Chappaquiddick on Bayou St. John – New Orleans, La.
Michelle M. Haensel Memorial Web Site
INFORMATION PRESENTED AT THE TRIAL
November 27 - 30, 1995 New Orleans, LA.
Jury Voir Dire and selection began at
Orleans Parish Criminal Court on November 27, 1997. A six member jury with one
alternate was selected and seated in Section 'F' of Orleans Parish Criminal Court,
Judge Dennis J. Waldron presiding. The State presented
23 witnesses.
Mr. Nabors called
2 witnesses
, Robert Watts, PhD a Tulane University professor, and John Regal, a retired
Louisiana State Trooper.
Mr. Nabors did not testify at his trial.
Attorneys
Greg Kennedy and Sharon Andrews of the New Orleans District Attorney's office
represented the State Of Louisiana. Attorneys John Wilson Reed and Michael
Carbo represented the defendant, Christopher C. Nabors, M.D., D.D.S., PhD.
The Honorable Judge Dennis J. Waldron presided over the trial.
Trial
testimony revealed incidents at Parkway Tavern on Canal Boulevard late in the
evening of February 16, 1996. Mr. Nabors was at the Tavern with LSU Medical School
friends. During the evening he got into an argument with a customer at the
Tavern. During the encounter, he told an off duty NOPD officer that he was a doctor and he could have the policeman
fired. Mr. Nabors also told the NOPD
officer that he had better never come to the Charity Hospital emergency room while
he was on duty. Mr. Nabors offered no witnesses to refute this testimony.
Testimony
also revealed that Mr. Nabors’ 1990 red Eagle Talon vehicle departed the
Tavern about 1:30 AM at a very high rate of speed and went northbound on Canal
Boulevard. It is believed the vehicle entered the west side of City Park near
Tad Gormley stadium and traveled through the park to Fredricks Street on the
east side of City Park. Fredricks Street prior to
Hurricane Katrina, was the point of entry for the
Celebration in the Oaks holiday event each year in City Park. It was calculated by experts
that Mr. Nabors was driving the vehicle east bound on Fredricks Street at
speeds in excess of 52 MPH when the front wheels of his vehicle struck the east
curb of the T intersection at Wisner Boulevard. At the moment of impact, the
vehicle became airborne and vaulted over 100
feet in the air until it landed in the center of Bayou St. John. An eyewitness
stated that it looked like a stunt car in a movie when he saw the car in the
air. Mr. Nabors presented no fact witnesses. Mr. Nabors did call 2 expert
witnesses to the stand.
Mr. Nabors experts
presented a theory that had the Eagle Talon vehicle lumbering into the edge of
the bayou, then floating like a City
Park swan boat to the
center of the bayou where it sank to the bottom. This theory was in
direct conflict with testimony from an eyewitness.
One
resident on the Bayou reported that she heard the impact of the vehicle
striking the curb and noted that the time was 1:52 AM. She rushed outside and
was told by an eyewitness to call 911. The 911 call was logged in at 1:53 AM.
The elapsed time from the moment Mr. Nabors departed the Parkway Tavern at a
high rate of speed with his victim until the vehicle entered Bayou St. John at
approximately 52 MPH as stated at trial was 22 minutes. The 2 mile distance from the Tavern to the
Bayou can be traveled in 6 minutes when driving 20 MPH or 4 minutes when
driving 30 MPH. Mr. Nabors was driving much faster than these speeds based on
eyewitness testimony. Mr. Nabors and his guest passenger , Shelly Haensel,
remained in a dark, deserted part of City Park for a minimum of 16 minutes. Mr. Nabors
has never testified about the events which occurred during these 16 minutes.
Testimony
also revealed that Mr. Nabors had removed and escaped through the vehicle's
sunroof, was visible on the surface of the water immediately after the vehicle
sank, and was calling for help. It was stated in court that Mr. Nabors probably
stepped on his victim when he exited the vehicle through the small sun roof
opening in his Talon sports car. He was repeatedly asked by eyewitnesses and
rescue workers if he was all right and if anyone else was in the vehicle but
would not respond except for his calls for help. Mr. Nabors would stop moving
when asked this question. For some unknown reason, Mr. Nabors remained on the
water surface above the vehicle's location for some time until New Orleans
Police officer Donald Clogher swam to the center of Bayou St. John and rescued
him. There was no rescue attempt for the victim, Shelly Haensel. During the
salvage of the vehicle four hours later, Shelly Haensel was found partially
through the sun roof of the vehicle. When Mr. Nabors reached the banks of the
Bayou he still was not responding to questions about passengers in his vehicle.
According to testimony by New Orleans
Police, Mr. Nabors did tell
everyone that he had screwed up, that his insurance rates were going up, and
that he needed to go to work the next day in order to purchase a new car.
Finally, after he was safely on shore and just before EMT's delivered him to
his friends at Charity Hospital, Mr. Nabors told rescue workers and EMT’s
at the crime scene that maybe someone was in the vehicle, maybe two people. Mr.
Nabors presented no witnesses to refute the testimony and has never denied the
statements.
Mr. Nabors
was taken to Charity
Hospital in New Orleans for
treatment. He worked at
Charity Hospital as an LSU
Medical School intern. He was treated at Charity Hospital by LSU Medical School residents.
New
Orleans Police officers went to Charity Hospital to discuss the incident with Mr.
Nabors. They
testified that when they asked Mr. Nabors
if it was his car in the Bayou, Mr. Nabors responded "What vehicle are you
referring to, I have several". They also
testified that when they asked Mr. Nabors
if he knew the victim, he responded "I
don't know the bitch's name." Mr. Nabors presented no witnesses to
refute trial testimony and has not denied any of the statements presented
during the pre-trial hearings or trial.
When EMT's
delivered Mr. Nabors for treatment at Charity Hospital's emergency room, they
were told by LSU
Medical School residents to "leave the room" even though they
normally assisted the residents in these emergency situations. Trial records
indicate that Mr. Nabors injury consisted of a bruise. Records also indicate
that the LSU Medical
School residents at Charity Hospital had at least two known IV's attached to Mr.
Nabors immediately after his arrival at Charity which remained even as the NOPD
blood test sample was drawn by Dr. Leland Cornelius Lenahan, III
nearly 2 hours and 20 minutes after the homicide.
It was also learned through records that blood samples destined for drug,
narcotics, and
alcohol content testing in the Charity Hospital laboratory met with a lab accident of
unknown circumstances. Testimony also revealed that no replacement tests were
ordered. According to official records, when Mr. Nabors' vehicle was removed
from Bayou St. John, the EMT's waiting at the scene for Shelly Haensel were
given the do not
resuscitate order by LSU
Medical School residents at Charity Hospital.
It was
learned through trial testimony that an autopsy was performed
on Shelly Haensel by Dr. William Newman,
an LSU Medical School instructor in the teaching program that Mr. Nabors was enrolled
in. The autopsy was performed at 9:00 AM on February 17, 1995.
At 6:00 AM on the morning of the homicide,
the Orleans Parish Coroner's Office would not allow the victim's family to view
Shelly Haensel's body for identification even though the family was summoned from
their home by telephone for this purpose. The autopsy was performed over the protest of the
family. The
Orleans Parish Coroner's Office refused to release the
autopsy report for several months after the
homicide.
On February
18, 1995, Mr. Nabors was released from Charity Hospital. Records imply he was arrested by
NOPD. The Orleans Parish District attorney's office requested a $100,000 bond.
In an act of kindness , this amount was reduced by
magistrate Jacob Sciambre to help Mr. Nabors. Then in another act of kindness,
magistrate Jacob Sciambre
released
Mr. Nabors
on his signature
without any cash, surety, visible assets, or other known assets. This faux
bond remained in effect until December 5, 1995. On March 8, 1995, Mr.
Nabors purchased his new vehicle, a white Ford Ranger truck with the words
Splash
prominently
displayed on three sides of the vehicle. The truck was seen numerous times
around town and parked at criminal court each time a hearing was conducted and
during the 4 day trial which ended with a verdict of guilty of vehicular
homicide on November 30, 1995.
The trial
started on November 27, 1995. The state presented 23 witnesses. Dr.
Nabors presented no fact witnesses to refuted testimony by state fact witness testimony and did not testify at the trial. The jury
decision on November 30, 1995 was a unanimous guilty verdict. Judge Waldron
allowed Dr. Nabors to remain free on his signature bond pending a bond hearing on December 5,
1995.
On December
5, 1995, the trial judge conducted a bond hearing in criminal court. At 9:00 AM.
Dr. Nabors
faux
bond was revoked and he was placed in Orleans Parish Prison. The
trial judge ordered a pre-sentencing investigation from the Louisiana
Department of Corrections and set a sentencing hearing date of February 15,
1996. After Dr. Nabors was placed in Orleans Parish Prison, the LSU Medical School and LSU Dental
School leadership wrote letters to the judge on LSU stationary
stating their close relationship and personal knowledge of the convicted felon
and asking for leniency so that their doctor would not have to serve jail time.
After all, he was an LSU
Medical School doctor.
On February
15, 1996, the sentencing hearing was conducted. The LSU Medical School and LSU Dental
School leadership including many notable medical doctors and dentist
were in attendance. Two of Dr. Nabors LSU
Medical School classmates testified. Dr. Jack Kruse and Ms. Kimberly Meng (Dr. Nabors roommate), testified regarding Dr. Nabors
remorse and that the
Splash
truck actually had
no meaning. After 363 days, Dr. Nabors finally spoke at his sentencing. From his statement and
his letter to the trial judge, it was determined that he had started drinking
at the Pegasus Mardi Gras club party at Ernst Café in New Orleans, then
at Lucy's Bar in New Orleans, and continued to drink all evening at Parkway
Tavern and ParFours both located on Canal Boulevard in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Contrary to what his attorneys repeatedly told the jurors in court during the
four day trial, Dr. Nabors said he was drunk and was apparently in an alcoholic
blackout at the time he drove his vehicle into Bayou St. John. He could only
recall exculpatory statements while on the witness stand. According to the Times
Picayune newspaper report, Dr. Nabors described himself as a 'raging alcoholic'.
In response to the
State's question as to who treated him at Charity Hospital, Dr. Nabors
responded that
Dr. Jean Friday, Dr. Dan Diacco, and Dr. Leland Lenahan,
all LSU Medical School
residents, treated him when he arrived at the emergency room.
After
hearing all oral presentations and reading over
125 letters sent to the Court's
attention regarding the case, the trial court judge delivered his reasons for
sentencing. The judge stated that Dr. Nabors apparent lack of concern and
respect for the victim were major considerations in his deliberations. The judge
applied the maximum sentence available under Louisiana law of 15 years imprisonment, hard time, without
benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. Dr. Nabors was
placed under the supervision of the Louisiana Department of Corrections and was
incarcerated until 2003 at Washington Correctional Institute in Angie,
Louisiana.