New Orleans’ entire Criminal District Court bench has walked away from the criminal case against Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, a rare all-hands recusal that leaves the prosecution without a local judge and sends court leaders scrambling for outside help. The move follows a grand jury indictment that hit Murrill with a slate of felony charges tied to letters she sent to city officials in May, and it lands just as the Louisiana Supreme Court has stepped in to pause parts of the case, putting one of the state’s highest profile legal fights into procedural limbo.
As reported by NOLA, recusals were filed or announced in all 12 sections of the Orleans Parish criminal court. Court official Juana Marine-Lombard has asked the Louisiana Supreme Court to appoint an ad hoc judge to handle the case, and the report notes that the wave of recusals followed a hearing linked to the grand jury’s return and related filings in Judge Leon Roche’s courtroom.
What the indictment alleges
An Orleans Parish grand jury returned a 16-count indictment, with eight counts of public intimidation and eight counts of malfeasance in office, all tied to letters Murrill sent in May to Mayor Helena Moreno, the district attorney, several city council members and others, according to the Associated Press. Bond was set, and the charges allege that Murrill used her official authority to threaten local leaders during a long running dispute over the consolidation of clerk of court offices.
The state’s highest court has intervened to hit pause on the criminal case while higher court review and defensive pleadings play out. The Washington Post reports that the Louisiana Supreme Court granted a stay that allows Murrill to file motions to quash or other defensive paperwork, and it recalled at least one related arrest warrant while the court sorts through procedural challenges…