Prosecutors have again dropped charges against a man accused of shooting Ray Davies during a holdup in the French Quarter, and for the same reason: Davies wasn’t in court. The lead singer and co-founder of The Kinks said prosecutors notified him only a few days earlier that trial was scheduled for Thursday. He just didn’t have time to get to New Orleans from London, he told The Times-Picayune.
“I am very disappointed with the way this case has been handled,” Davies said Thursday. “I intend to pursue it further.”
Davies was shot in the leg Jan. 4, 2004, when he chased the man accused of stealing a friend’s pocketbook.
It was the second time Orleans Parish District Attorney Eddie Jordan’s office dismissed armed robbery and aggravated charges against Jerome Barra, 28, because of Davies’ absence from court.
The first was in 2005. That time, prosecutors reserved the right to resume prosecution. This time, they closed the case.
Jordan’s spokesman, Dalton Savwoir, said Davies’ absence made it impossible to continue.
Davies and his brother, Dave Davies, founded The Kinks in London in 1963. In the United States, the rock band reached the charts with such hit songs as “You Really Got Me” and “Lola.” The bank was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.
Ray Davies often visits New Orleans, where his friends include musicians and bartenders.