FROM
LOUISIANA WEEKLY
January 23, 2006

Black Woman Won't Be Prosecuted for Katrina 'Looting'

(AP) - A church deaconess and great-grandmother jailed for two weeks after
being accused of looting sausage during Hurricane Katrina will not be
prosecuted.

Merlene Maten, 73, learned of the decision Wednesday when she appeared in
court for her arraignment, said her attorney, Daniel Becnel III.

Kenner police spokesperson Capt. James Gallagher said he was surprised the
charge was refused.

"We thought it was a valid case, but we don't have any control over what the
DA does," he said.

Maten had evacuated New Orleans with her disabled 80-year-old husband to a
hotel in suburban Kenner. On Aug. 30, the day after Katrina hit, police
arrested her, saying they saw her carrying beer and sausage out of a looted
store.

But Maten said she was retrieving clothing and sausage from the trunk of her
car in the hotel's parking lot. Family and eyewitnesses insisted she had not
been looting and said the officers cuffed her in frustration, unable to
catch younger looters.

The looting charge alleged she took $63.50 in goods from a deli. Her bail
had been set at $50,000, and she was taken to the state women's prison,
being used as a temporary jail in the wake of Katrina.

Despite intervention from advocates for the elderly, volunteer lawyers from
the Federal Emergency Management Agency and a private attorney, the family
fought a futile battle for 16 days to get her freed.

A judge ordered Maten freed on her own recognizance Sept. 16, hours after
her plight was featured in an Associated Press story.