Michael “Marlo Mike” Louding takes the stand in Boosie trial

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) – Day three of testimony in the first degree murder trial of Baton Rouge rapper Torence Hatch, a.k.a. Lil Boosie began with 19-year-old Michael “Marlo Mike” Louding taking the stand.

Prosecutors say Louding confessed to killing Terry Boyd in 2009 and that Hatch gave the order to do so. Louding has not yet gone to trial for his alleged involvement in Boyd’s death.

On the stand Monday morning, Louding said he never told law enforcement that he shot Terry Boyd, but instead, he was at Hatch’s house the night of the murder. He said Hatch and Adrienne Pittman, the accused getaway driver, never left the house. Prosecutors said in opening statements they expected Louding to lie on the stand.

On the interrogation tapes played in the courtroom, Louding at first said he wasn’t involved in the murder. A couple of days later, when asked again, he said he did go to the house where Terry Boyd was and shot him through a window. He said he then went back to Hatch’s house. He added once the phone calls came in saying Boyd was dead, Hatch paid him $2,800.

Once the tapes were played, prosecutor Dana Cummings asked Louding if his memory was refreshed. She then asked if he was telling members of the jury that he did not kill Terry Boyd.

“I never killed Terry Boyd,” Louding answered. “And, Mr. Hatch never paid me to kill Terry Boyd.”

Cummings then played two phone calls between Louding and a man identified as “Donkey.” During those phone conversations, “Donkey” told Louding he can beat this and that nobody saw anything. He told Louding to say he only brought up Hatch’s name because he was beaten and that he was told his parents would be locked up. During questioning on the stand, when Louding did say he was told his mother and stepfather would be locked up, Cummings told him, “You’re following ‘Donkey’s’ script.”

Louding said he asked several people several times for a lawyer. The defense pointed out that when Louding was read his rights, he never answered whether he understood or not.

Louding also testified that he was told by the district attorney’s office and police that Hatch was trying to kill him. He said they told him the best way for that not to happen was to get Hatch off the street. Louding said he was told by police Hatch had a $25,000 contract out on him.

Also at issue Tuesday was the length of time Louding was questioned. A detective testified Louding was picked up for terrorizing a young woman. They said he was questioned from noon until 10 p.m. on that day. But for the first seven hours of questioning, the tape recorder was never turned on. The defense said when the record button was pressed the first thing detectives said was, “Let’s get this straight.”

“He reads him his rights and says, ‘Alright, you’ve come a long way dog. Now, get it straight with me,'” said Jason Williams, one of Hatch’s attorneys. “Now, what does he need to get straight if he’s telling his own story? If he’s telling his own story, he doesn’t have to get it straight. Just tell us what happened.”

Also not on the tape is when the district attorney came in to speak with Louding about making a deal. The detective said that did not happen until after questioning. Defense attorneys asked if someone pushed stop on the recorder. The detective answered, “No, that was not recorded.”

On the tape, detectives told Louding he was only being charged with the terrorizing/assault charge, even though he had just confessed to murder. Detectives testified they lied to Louding, saying there were witnesses and physical evidence linking him to the scene. They said they also told him no one would believe he was innocent.

Defense attorneys questioned Louding about telling doctors he hears strange voices in his head telling him to do bad things. They also asked Louding about other people who were at Hatch’s home the night of the murder and who had bad blood with Terry Boyd. Jurors were told Adrienne Pittman and Boyd had problems and Boyd had just robbed a man named Mike “Ghost” Judson, who is also now deceased.

At one point during the trial, Louding was instructed to stand in front of the jury and show the tattoo on his stomach of an AK-47 with the words, “Yo Boosie Who’s Next” around it. When asked what that means, Louding said it was just a tattoo. Prosecutors said Louding got the tattoo two weeks after Boyd was murdered. They said the tattooing was done at Hatch’s home.

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