A Shreveport man accused of trying to disarm and attacking a police officer at the Shreveport Greyhound bus station in 2010 was convicted Thursday in Caddo District Court.
It took a seven-man, five-woman jury under 40 minutes to determine that 56-year-old Lester Harrison, attacked former Shreveport Police Officer Matthew Holloway in the August 2010 incident.
Holloway had responded to a report of an armed man refusing to leave the station and, upon arriving and attempting to pat down the suspect, was beaten in the head, face and upper body with a fist that held a three-inch pocket knife. In a scuffle that ensued after the initial attack, the armed man tried to take Holloway’s duty firearm.
Following the charge from District Judge Brady D. O’Callaghan, the jury retired at 5:40 p.m., reaching its verdict at 6:13 p.m.
Harrison was charged with attempted first-degree murder, attempted disarming of a police officer and resisting a police officer with force or violence. Harrison maintained that he was not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity.
The jury returned guilty-as-charged verdicts on the charges of attempted disarming of a police officer and resisting a police officer with force or violence. Instead of attempted attempted first-degree murder, the jury convicted Harrison of attempted manslaughter.
Harrison will return to court July 6, 2016, for post-trial motions and sentencing. For the attempted manslaughter conviction he faces 20 years in prison at hard labor. For the disarming an officer conviction, he faces a prison term of 2-1/2 years. For the resisting conviction, he faces a fine of $2,000 and imprisonment, with or without hard labor, for at least one year and up to three years.
Harrison has been arrested 24 times since 1984. Some of his convictions include simple arson from 1983, possession of crack cocaine from 1992 and 1995 and possession with the intent to distribute crack cocaine in 2008.
Prosecutors were assistant district attorneys Monique Y. Metoyer and Mekisha Smith Creal. Harrison was defended by Mary Harried.