Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill
NEW ORLEANS — The special prosecutor who led a grand jury that indicted Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill is asking the state Supreme Court to stop Murrill’s attorneys from pursuing a public records lawsuit against her and help her obtain a lawyer after learning she is a potential target of a criminal investigation.
Murrill’s lawyers, meanwhile, have asked the high court to appoint an outside judge to oversee public records lawsuits against special prosecutor Laurie White and Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams after a third New Orleans judge recused herself.
They also want an independent records custodian appointed, arguing that White has failed to properly answer two public records requests and has a conflict of interest.
The competing requests are the latest development in a dispute stemming from an Orleans Parish grand jury’s July 2 indictment of Murrill on 16 counts of public intimidation and malfeasance in office. White dismissed the indictment July 22 under pressure from city leaders concerned about the political fallout.
In an emergency request to the Supreme Court this week, White said she received a letter this month from Northshore District Attorney Collin Sims informing her that she is a “potential target” of a Louisiana State Police investigation.
Sims was appointed in August to oversee the criminal investigation Gov. Jeff Landry ordered into the grand jury’s indictment of Murrill. A state lawyer’s request to the Supreme Court for a special prosecutor cited perjury, jury tampering, obstruction of justice and unlawful disclosure of grand jury proceedings among possible violations.
White argued that Murrill should not be allowed to pursue the records case against her while the state investigates her and others for possible crimes. She asked that retired Judge Robert Chaisson, the ad hoc judge appointed to oversee the criminal investigation, take charge of the matter.
“I plan to cooperate with the investigation and provide everything that a Court orders that I turn over if those records or documents exist,” White wrote.
“But I am also left in a precarious spot of being accused of violating ethical rules when grand jury secrecy is also at issue or other nefarious allegations like that have already been bandied around about me, without a single opportunity for me to respond.”
Criminal District Judge Leon Roche appointed White, a former criminal court judge, in June after Williams’ office recused itself. The grand jury accused Murrill of threatening city officials and identified Williams as one of her alleged victims.
The allegedly threatening letters followed efforts by city officials to fill a newly unified court clerk’s position in defiance of the Legislature.
White said she considered her duties as special prosecutor finished when she dismissed the indictment. Since then, she has received public records requests from Murrill’s attorneys and been sued. She also said the city has not paid her for her work before or after the indictment.
White argued that she has been unfairly vilified for accepting the assignment.
“Indicting the AG was not a plan I woke up with on the day I was called by a colleague who expressed a real need for assistance,” she wrote.
“I am not public enemy number one for using my 40+ years of legal experience to assist in one criminal matter in which the media barrage and political attacks have been undeniably unfair and out of proportion,” she added.
White said denying her guidance or assistance would violate her due process and equal protection rights.
Murrill, who has said she may sue for malicious prosecution, contends through her attorneys that White has used the criminal investigation to avoid releasing public records. Her lawyers want the Supreme Court to remove those decisions from White’s control and appoint an ad hoc judge to oversee the records litigation.
Attorney Laura Cannizzaro Rodrigue said in a filing that three Civil District Court judges have recused themselves from the lawsuits against White and Williams.
Chief Judge Nicole Sheppard was the latest to step aside. She cited her testimony before the Legislature this year about bills affecting New Orleans’ court system, a process she wrote “gives rise to the issues in this matter.”
Although that circumstance ordinarily would not require recusal, Sheppard said stepping aside was “appropriate to preserve public confidence in the fair and impartial administration of justice and to avoid the appearance of impropriety.”
Murrill’s attorneys urged the Supreme Court to appoint an outside judge rather than wait for additional recusals.
“The reasons given for the most recent recusal suggest the problem is not limited to any one judge,” Rodrigue wrote.
The lawsuit against White is currently assigned to Civil District Judge Lori Jupiter. It is unclear when the Supreme Court will rule.
