New Orleans grand jury indicts AG Liz Murrill for threats to remove mayor, DA, council members

Political rancor between Louisiana’s Republican leaders and the Democratic power structure in New Orleans reached unprecedented heights Thursday with the criminal indictment of Attorney General Liz Murrill.

A grand jury handed up a 16-count indictment against Murrill, charging her with eight counts each of intimidation and malfeasance in office. Special prosecutor Laurie White confirmed the charges to reporters outside Orleans Criminal District Courthouse.

The allegations involve letters the attorney general sent to Mayor Helena Moreno, District Attorney Jason Williams and five of the seven New Orleans City Council members in May after they took official action to install an interim clerk of criminal court. 

In the letter, Murrill said Gov. Jeff Landry had the authority to remove the officials from their elected seats because they had circumvented a new state law that combined the two court clerks’ offices in New Orleans. She also indicated she would imprison the interim clerk, retired Judge Calvin Johnson, if he assumed the clerk’s duties.

The state law at issue put Civil Clerk Chelsea Richard Napoleon in charge of the combined agencies and prevented Calvin Duncan, the newly elected criminal court clerk, from taking office. 

A separate law, approved this spring with Landry’s backing, eliminated three judgeships in Orleans Criminal District Court. Republican state leaders have argued that New Orleans’ dual court system, unique among Louisiana’s 42 judicial districts, is overdue for down-sizing.

The laws took effect just days after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in the redistricting case Callais vs. Louisiana. It put in motion a GOP plan to eliminate one of the state’s two majority-Black congressional districts, including an emergency order from Landry to postpone the U.S. House party primaries that were to take place May 16 using the existing districts.

New Orleans’ leaders balked at what they labeled as an unabashed political attack on the state’s Black, Democratic stronghold, prompting them to name an interim clerk and call a special election for the fall to fill what they saw as a new consolidated clerk’s post.

Moreno issued a statement in response to Murrill being charged, saying it “is a matter for the courts.”

One of the judges originally slated for removal, Leon Roche, appointed White, a former criminal court judge, to investigate Murrill. A late amendment to the legislation spared Roche and instead targeted the three judges most recently elected to the court.

“We’re very interested in elected officials in New Orleans not being intimidated by a letter or threatened in any way,” White told reporters.

Roche has issued a warrant for Murrill’s arrest. Records from the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office indicate her bond has been set at $400,000, though Murrill’s office has yet to say whether she will turn herself in to authorities. Landry posted on social media that “Murrill will not have to worry about having her reputation tarnished by this kangaroo grand jury or the Orleans kangaroo court as I will pardon her as fast as the law allows.” 

The governor does not have the authority to issue a pardon without a recommendation from the state pardon and parole board, which can only act following a conviction.

Murrill’s attorney, Laura Rodrigue Cannizzaro, also met with reports outside the courthouse and said the indictment is unlikely to hold up in light of information “leaked” to journalists in recent days. Several local news outlets had this week reported that a grand jury would soon call for charges against Murrill, citing only sources close to the investigation.

Murrill and Rodrigue noted that reporters waiting outside Roche’s chambers for news of an indictment were forced to leave the courthouse, with one journalist being handcuffed briefly after insisting state law allowed him to be in the building. White, the special prosecutor, said reporters were removed to protect the confidentiality of grand jurors who were in Roche’s courtroom.

The indictment of Murrill marks an unraveling of untenable relationship with New Orleans leaders that started soon after she and Landry were elected in fall 2023. Before they took office, the Republican state leaders asserted their authority over New Orleans by announcing plans to devote state resources to the local criminal justice system. A new, year-round Louisiana State Police troop was established in the city, and Murrill’s office was put in charge of all prosecutions resulting from the troopers’ crime-fighting efforts.

Williams, the district attorney, and New Orleans leaders publicly embraced the additional resources at the time. Violent crime in the city subsided over the ensuing months, with partial credit given to the increased police presence and support from the National Guard, which was deployed following the Jan. 1, 2025, terror attack on Bourbon Street. Crime analysts also pointed to broader national trends showing fewer incidents of violent and property crime.

This is a developing story.