RSS Feed
March 9th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Bourbon Street bar manager hauled into court over the volume of music from the club he runs was found not guilty Thursday by a New Orleans city judge.
Police said amplified music pouring out of the club “Bourbon Live” last November could be heard a block away and drowned out the voices on officers’ radios when they stood outside the club. But Patrick Klotz, defense lawyer for manager Justin Fitzpatrick, complained that police didn’t use noise meters to get an objective measure of the noise.
City lawyers argued Thursday that no such reading was needed because Fitzpatrick was charged not with noise violations but with using loudspeakers to draw customers into the club — a charge Klotz said the city was reading too broadly. If the law could be used against Bourbon Live, it could be used against almost any Bourbon Street bar, he argued.
Ad hoc municipal Judge John Blanchard pronounced Fitzpatrick not guilty following testimony from police, Fitzpatrick and Bourbon Live owner Anthony P. Marullo — who said police orders to reduce volume at the club were always obeyed.
The judge did not state his reasons. While the lack of objective noise readings was an issue, Klotz also noted a possible wrong date on the citation issued last November as a reason to dismiss the misdemeanor charge against Fitzpatrick.
Neither the police nor City Hall officials commented directly on the Blanchard ruling but a city spokesman noted that efforts are under way to address growing contentiousness over noise.
“The administration is working with Councilmember Kristin Gisleson Palmer to amend the current sound ordinance to ensure it is more easily enforceable,” Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s spokesman, Ryan Berni, said in an email.
Thursday’s trial occurred as residents of the French Quarter and other New Orleans neighborhoods continue to press for a reduction in noise from music clubs in the city. Another Bourbon Street bar is the subject of a petition from nearby residents and is set for a hearing on the possible suspension of its license.
“Clearly, the issue of how noise is monitored and who is responsible for doing that is relevant to the discussion,” Meg Lousteau, of the Vieux Carre Property Owners, Residents and Associates, said in a prepared statement issued by the organization Hear the Music Stop the Noise.
Raucous Bourbon Street bars have long coexisted with residences in the historic French Quarter. But residents say the noise problem has grown in recent years as some clubs use loudspeakers, either outdoors or aimed outdoors, to blast music.
Related posts:
Views: 0
Posted in 
Tags: 
