BATON ROUGE - Former Louisiana State Police Colonel Mike Edmonson testified Friday in a hearing about the side trip that multiple LSP troopers took in 2016.

Three out of four of the LSP troopers who were involved began appealing their punishments earlier this week. Those troopers are Thruman Miller, Derrell Williams, and Rodney Hyatt. Hyatt and Williams both received demotions while Miller received a letter of reprimand.

The investigation was in response to a trip the troopers took to a law enforcement conference in San Diego that included a lengthy detour that had stops at the Grand Canyon and a Las Vegas resort and casino.

The drive cost the state agency around $33,000 in taxpayer money.

Mike Edmonson was the head of the agency when the incident occurred. He resigned after a report was released that said he knew about the side trip.

Former State Police Col. Mike Edmonson first up this morning on day three of trooper appeals hearing @WBRZ pic.twitter.com/xgGi0WsJVI

— Johnston vonSpringer (@johnstonvon) July 13, 2018

During Friday's hearing, when Edmonson was asked if he thought the trip to the Grand Canyon would consist of "state work", he stated that the troopers would need to be asked that question. Edmonson also said he instructed the troopers to drive to the conference as it would be the most cost-effective way of traveling with that many people.

Edmonson says he had no problems with the stops along the way (Grand Canyon, Vegas, etc.) because he viewed it as them “heading west” (to conference) @WBRZ

— Johnston vonSpringer (@johnstonvon) July 13, 2018