Each week, the Shreveport-Bossier Journal’s Tony Taglavore takes to lunch a local person – someone who is well-known, successful, and/or influential, and asks, “What’s Your Story?”
By TONY TAGLAVORE, Journal Services
As high-profile cases go, this one was up there.
“It was definitely the most publicized trial I’ve had.”
You might remember in 2020, four Shreveport police officers were accused of negligent homicide. A man in the officers’ custody died while suffering a psychiatric episode. A criminal defense attorney in her early 30’s represented one of those officers.
“I don’t like cases that are in the press, to be honest. I just like to do my job quietly.”
Her client was facing up to 10 years in prison, and she didn’t have long to prepare.
“Another lawyer had handled (the case) for a year. When I got in, there were only a couple of months before trial.”
For three days, the prosecution presented its case. Afterwards, the defense – each officer had his/her own attorney – chose not to present their side of the story. Instead, each lawyer asked the judge to issue a Directive Verdict.
“Even if you take everything (the prosecution) said as true, they did not get there beyond a reasonable doubt.”
On the fourth day, with each defendant and attorney standing, the judge issued his ruling.
Motion granted.
Motion granted.
Motion granted.
Motion granted.
“It was a huge relief. When you believe your client is innocent – like really believe your client is innocent – there’s a lot of extra pressure. I felt like my client was innocent. I want to win all my cases, but I really, really badly wanted to win that case.”
Sarah Giglio, the 37-year-old chairperson of the upcoming Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl, told me that story – and her story – during lunch at a place Sarah chose, Athena Greek & Lebanese Grill. Sarah had Veggie Grape Leaves and Hummus, and iced tea. I enjoyed the Athena Salad, and a cup of Red Lentil soup. We met just shy of six weeks before this year’s game.
“I was always interested in law. It sounds a little trite, but I would see courtroom scenes on TV and I always thought that was really cool. And my dad always said I could argue pretty well.”
Growing up in Lufkin, Texas, Sarah’s early passion was music. She started taking piano lessons when she was five.
“I just enjoyed it. It was something I thought I was relatively good at. It was something I could do by myself, or with other people. I could do the whole orchestra part of it, and that was fulfilling in one way. Then there was a lot of fulfillment in just sitting home and playing the piano to myself for two hours.”
Sarah added the Cello to her musical repertoire and took lessons through her senior year in high school.
“I had an offer for a music scholarship, but I knew at that point I didn’t want to perform. I got too nervous. It reached a point where there was an expectation. People in my small town thought I was good at it, so there was a lot of pressure to be really good every time. That took a little bit of the joy out of it – at least to do it permanently.”
So, Sarah, who along with her two younger sisters were homeschooled, focused on becoming a lawyer. The daughter of a general surgeon dad and stay-at-home mom went to Texas A&M University, majoring in Political Science and minoring in English. Then, Sarah graduated law school at Southern Methodist University. But it was at Aggieland where Sarah – who as a child couldn’t care less about sports – found her love for football.
“I started paying attention when I went to the games. The group I went with were probably a little more than 50-50 guys who were into football. So, they were paying attention to the game. They weren’t going just to be at the game. I just went to the games, watched the games, and eventually learned a lot about football.”
Eventually, she learned a lot about the Independence Bowl.
“I moved here when (Trey, a former bowl chairperson) and I got married and I didn’t know anybody. So, I thought, ‘I guess I will help with the Bowl.’ I helped with whatever they needed. If they needed a warm body in the hospitality suite, I would replenish the snacks.”
The game’s hierarchy noticed and eventually, Sarah was asked to walk the path which led to her being chairperson.
“When they first asked me, I had a little bit of an imposter syndrome because I’m younger and I’m a female. That’s not typically what is in the football world. But nobody has made me feel that way. That’s me.”
And little did Sarah know that when she was grinding away at law school, some of what she learned would be used to run a post-season football game.
“Negotiating skills come into play because there’s a lot of people (involved). For example, when you’re trying to determine which teams are coming, you’re dealing with ESPN. You’re dealing with conferences. You’re dealing with head coaches. You’re dealing with athletic directors. You’re never all going to be on the same page, so when Selection Sunday comes around and I’m in a room with our Executive Director and I’ve got a bunch of people on the phone and we’re trying to figure it out, I think the negotiating skills are helpful.”
For any bowl chairperson, the last few weeks leading up to kickoff are hectic. Not wanting to take any more of Sarah’s time, I asked my final question. As always, what has life taught her that she would like to pass along to you?
“Say ‘Yes’ when opportunities come along . . . . Sometimes, things will present themselves to you that you didn’t expect. Maybe you should say, ‘Yes’, and try it. You might learn something really cool or really fun, or something that pushes you to be better.”
Case closed.
Do you know someone with a story? Email SBJTonyT@gmail.com.
The Journal’s weekly “What’s Your Story?” series is sponsored by Morris & Dewett Injury Lawyers.