Laurie White dismissed the Liz Murrill indictment dismissal on Wednesday, ending all felony criminal charges against Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill. The case had been frozen after the July 2 indictment, when the Louisiana Supreme Court said the local court and special prosecutor did not follow procedures surrounding the case.
The initial indictment was a 16-count indictment from a New Orleans grand jury. It accused her of intimidation and malfeasance tied to allegations that she threatened the jobs of New Orleans officials who fought a Republican-led overhaul of courts in the city.
July 2 indictment in New Orleans
Orleans Parish online court records show White submitted letters from elected city officials and the prosecutor to a judge before dismissing each count, and the case against Murrill was then ordered closed. Murrill said, "What I did was not a crime, it was never a crime," and called it "a malicious prosecution."
White said she performed her lawful duty as a special prosecutor and noted that a grand jury brought the indictment. She also said, "Extraordinary interference in this situation has been truly unfortunate, and we should all hope that it doesn’t set a precedent," after the dismissal.
Jason Williams and Helena Moreno
New Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams, Democratic Mayor Helena Moreno and five City Council members sent a letter urging White to drop the case. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry said, "I think the feds need to come in," and said he would welcome state and federal investigations into how and why Murrill was indicted.
For months, political tensions intensified between Louisiana Republicans and New Orleans officials over a new law that abolished a court clerk office won by Calvin Duncan and consolidated that job with another clerk’s office. Murrill’s case now ends there, but the dispute that produced the 16-count indictment still leaves one open question: what specific evidence or conduct led the grand jury to return it?
