Senator To Begin Detention At Mom's
by Meghan Gordon - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

Dodging questions of residency in his Senate district, state Sen. Derrick Shepherd moved into his mother's Marrero house Thursday to undergo home detention until his federal trial on fraud and conspiracy charges.

Shepherd announced his housing selection in federal court after U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier gave him a tongue lashing for violating his bond during a weekend domestic violence arrest.

"I've got to say, Mr. Shepherd, this is very disturbing, your behavior since you've been on supervised released," Barbier said from the bench. "I don't know what you're thinking."

The trip was Shepherd's third to the Hale Boggs Federal Building during a weeklong public meltdown for the Democrat lawmaker. He was booked Saturday by Jefferson Parish authorities with simple battery, theft and unauthorized entry after a fight with his girlfriend, according to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, then ordered to serve home detention by a federal magistrate judge.

Answering Barbier's questions Thursday about his residency, Shepherd said he splits time among three locations, even though Jefferson Parish and federal investigators have always found him at his Stonebridge house, which is outside his 3rd Senate District.