close
close

Shooter of manslaughter and triple attempted murder in 2009 is convicted again and released

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – The man who pleaded guilty to killing David Handy and shooting three other people in 2009 has been released from prison despite an original sentence of 40 years.

Orleans Parish records show Terrance Burton pleaded guilty to three counts of manslaughter and attempted first-degree murder in 2014. Court records show a surviving victim described him entering a party and opening fire.

According to court records, his sentence was re-arranged on May 10, 2024. According to Department of Corrections records, he was released from prison on May 25, 2024.

Burton's case is one of several that Fox 8 has discovered in recent months as part of an ongoing investigation into the use of post-conviction mitigation practices in Orleans Parish.

Former Orleans Parish District Attorney Laura Rodrigue provided Fox 8 with a list of potentially relevant cases, including Burton's. She is the daughter of former Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro.

On her Instagram page BayouMamaBears, she commented on the decisions made by her father's successor, Jason Williams, regarding post-conviction appeals.

Rodrigue briefly represented Cannizzaro's office in Burton's case.

“You won’t see a case where it would be much worse in terms of violence than this,” she said.

Former Orleans Parish Assistant District Attorney Jason Napoli was involved in Burton's prosecution. He wrote to Fox 8 that he believes District Attorney Liz Murrill's office should look into how Burton was released. He was not immediately available for an interview.

“I believe former Assistant District Attorney Jason Napoli is disturbed that this case has been overturned. I believe there are several former Assistant District Attorneys who are learning that convictions that they spent a lot of time and effort on are somehow falling by the wayside,” Rodrigue said.

Williams' civil rights team argued that Burton's 40-year sentence without parole, release or suspension was illegal. It also asked the court to open sentencing on the three counts of attempted murder.

Rodrigue disagreed with the department's legal argument and said at least the convictions for the attempted murders should stand.

“Even if one believes their argument that the technical problem in Count 1 needed to be corrected, that does not justify why they withdrew the plea on Counts 2, 3 and 4,” she said.

In addition, the records show that the department argued that Handy's mother and sister agreed to a reduced sentence. Two of the three surviving victims did not object to a reduced sentence, while the third could not be contacted.

Fox 8 contacted Handy's mother, but she declined an interview.

“The impact on the victim is certainly important and is always taken into account by the prosecutor. But we also expect that because the prosecutor has sworn an oath to uphold the law,” Rodrigue said.

She also described Williams' previous role as defense attorney for Burton's co-defendant Jamal Sullivan as a conflict.

A spokesman for Williams said he was unavailable for discussion of post-conviction appeals on Thursday (15 August).

The office released a statement saying:

“New Orleans is known to be a special case when it comes to resolving unjust and erroneous convictions. We lead the world in the number of wrongful convictions and acquittals, meaning that historically we have frequently convicted the wrong person and let the guilty go free.

The District Attorney stated that if elected by the people of New Orleans, whom he represents, he would allow New Orleans courts to review and remedy past post-conviction injustices when reasonable doubt arises about the fairness of the conviction or sentence. The District Attorney's post-conviction position is the position of the law. We firmly believe in the rule of law and adhere to it.

In every case involving victims, we have undertaken an exceptional level of victim education and engagement.

Certain groups have tried and will continue to try to use misinformation to disparage the real work we do to achieve results for victims and families and to help build healthier communities in this city while relying on fairness and the rule of law.”

Murrill's office has indicated it will explore the use of post-conviction remedies in Orleans Parish, but a spokesperson did not respond to Fox 8 about that case.

Do you see a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Click here to report it. Please include the headline.

Subscribe to Fox 8 YouTube channel.

All rights reserved.

You may also like...