Louisiana’s Supreme Court stepped in Friday to freeze the criminal case against state Attorney General Liz Murrill, acting just one day after she was indicted by a New Orleans grand jury on accusations that she threatened the jobs of city officials.
The state’s highest court determined that the local court and the special prosecutor handling the case failed to follow proper legal procedures during the indictment process. Among the concerns raised were multiple local media reports indicating that a journalist was handcuffed and locked out of the courthouse while attempting to cover the grand jury proceedings.
Friday’s court order puts the case on hold for the time being. Murrill, a Republican and the state’s first female attorney general, announced she plans to seek a full dismissal of the charges. The situation has laid bare a significant divide between Republican state officials and the Democrats who lead Louisiana’s largest city.
In a statement released Friday, Murrill said, “I hope this political witch hunt is not a harbinger of things to come, but I fear that it is.”
The 16-count indictment handed down Thursday charged Murrill with intimidation and malfeasance in office.
The Supreme Court was sharply critical of the charges, writing in a filing signed by Justice Jay McCallum, a Republican: “This indictment appears to turn the law on its head and flows from what appear to be extraordinary procedural defects and improprieties.”
The court also pointed to what it described as likely conflicts of interest involving Laurie White, the special prosecutor and former state judge who brought the charges. Among those conflicts: White is currently being defended by the attorney general’s office in a sexual harassment lawsuit.
Justice McCallum’s written explanation further noted that the law cited in the intimidation charge requires that any threats be “unlawful or include a threat of bodily harm or death.” The court concluded that Murrill would likely succeed in getting the case thrown out and that allowing it to proceed would cause her irreparable harm.
The indictment stems from a broader political conflict playing out in Louisiana. Earlier this year, the state eliminated the position of New Orleans criminal court clerk, merging it with another clerk role. That move came months after Calvin Duncan — a man who spent decades behind bars before his murder conviction was overturned — won election to the criminal clerk position.
Murrill and other Republican officials have declined to recognize Duncan’s innocence, despite his listing on the National Registry of Exonerations.
The Supreme Court also noted that White had previously represented Duncan, flagging that as “a likely conflict of interest.”
The controversy escalated after Murrill sent a letter to New Orleans city council members and Mayor Helena Moreno following the council’s decision to schedule a special election that could have allowed Duncan to compete for the combined clerk position. In that letter, Murrill warned officials they could lose their positions for violating state laws that prohibit support for an unauthorized officeholder. Murrill has maintained she was simply carrying out her duties.
Following Thursday’s indictment, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, announced he would pardon Murrill. The governor also took to social media to say he was directing state police to look into “the alleged improprieties of this grand jury and those who ran it.”
