KPLC 7 News, Lake Charles, Louisiana |January 14th: Rideau's Mother Takes the Stand

January 14th: Rideau's Mother Takes the Stand

January 14, 2005
Reported by: Theresa Schmidt

Another first in this 4th trial of Wilbert Rideau, accused in the 1961 murder of Lake Charles bank teller Julia Ferguson. Rideau's mother took the stand to help him in his defense. The defense is trying to show that the white community was inflamed, resulting in an atmosphere that prevented fairness for Rideau.

Wilbert Rideau's defense portrays Lake Charles in 1961 as a hotbed of racism... a segregated community where blacks and whites didn't mix and one in which a black man's killing of a white woman inflamed the white community.

Wilbert Rideau's mother, Gladys Simien, took the stand to help her son. She says deputies brought her to the jail where there was a crowd of angry white men who were, in her words, "...cursing, saying they were going to hang that nigger and kill him and shoot him." As well, the jury hears from Jackie Lewis who was 14 years old and says after learning of Rideau's arrest, her father and others felt it necessary to protect their families' lives and property. Lewis says "My father got a gun I never knew he even owned and our neighborhood was overrun by people filled with hatred and violence and wanting to wreak havoc on the African-American community. There were crosses burned on Brick Street. There were crosses burned on Iowa Street in about a three block area. If one black committed a crime then we all committed a crime and we all should pay."

However District Attorney Rick Bryant does not believe Lewis' is an accurate account of what happened: Bryant counters by saying "There's a small segment of our community that wants to insinuate that somehow this is some bastion of hatred and i'm very proud of our parish. Obviously, everything was not right. We had segregation. We had things we're not proud of but I can say this... nothing that these people are trying to bring up is at all accurate in what really happened in the lives of people who live in our community."  He also says it has nothing to do with Wilbert Rideau's guilt.

The defense hopes to persuade the jury that Wilbert Rideau should be convicted of manslaughter instead of murder so that he can get credit for time served and be set free. The defense is not yet finished putting on its case, but court has recessed for the day. The trial continues at nine Saturday morning.