A grand jury indicts Louisiana’s attorney general in a fight over changes to New Orleans courts
Louisiana’s attorney general was indicted Thursday on charges that he threatened the jobs of New Orleans leaders fighting against a Republican-led government. revision of local courts In this city where Democrats are concentrated.
The 16-count indictment handed down by a New Orleans grand jury against Republican Liz Murrill accuses Louisiana’s first female attorney general of intimidation and abuse of power. At the center of the case are widening rifts between state leaders in heavily Republican Louisiana and the Democrats who control the state’s flagship city.
Republican Gov. Jeff Landry promised a swift pardon, saying he would not allow Murrill’s reputation to be tarnished by the “Orleans Kangaroo court.” Democratic Mayor Helena Moreno was among those who accused the state’s top law enforcement official of making threats against public officials in May.
Murrill said the lawsuit against him was “retaliatory, unfair and unconstitutional.” Late Thursday, Murrill said he filed an emergency stay with the Louisiana Supreme Court.
He wrote of X: “I will not back down. I will continue to enforce the law, fight corruption, and do the job the people of Louisiana elected me to do.”
Political tensions have intensified for months between Louisiana Republicans and New Orleans officials over a new law that abolishes the court clerk office won by an exonerated person. Calvin Duncanwho spent almost thirty years in prison. The change combined this business with another clerk’s office; Republican supporters said it would make the local judicial system more efficient.
This change was strongly opposed by New Orleans leaders, and in May the city council held a special election that would give Duncan a chance to win the newly merged business. Murrill responded by warning local officials in letters that they could lose their offices for violating the state’s “usurper” laws, which prohibit support for an unauthorized office holder.
“We are very interested in ensuring that elected officials in New Orleans are not intimidated or threatened by letter or otherwise,” special prosecutor Laurie White told reporters.
Bond set for Louisiana attorney general
Murrill’s bond was set at $400,000 Thursday, according to court records.
Landry said he ordered state police to investigate “alleged improprieties” by the grand jury and those overseeing the grand jury.
“The criminal justice system is the best circus in Orleans and we will not allow any of this!” He wrote to X.
The Association of Chief Public Prosecutors said that making a written statement to local officials was merely “giving legal opinions and warning public officials about the law” as part of their official duties. He called the indictment “as ugly as it is dangerous.”
Moreno, who was elected in January and challenged Murrill after he sent the letters, called the matter a “court matter” on Thursday and did not directly address the allegations.
“My focus, as always, remains on carrying out the responsibilities that the people of New Orleans have elected me to carry out,” Moreno said.
Elected clerk said the state targeted him
Duncan said he believes state officials retaliated against him by eliminating the job he won With 68% votes. Murrill and Landry had long refused to acknowledge his innocence, even though he was listed on the National Registry of Exonerations.
Republicans said the change was impersonal, while supporters noted the criminal and civil court clerkships were combined in other districts.
Duncan was a prison attorney who later graduated from law school. He founded a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding incarcerated people’s access to the court system and was a driving force behind the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision that ended. unanimous jury convictions.
Duncan was sentenced to more than 28 years in prison for a fatal shooting during a robbery in 1981.
The night before the 2011 trial to consider new evidence, prosecutors offered to reduce Duncan’s sentence to time served in prison if he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and armed robbery. Duncan accepted the deal and was released, but he did not give up on clearing his name.
In 2021, a judge ruled that Duncan was wrongfully convicted and vacated his sentence entirely. Landry and Murrill pointed to the 2011 plea deal when objecting that Duncan exonerated himself.
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Associated Press reporter Jack Brook in New Orleans contributed.
