Desoto Parish Man Freed after Murder Charges Dismissed

Chris Hatch

Here is the full text, and a link to the latest Shreveport Times coverage by Vicki Wellborn of the dismissal of charges against our client Terrence Glaster, who was falsely accused of murder last Christmas. Mr. Glaster is represented by Senior Associate Chris Hatch.

MANSFIELD — The shooting death of a Mansfield man almost a year ago remains unsolved. And a criminal charge against an alleged shooter has been dismissed for a second time. Last month, DeSoto District Judge Robert Burgess formally dismissed an indictment handed up in March that accused Terrence Glaster, 31, of second-degree murder in the slaying Dec. 24 of LaDerrick Hadnott. Court records show no reason for the dismissal.

 

The indictment marked the second time Glaster had been accused of Hadnott’s death. He was arrested in January after Mansfield police developed him as a suspect. A grand jury in February declined to indict him, so he was freed.The panel convened the next month after Mansfield police generated more information about Hadnott’s death. Hadnott was discovered dead of a single gunshot to the head in a house on Topeka Street that he shared with a roommate.

 

Glaster’s attorney, Christopher Hatch, raised questions about the investigation and filed a pretrial motion in September seeking disclosure of grand jury testimony, particularly that of investigator Billy Locke. Hatch’s motion takes issue with information Locke provided at a previous hearing during which the detective said he saw or observed Glaster in front of a Grove Street house where a cooperating witness obtained a recording that was presented to the grand jury. “This evidence would be favorable to the defendant for impeachment purposes because it would be inconsistent with Locke’s testimony at the (preliminary examination) held on July 17, 2013, that he did not, in fact, actually see a person that he knew to be Mr. Glaster in front the Grove Street residence,” Hatch’s motion says.

Click here to go to Viki Wellborn’s Shreveport Time Special Projects Report

 

Records do not indicate the court ruled on Hatch’s motion since evidence sharing in the discovery phase was ongoing just prior to the decision by the DeSoto district attorney’s office to dismiss the indictment. Mansfield Police Chief Gary Hobbs said the investigation into Hadnott’s death is ongoing.