s cause of death as “cocaine induced agitated delirium complicated by motor vehicle collision, physical struggle, inflicted head injury, and restraint,” according to the report, obtained from a source with knowledge of the investigation.

New video appears to show different perspective

The new video, obtained by CNN before its release by state police, appears to show a different perspective from the scene than recordings previously released by The Associated Press.

A trooper who appears to be a supervisor is seen arriving at the scene after Greene has been detained, and appears to praise the troopers, though it’s not clear why or what he knew about the incident at the time.

“You all did a good job, you all called it out, did a good job,” he says.

He asks if the troopers are OK, and one is heard to say, “Yes sir, just wiping the blood off me.”

Greene’s damaged vehicle can be seen behind where an officer is standing over him.

Greene is lying on the ground screaming and moaning when a trooper is heard telling Greene not to turn over.

“Lay on your belly, lay on your belly” says the trooper.

“Yes sir,” says Greene.

With Greene now propped up against a trooper’s leg, one asks him why he ran from police.

“All you did is speed a little bit and run a red light,” the trooper says.

“I was just tired,” Greene answers.

Greene ends up face first on the ground, moaning with two troopers holding him, a trooper says, “I was going to sit him up, but I didn’t want him spitting blood all over us.”

Greene is not visible in most of the 30-minute video. In the moments where Greene is visible, he doesn’t appear to be resisting police.

In parts of the video that show Greene, no troopers appear to be attempting to provide medical support.

According to the family’s lawsuit, a trooper called for an ambulance, and emergency technicians determined that Greene was in cardiac arrest after they arrived at the scene and found him unresponsive.

Medical personnel are eventually visible on scene about halfway through the portion of video obtained by CNN.

While earlier in the new bodycam footage Greene can be heard moaning, he is not audible when he is taken from the scene on a gurney.

Two troopers involved in the incident were reprimanded for their actions that night two years ago, including not following procedures for body-worn cameras.

Trooper Dakota DeMoss has been notified of the department’s intent to fire him and remains on leave “pending the conclusion of disciplinary proceedings, related to a separate excessive use of force investigation.”

Trooper Kory York completed a 50-hour suspension and returned to duty pending the outcome of the review by federal and state authorities.

CNN has reached out to an attorney for DeMoss but has not heard back. On Wednesday, York’s attorney, Jay Adams, told CNN, “We have no comment on this pending litigation at this time.”

Autopsy says it is uncertain how Greene was injured

The autopsy, prepared by the Union Parish Coroner’s Office, states in its opinion section that lacerations of Greene’s head were “inconsistent with motor vehicle collision injury and most consistent with multiple impacts from a blunt object.”

The report notes that “no written incident report was provided despite requests,” and that “no detailed information regarding the motor vehicle collision … was provided. It also notes that “no emergency services medical records were provided” to the coroner’s office.

“Whether this injury is due to trauma from the motor vehicle collision, subsequent struggle, or is resuscitative in nature cannot be stated with certainty. These findings can be associated with motor vehicle collision, but may also be seen in other circumstances, including inflicted injury during a struggle and/or related to resuscitative efforts (CPR),” the report said.

There were significant levels of cocaine and alcohol in Greene’s blood, the report says.

The AP reported last year that Union Parish Coroner Renee Smith said Greene’s death was ruled accidental and was attributed to cardiac arrest.

CNN has reached out to the coroner’s office for comment on the report. The autopsy does not list the manner of death (accidental, homicide, natural causes, suicide or undetermined).

Family feels it got the runaround

His family says they have not been given a chance to grieve him.

“I haven’t processed what happened to him, if there’s even such a way of properly processing,” his mother Mona Hardin told CNN’s Don Lemon on Thursday.

Greene’s family says police initially told them he died on impact when his car crashed on May 10, 2019, after a police pursuit.

Greene’s sister, Alana Wilson, said she saw the initial batch of videos for the first time on Wednesday. She told CNN’s Chris Cuomo that authorities have sent the family on a “runaround” since his death, never giving them correct or full information.

“I’m still on the hunt and on a chase for justice for my brother,” Wilson said. “I can’t even grieve my brother properly knowing that they did this to an innocent human being.”

The incident involved “a cover-up on many levels,” she said, and the family is calling for accountability from everyone involved, particularly the officers who Hardin said “allowed him to just slowly die on the spot.”

“What these guys did to my son and the cover-up that ensued behind all that … someone has to stay focused, and my family will,” said Hardin, who told CNN Friday she first saw the video at the invitation of Louisiana’s governor last year. “What they did to Ronnie, they have to pay the penalties.”

Crash report doesn’t mention struggle; separate document says investigation into death started that day

The initial crash report from state police made no mention of troopers using force or arresting Greene.

That crash report said two troopers pursued a vehicle being driven by Greene following an attempt to pull him over for an unspecified traffic violation, and the pursuit ended when Greene crashed his vehicle.

A separate state police document noted that the Louisiana State Police Criminal Investigations Division was called about an hour after the crash to investigate Greene’s in-custody death.

That document — an initial complaint by the investigations division — says “Greene was taken into custody after resisting arrest and a struggle with troopers.”

“A short time later Greene became unresponsive and was transported to Glenwood Medical Center by Pafford Medical Service,” the initial complaint reads.

He died on the way to the hospital, the initial complaint reads.

In May 2020, Greene’s daughter filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit against seven law enforcement officers that said Greene was “brutalized by Louisiana State Police and Union Parish Deputy Officers which caused his death.” The lawsuit alleged officers “used lethal force” against him.

Hardin, Greene’s mother, told CNN Thursday that two investigative officers told the family shortly after the death that Greene crashed into a tree during a pursuit.

The lawsuit alleges “one officer told Greene’s mother that he had been killed immediately after hitting a tree.”

The lawsuit said an initial report from the Glenwood Medical Center listed the principal cause of Greene’s death as cardiac arrest. He was also diagnosed with an “unspecified injury of head,” according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also cites a GCM emergency room physician who allegedly noted that differing accounts about what happened to Greene did not “add up.”

“Upon obtaining more history from different law enforcement personnel, history seems to be disjointed and does not add up. Different versions are present,” the lawsuit quotes the physician as saying.

“Family states they were told by law enforcement that patient died on impact with (tree) immediately after motor vehicle accident, but law enforcement state to me that patient for [sic] out of the car and was running and involved in a fight and struggle” and was “tased 3 times.”