CRIMINAL DIVISION

The Criminal Division of the District Attorney’s Office consists of four trial attorneys who handle the felony and misdemeanor case load in Franklin, Richland and West Carroll Parishes. In addition, the District Attorney’s Office deals with juvenile criminal matters, and non-support criminal matters in its juvenile and child support sections, which are highlighted in another area of this web page.

District Attorney Coenen heads a team of four talented attorneys with many years of experience in the criminal courts. Franklin Parish is headed by Johnny Boothe, a 15 year veteran of the criminal courtroom, who has handled many very serious cases in Franklin Parish since becoming an Assistant District Attorney in 1992. Penny W. Douciere (18 years) and K. Douglas Wheeler (7 years) handle prosecutions in Richland Parish. Douciere became an Assistant District Attorney in 1989, and handled all felony and misdemeanor cases, while Wheeler, who had a number of years of experience on the Indigent Defendant Board in Ouachita Parish, took over the felony division in Richland Parish in 2000. Douciere, at that point, assumed the role of handling misdemeanors and heads the criminal appeals division which is highlighted in another section of this web page. Both attorneys bring years of valuable experience in prosecuting felonies and misdemeanors in Richland Parish. John M. Lancaster has served with the District Attorney's Office since 1984 (23 years) as the head of the West Carroll Parish District Attorney’s Office, where he handles all felonies and misdemeanors. Lancaster has handled many serious and significant cases in the West Carroll Parish area including several highly publicized homicide cases and his training and experience have been invaluable to the criminal justice system in the Fifth Judicial District.

The Fifth Judicial District has 18 criminal jury terms per year (6 in each parish), and has additional days for the trials and hearings related to misdemeanors and juvenile offenses and handling of pre-trial motions and hearings in order to better accommodate the public and move cases along. More information on the criminal divisions can be obtained by contacting one of the offices listed in the Office Locations portion of this web site.