Although the nigh 8-year circus over at City Hall is well into its final act, it seems set on a strong finish. Queue the carousel music…
Rafael Goyeneche, President of the Metropolitan Crime Commission, joined the show to update listeners on Mayor Cantrell’s appeal case with Anne Breaud, the woman who photographed Cantrell’s infamous dinner with then-NOPD officer Jeffery Vappie.
“The mayor is digging a deeper hole for herself and the taxpayers of New Orleans,” Goyeneche says of recent developments.
So what’s exactly happening? To get to the present, first, let’s unearth a bit of the past.
For a quick refresher, Anne Breud, a French Quarter resident, provided pictures of that dinner to the crime commission in April of 2024. Upon receiving the photos, the commission filed a complaint with the Public Integrity Bureau of the NOPD on Officer Vappies' misconduct.
Goyeneche reminds us that Mayor Cantrell contacted the police department and accused Breaud of stalking her. The mayor filed a police report, and during the investigation, obtained Breaud’s driver’s license, social security number, and other information that was restricted for law enforcement purposes only.
Using that information, the mayor filed a petition for a protective order in civil district court.
The matter was tried before a judge who unceremoniously dissolved the restraining order and ordered Cantrell to pay Breaud’s attorney $15,000 for the cost of the accusation. The court concluded that the mayor’s petition was baseless and a misrepresentation of facts.
That brings us to the recent updates. On June 9th, Cantrell lost in the appeals court.
Goyeneche explains, “What we didn’t know was that the mayor decided to appeal. She filed that petition as LaToya Cantrell, not Mayor LaToya Cantrell. She filed as a private citizen.”
When the mayor had to appear in civil district court, she was represented by her private criminal defense attorney, Eddie Castaing, and the city attorney’s office. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals reviewed the mayor's pleadings and upheld the lower court's dismissal of Cantrell’s petition. They ordered her to pay an additional $8,000 in attorney fees for the cost of Breaud’s attorney to defend this appeal.
Cantrell now owes Anne Breud over $23,000 to Breaud in legal expenses.
Goyeneche explains, “Now legal interest is accruing, and that's a debt the mayor owes from her own personal funds. But in some way, the city of New Orleans and the city's attorney's office are now defending the mayor in conjunction with her private criminal defense attorney. So not only is this costing the mayor personally, but also the taxpayers of the city.”
Here’s the icing on the $23,000 cake: It’s not over yet. There’s another lawsuit that's pending.
“After Anne Breaud won, and the mayor's petition was dismissed in civil district court, she filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court. Breaud is alleging that her constitutional rights were violated by the mayor and by the police department that shared privileged information with the mayor that should not have been available to a private citizen,” Goyeneche explains.
“It's very likely that Anne Breuad will be successful in proving her case,” Goyeneche says, “which would mean that the taxpayers of the city of New Orleans are likely to have to pay a settlement to Breaud and her attorneys for the mayor's misconduct.”
I’ve said it countless times on my show, but Goyeneche put it better than I can when he says, “This is the mayor using her own distorted sense of authority. She believes that she can do whatever she wants to whomever. What she did to Anne Breaud was really unconscionable and is an attempt to silence and intimidate anyone who would dare take a photograph of her out in public doing anything inappropriate.”
Of course, who's left to foot the bill? The taxpayer.
Goyeneche explains, “ The mayor has a criminal defense attorney representing her. But added to that now is the city attorney's office, and potentially the taxpayers of the city of New Orleans are going to be responsible for defending the city in a federal lawsuit.”
That’s the rub. As you’ve been at work this week, likely dropping your hard-earned dollars into City Hall's personal litigation fund, she’s off somewhere in Florida for what seems to be her never-ending cascade of mayors’ conferences.