Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill indicted by New Orleans grand jury

A grand jury in New Orleans indicted Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill on criminal charges for allegedly intimidating local officials over a controversial court reform law.

Louisiana's top prosecutor faces criminal charges over court reform dispute

Louisiana's Republican Attorney General, Liz Murrill, was indicted Thursday on criminal charges by a New Orleans grand jury, Google News MT — Crime (en) reports. She stands accused of attempting to intimidate local officials who opposed a state law that eliminated the elected position of Orleans Parish criminal court clerk.

Murrill sent letters to eight New Orleans officials — including Mayor Helena Moreno and District Attorney Jason Williams — warning that they could be removed from their positions for opposing the legislation. The law, passed at the urging of Republican Governor Jeff Landry, dissolved the clerk's post shortly before Calvin Duncan was due to take office in May, having won the seat with 68% of the vote.

Duncan is a former prisoner who spent more than 28 years behind bars following a conviction tied to a fatal robbery shooting in 1981. While incarcerated, he taught himself law, later graduated from law school, and founded a nonprofit aimed at expanding court access for incarcerated people. He was also the driving force behind a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down nonunanimous jury convictions. He is listed on the National Registry of Exonerations, though Murrill and other Louisiana officials have consistently denied his innocence.

Legislators approved the court overhaul just days before Duncan was set to take office. Supporters of Duncan viewed the move as an effort by a predominantly white, conservative Legislature to override the democratic will of voters in a majority-Black, Democratic city situated within a deeply Republican state.

Bond for Murrill was set at $400,000 on Thursday, according to court records. Governor Landry responded swiftly on social media, promising to pardon Murrill "as fast as the law allows" and denouncing the New Orleans justice system as a "Kangaroo court." The Republican Attorneys General Association called the indictment "as outrageous as it is dangerous," arguing that Murrill had simply been issuing a legal opinion as part of her official duties.

Assistant Attorney General Laurie White, who is prosecuting the case, spoke to reporters after the indictment was handed down. "We're very interested in elected officials in New Orleans not being intimidated or threatened by letter or any other way," White said. She described the case as one she expected to be "very simple" and "very open and shut." Responding to Landry's pardon pledge, she said: "Let's get her convicted, and then he can pardon her."

Mayor Moreno issued a measured statement, saying the indictment is "a matter for the courts" and declining to address the specific allegations. "My focus, as always, remains on fulfilling the responsibilities the people of New Orleans elected me to carry out," Moreno said.

The City Council had attempted to preserve a path for Duncan by setting a special election for November to fill a combined clerk role — merging the criminal and civil court positions — and potentially allowing Duncan to claim it. That action prompted Murrill to invoke Louisiana's "usurper" laws, which prohibit support for an unauthorised officeholder, and to warn local officials they risked losing their posts.

Proponents of the court reform law contend it improves efficiency and that combining the criminal and civil clerk roles is already standard practice in other Louisiana parishes. Duncan, however, has maintained that state officials were retaliating against him specifically.

The friction between Murrill and Duncan predates the clerks' office dispute. When Duncan sought compensation from the state for his wrongful imprisonment, Murrill threatened to pursue action against his law licence over his use of the word "exonerated." She had also demanded during his election campaign that he cease describing himself that way. Duncan withdrew his compensation petition following the threat.

Duncan was released in 2011 after prosecutors offered to reduce his sentence to time already served if he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and armed robbery — an offer he accepted but continued to contest. In 2021, a judge vacated his sentence entirely, ruling he had been unjustly convicted. Landry and Murrill have pointed to the 2011 guilty plea in challenging his claim to exoneration.

The Associated Press reporters Safiyah Riddle and John Hanna contributed reporting, with Jack Brook reporting from New Orleans.

Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)