\n<\/p>\n
Louisiana\u2019s highest court has granted a stay of the proceedings in a criminal indictment targeting the state\u2019s attorney general, in the latest twist of a high-stakes political battle between Republican state leaders and Democrats who govern its most famous city, New Orleans.<\/p>\n
Liz Murrill, a Republican who is Louisiana\u2019s first female attorney general, was slapped with a 16-count indictment on Thursday by a New Orleans grand jury charging her with intimidation and malfeasance. The charges effectively accused her of trying to intimidate New Orleans officials who fought a law passed by Republican legislators to overhaul the city\u2019s courts.<\/p>\n
Murrill quickly moved for a stay on Thursday. And the Louisiana supreme court granted it early on Friday, finding she made \u201ca compelling argument concerning the disturbing defects in the grand jury proceedings and in the trial court\u2019s handling of those proceedings\u201d.<\/p>\n
The attorney general had also called the charges against her \u201cretaliatory, meritless and unconstitutional\u201d, writing on X that she would continue \u201cdoing the job the people of Louisiana elected me to do\u201d.<\/p>\n
Separately, the state\u2019s Republican governor, Jeff Landry, has promised a swift pardon, saying Murrill would not have her reputation tarnished by a \u201ckangaroo court\u201d.<\/p>\n
The supreme court order resulting in Friday\u2019s stay says the case was meant to allow Murrill to \u201cassert any and all necessary defensive pleadings, including motions to quash\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis stay shall not prevent the filing of a response to any pleadings filed by the attorney general,\u201d the order also said.<\/p>\n
The stay came a day after the announcement of the grand jury indictment that was shrouded in secrecy. News media members awaiting in the courtroom of the New Orleans judge Leon Roche to await the potential extraordinary return of the indictment against Murrill were escorted out after he ordered the room sealed.<\/p>\n
The public has the legal right to access court proceedings. And Louisiana law requires grand jury returns to be made in open court. So news outlet WWL Louisiana<\/a>, a Guardian reporting partner, protested against the closure to try to maintain access to the courtroom in the event of an indictment against Murrill.<\/p>\n An investigative producer for the station, Danny Monteverde, and the outlet\u2019s attorney, Elana Beiser, were subsequently handcuffed and removed from the courtroom as well as from an outside hallway.<\/p>\n Roche at the time did not explain why he had sealed the courtroom, local newspaper the Times-Picayune reported<\/a>. Later, a statement from a court spokesperson said grand jurors must be physically present when indictments are returned \u2013 and that confidentiality ensures their identities are protected so that they can deliberate \u201cfreely, objectively and without fear of public exposure\u201d.<\/p>\n A statement from WWL Louisiana\u2019s president and general manager, Tod Smith, said Monteverde was \u201cfulfilling his responsibility to inform the public on a matter of significant community interest\u201d at the time of his handcuffing.<\/p>\n \u201cAt no point should a journalist be detained for seeking transparency or asking questions about access to a courtroom, particularly when state law provides for proceedings to occur in open court,\u201d said Smith\u2019s statement, which also alluded to the free press rights as guaranteed by the US constitution\u2019s first amendment.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a>Free newsletter | Around 2-3 times a day<\/p>\n Sign up to Breaking News US<\/span><\/p>\n Get the most important news as it breaks<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Political tensions for months have intensified between Louisiana state Republicans and Democratic New Orleans officials over a new law that abolished a court clerk office won by Calvin Duncan, who spent nearly three decades in prison in connection to a murder that he was exonerated of having committed.<\/p>\n Murrill at one point told eight New Orleans officials \u2013 including Helena Moreno, the mayor, and Jason Williams, the district attorney \u2013 that they could face removal from their jobs because they opposed the law eliminating Duncan\u2019s position.<\/p>\n Duncan has said he believes state officials were retaliating against him by eliminating the job that he won in November with 68% of the votes cast. Murrill and Landry have long refused to acknowledge Duncan as exonerated, though he\u2019s listed on the National Registry of Exonerations.<\/p>\n Among other things, Murrill\u2019s successful motion for a stay of her indictment raised concerns that the special prosecutor who obtained the charges \u2013 former judge Laurie White \u2013 previously served as an attorney for Duncan.<\/p>\n Murrill\u2019s office furthermore represented White in a state lawsuit in which it was alleged that White gave an employee sexy lingerie at a Christmas party, the Times-Picayune reported<\/a>. The state lawsuit and one in federal court were dismissed.<\/p>\n The state supreme court on Friday noted that its stay shall also \u201cnot prevent the filing of motions for the recusal of either the special prosecutor or the trial judge, or responses thereto\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Louisiana\u2019s highest court has granted a stay of the proceedings in a criminal indictment targeting the state\u2019s attorney general, in the latest twist of a high-stakes political battle between Republican state leaders and Democrats who govern its most famous city, New Orleans. Liz Murrill, a Republican who is Louisiana\u2019s first female attorney general, was slapped […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/6e0403ab905683af34e3f3a93b1d4a3842e86b3c\/1287_920_2863_2291\/master\/2863.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=f50188c486e7fcc5875f670f1f0a9483","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10666],"tags":[1348,2533,4388,462,9517,22973,12287,891],"class_list":["post-32870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reparations","tag-attorney","tag-court","tag-criminal","tag-general","tag-halts","tag-indictment","tag-louisiana","tag-state"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/6e0403ab905683af34e3f3a93b1d4a3842e86b3c\/1287_920_2863_2291\/master\/2863.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=f50188c486e7fcc5875f670f1f0a9483",0,0,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/6e0403ab905683af34e3f3a93b1d4a3842e86b3c\/1287_920_2863_2291\/master\/2863.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=f50188c486e7fcc5875f670f1f0a9483",0,0,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/6e0403ab905683af34e3f3a93b1d4a3842e86b3c\/1287_920_2863_2291\/master\/2863.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=f50188c486e7fcc5875f670f1f0a9483",0,0,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/6e0403ab905683af34e3f3a93b1d4a3842e86b3c\/1287_920_2863_2291\/master\/2863.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=f50188c486e7fcc5875f670f1f0a9483",150,150,false],"medium":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/6e0403ab905683af34e3f3a93b1d4a3842e86b3c\/1287_920_2863_2291\/master\/2863.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=f50188c486e7fcc5875f670f1f0a9483",300,300,false],"large":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/6e0403ab905683af34e3f3a93b1d4a3842e86b3c\/1287_920_2863_2291\/master\/2863.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=f50188c486e7fcc5875f670f1f0a9483",1024,1024,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/6e0403ab905683af34e3f3a93b1d4a3842e86b3c\/1287_920_2863_2291\/master\/2863.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=f50188c486e7fcc5875f670f1f0a9483",1536,1536,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/6e0403ab905683af34e3f3a93b1d4a3842e86b3c\/1287_920_2863_2291\/master\/2863.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=f50188c486e7fcc5875f670f1f0a9483",2048,2048,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/6e0403ab905683af34e3f3a93b1d4a3842e86b3c\/1287_920_2863_2291\/master\/2863.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=f50188c486e7fcc5875f670f1f0a9483",370,265,false],"kava-thumb-s":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/6e0403ab905683af34e3f3a93b1d4a3842e86b3c\/1287_920_2863_2291\/master\/2863.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:21,offset-x50,offset-y0&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=f50188c486e7fcc5875f670f1f0a9483",150,85,false],"kava-thumb-s-2":["https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/6e0403ab905683af34e3f3a93b1d4a3842e86b3c\/1287_920_2863_2291\/master\/2863.jpg?width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NEWS<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Louisiana\u2019s highest court has granted a stay of the proceedings in a criminal indictment targeting the state\u2019s attorney general, in the latest twist of a high-stakes political battle between Republican state leaders and Democrats who govern its most famous city, New Orleans. Liz Murrill, a Republican who is Louisiana\u2019s first female attorney general, was slapped…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32870"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32872,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32870\/revisions\/32872"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}