DA Warren Montgomery reports that 70 YO Robert John Morrison of Carriere, Mississippi, was found guilty as charged by a unanimous 6-person jury of Aggravated Assault with a Firearm.
On May 3, 2020, the defendant and the 55 YO victim were participating in a pickleball game in Lacombe when they got into a verbal altercation.
The victim reported to police that the defendant said I’ve got something for you and went into his truck and pulled out a handgun. He cocked it and pointed it at the victim’s head. The victim told police that he tried to leave the scene but the defendant refused and the defendant set down the gun and pulled out a 2×4 board. The victim told the police that the defendant taunted him by telling him to pick up the firearm so he could beat him with the board.
On May 20, law enforcement arrested the defendant at the Henry J. Calamari Memorial Tennis Center in Slidell and located a gun in his tennis bag.
At trial, eyewitnesses corroborated the chain of events and testified that the victim and defendant had been in previous verbal disagreements over the sport.
District Judge William Burris presided over the trial. Assistant DA’s Iain Dover and Christina Fisher prosecuted the case. Detective Katie Ragan of the St. Tammany Sheriff’s Office handled the investigation.
Sentencing is set for January 31, 2023 where Morrison faces up to 10 years in prison.
