Page 27 - TPA Journal January February 2025

Detective Jones recognized this description as the and possession of a firearm by a felon.
Riverside Drive Apartments, a known high crime
area. The tipster gave further insight into PJ’s With all this information, JPSO began surveil-
alleged operation, explaining that the Riverside lance of both the Riverside Drive Apartment and
Drive Apartment was PJ’s “stash house” for the Mazant Street address. In the early morning
drugs, but that most of the trafficking took place hours of April 30, 2019, Detective Carmouche
around Mazant Street because that was where PJ watched an individual (who ended up being
was from. Palma Jefferson, Sr.) exit the Mazant St. address,
get in a truck, and conduct what looked like
In order to help Detective Jones obtain the exact “hand-to-hand narcotics transactions.” At approx-
address of PJ’s apartment, the tipster offered to imately 7:15 a.m. on April 30, 2019, Detective
use video chat to direct Detective Jones. Jones watched Palma Jefferson, Jr. and his
daughter leave his apartment (6220 Riverside
With the tipster’s guidance, Detective Jones went Drive, Apartment 555) and walk toward their
to PJ’s specific apartment within the Riverside vehicle in the parking lot. Detective Jones and
Drive complex. The tipster gave detailed instruc- three other officers then decided to stop
tions to Detective Jones, including where to park, Jefferson.
which staircase to walk up, and that the apart-
ment was on the left-hand side. Further, the tip- It is here that substantial differences begin to
ster said PJ’s apartment had a blue blanket hang- emerge in the parties’ recounting of the facts.
ing in the window. Once Detective Jones reached Jefferson argues that when Detective Jones and
the outside of the apartment the tipster confirmed the other officers first approached him and his
6220 Riverside Drive, Apartment 555 as PJ’s res- daughter, the officers had their guns drawn and
idence with one hundred percent certainty. After aimed at them. He then alleges that the police
locating the apartment, the tipster expressed sur- immediately placed him in handcuffs while they
prise that JPSO had not heard of PJ previously. conducted an “investigatory stop.” This version
The tipster mentioned that the nearby Kenner of events comes specifically from Jefferson’s
Police Department had recently seized a Corvette daughter, K.J. She testified that both she and her
from PJ as part of a drug trafficking investigation father had already entered the car and put their
and put the Corvette on display. Detective Jones seatbelts on before the officers confronted them
asked Detective Carmouche to verify this infor- with guns drawn and made them get out of the
mation with the Kenner Police Department, as car. Jefferson argues this set of facts amounts to a
Detective Carmouche had worked there previous- de facto arrest without probable cause.
ly. Detective Carmouche reported back that the
Kenner Police Department had indeed recovered Alternatively, Detective Jones states that he,
a Corvette from a Palma Jefferson, Jr. Detective along with the other three officers, approached
Jones also ran the 6220 Riverside Drive, Jefferson and K.J. before they had entered the
Apartment 555 address through police databases. vehicle. Furthermore, Detective Jones claims nei-
That address came back to Palma Jefferson as ther he nor his fellow officers pointed firearms at
well. This name corresponds with the “PJ” nick- Jefferson or his daughter. Rather, Detective Jones
name mentioned by the tipster. Palma Jefferson introduced himself to Jefferson as a narcotics
was also associated in police databases with an investigator for JPSO, asked if they could talk,
address on the 2300 block of Mazant Street, fur- and informed Jefferson of his Miranda rights.
ther corroborating the tipster’s information. A According to Detective Jones, Jefferson made
police database also showed that Palma clear he understood his Miranda rights. Detective
Jefferson, Jr. had recently finished serving parole Jones then noted that Jefferson began looking
for possession with intent to distribute narcotics, nervously from side to side as if looking for an

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