Retired judge assigned to hear Tate case

The Supreme Court of Louisiana has assigned retired judge Harry F. Randow to hear the case State of Louisiana vs. Joseph Gregory Tate.
Randow is a former judge in the Ninth Judicial District Court in Rapides Parish.
The need for a judge to be appointed to hear this matter came after Judge Gary Ortego recused himself from being the judge presiding over this case on September 13, 2016, which then put Judge Chuck West as the judge to hear the State’s case against Tate.
However, Judge West requested that the Supreme Court select another judge to hear this case due to the fact that there was a conflict with him being the judge in this case. The conflict was that West represented Tate during his bond hearing in this matter.
Tate was arrested in 2011 after being accused of hiring Herman Vidrine, who is now deceased, to beat up two individuals that were supporting another candidate in an Evangeline Parish Clerk of Court race.
Now that Randow has been selected to hear the State’s case against Tate, according to the Supreme Court of Louisiana’s order, it will be Judge West’s responsibility to provide a courtroom for this matter to be heard, as well as “office space, legal support personnel (if necessary), court reporting and secretarial personnel, and related equipment” to enable the Judge Randow to fulfill his obligation.
At this time, no trial date has been set for this matter.