The Louisiana Supreme Court moved swiftly late Friday night to recall an arrest warrant for Attorney General Liz Murrill and freeze the 16-count felony indictment an Orleans Parish grand jury had returned against her just one day earlier, a dramatic intervention that landed a sharp rebuke on the special prosecutor, the presiding judge, and the grand jury itself.
The court found that Murrill "makes a compelling argument concerning the disturbing defects in the grand jury proceedings and in the trial court's handling of those proceedings." It went further, stating it is "likely the attorney general will succeed on a motion to quash this indictment." The order cited "likely conflicts of interest," including the fact that Special Prosecutor Laurie White had previously represented Calvin Duncan, the ousted Orleans Parish clerk of court whose displacement sits at the center of the dispute.
In plain terms: the state's highest court looked at the indictment and signaled it may not survive. That alone should give every Louisiana taxpayer pause about what happened inside that Orleans Parish grand jury room, and why.
The grand jury met on July 2 and returned a true bill charging Murrill with eight counts of public intimidation under Louisiana Revised Statute 14:122 and eight counts of malfeasance in office under Louisiana Revised Statute 14:134. Bond was set at $25,000 per count, $400,000 total.
The charges stem from letters Murrill's office sent to New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno, District Attorney Jason Williams, five city council members, and Judge Calvin Johnson after the Louisiana Legislature passed Act 15, which merged the Orleans Parish criminal and civil courts. That merger ousted Duncan from his elected position as criminal clerk. Orleans Parish officials then appointed Judge Johnson as an interim clerk of court and called for a special election.
Murrill objected. Her letters warned that Act 15 "did not create a vacancy" and that the appointment of Johnson amounted to an illegal displacement of Chelsey Richard Napoleon, whom Murrill described as "the lawful clerk of court for Orleans Parish." The letters invoked Louisiana's usurper laws and warned of "serious consequences."
For that, for a sitting attorney general issuing legal opinions and warnings to local officials about a statute the Legislature had just passed, an Orleans Parish grand jury returned 16 felony counts.
Judge Leon Roche appointed Laurie White, a former Orleans Parish judge, as special prosecutor to handle the case because the grand jury was investigating the state's top prosecutor. White presented evidence to the grand jury on July 2. When WDSU contacted White by phone, she had no comment.
The Louisiana Supreme Court's stay order flagged what it called a likely conflict of interest: White had previously represented Calvin Duncan, the very official whose ouster triggered Murrill's letters, which in turn triggered the grand jury investigation. The circular nature of that arrangement is hard to miss. The person prosecuting the attorney general had a prior professional relationship with the person whose cause the prosecution effectively advances.
Murrill did not mince words. In a statement provided to WDSU, she called the indictment "retaliatory, meritless, and unconstitutional" and accused the special prosecutor and grand jury of leaking confidential information to the press:
"This unprecedented action and the corrupt indictments spawned from it are retaliatory, meritless, and unconstitutional. After confidential information was illegally leaked to members of the press by the grand jury or the improperly appointed, unqualified special prosecutor, there are now indications that the court handcuffed and locked out members of the media, and threatened them with contempt, in clear violation of Louisiana law. It is beyond ironic that the improperly appointed special prosecutor, who called my office and violated the confidentiality of the grand jury proceedings herself, claims protecting confidentiality justified closing the courtroom. And the grand jury that leaked information like a sinking ship hardly seemed concerned about privacy."
She added: "After taking on violent crime and entrenched corruption in New Orleans, it's no surprise the status quo is looking for ways to stop me."
Murrill said she first learned of the grand jury investigation through media reports on Monday. By Tuesday, she stated publicly that she had not been formally notified. Several witnesses had already appeared before the grand jury before the July 2 session where White presented evidence.
On Thursday, the grand jury returned its true bill. Shortly before 10:00 PM that night, Murrill announced she would file an emergency supervisory writ with the Louisiana Supreme Court.
The court acted Friday. First it granted the emergency stay, pausing all judicial proceedings related to the indictment. Then, late Friday night, after Special Prosecutor White reportedly refused to remove the arrest warrant, the Supreme Court recalled the warrant outright and ordered compliance.
By Saturday morning, the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office confirmed it had removed the warrants from both the NCIC and CastNet databases. OPSO's statement was precise:
"The Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office is complying with all official court orders as they are received. As soon as the Supreme Court's orders were transmitted this morning, by counsel for the accused, we took immediate steps to have OPSO staff remove warrants from all databases. At this time we can confirm that warrants in this matter have been removed from the NCIC and CastNet databases."
Murrill responded Saturday morning with a post declaring: "Another WIN, Louisiana Supreme Court BLOCKS New Orleans special prosecutor's refusal to remove the arrest warrant. She is ORDERED to comply."
Governor Jeff Landry did not wait for the legal process to play out before making his position clear. In a post on X, he called the proceedings a "kangaroo grand jury" and an "Orleans kangaroo court," and pledged to pardon Murrill "as fast as the law allows."
"I would like to inform the great citizens of Louisiana who care about the rule of law, that our fabulous Office of the Louisiana Attorney General Liz 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 criminal justice system is a circus at its finest in Orleans and we will not have any of that!"
In a later post, Landry escalated further, ordering the Louisiana State Police to investigate the grand jury itself. He wrote: "Based on the information contained in the motion by @AGLizMurrill, I am ordering the State Police to immediately begin investigating the alleged improprieties of this grand jury and those who ran it!"
Landry also issued a separate statement calling the indictment "nothing short of a political witch hunt against Office of the Louisiana Attorney General, Liz Murrill, who was merely trying to uphold the law in accordance with the oath she took."
Strip away the felony charges and the arrest warrant, and the core disagreement is about a state law and who has the authority to implement it. Act 15, passed by the Louisiana Legislature, merged the Orleans Parish criminal and civil courts. Murrill's position is straightforward: the merger abolished the criminal clerk's office, transferred its authority and records to the civil clerk's office, and renamed the continuing office. Under that reading, Chelsey Richard Napoleon remains the lawful clerk. No vacancy exists. No appointment is needed.
Orleans Parish officials saw it differently. They appointed Judge Calvin Johnson as interim clerk and called for a special election. Murrill sent letters warning them to stop, citing Louisiana's usurper laws. She called on the council to rescind its resolutions and urged officials to "take no further action recognizing the disputed office or appointment."
Mayor Moreno responded with a video statement: "I will not be intimidated or threatened by the state attorney general." She added, "I won't back down," and urged Murrill to let the matter play out in court.
That a grand jury then indicted the attorney general for sending those letters, legal correspondence from one government office to another about the interpretation of a state statute, raises an obvious question: since when does an attorney general face 16 felony counts for doing the job voters elected her to do?
The Supreme Court's stay pauses the case but does not dismiss it. Motions to recuse the special prosecutor and motions to quash the indictment are still permitted under the order. Murrill has signaled she will file motions seeking dismissal.
In her statement on the stay, Murrill laid out her view of the road ahead:
"I'm grateful to the Louisiana Supreme Court for swiftly issuing a stay in this matter. The constitution and laws of Louisiana impose a wide swath of duties on the Attorney General. I will continue to carry out those duties to the best of my ability. This matter is not over. I will still need to file the necessary motions to seek a dismissal, which will be forthcoming. I want to thank the many friends and supporters who have expressed their support and encouragement. I hope this political witch hunt is not a harbinger of things to come, but I fear that it is. Neither the grand jury investigation law nor the public intimidation law was intended to be used as a political weapon by a rogue, biased, vindictive special prosecutor, judge, and grand jury. I hope the legislature in the future will ensure this cannot happen again."
Several questions remain unanswered. What specific evidence did White present to the grand jury? What exactly are the "disturbing defects" the Supreme Court identified beyond the conflict of interest? Has White responded to the court's findings about her prior representation of Duncan? What witnesses appeared before the grand jury, and who initiated the investigation?
The Supreme Court's language leaves little ambiguity about where it believes this case is headed. When a state's highest court tells you the defendant will "likely" succeed in quashing an indictment, the indictment is already on life support.
Louisiana's attorney general sent official letters interpreting a state statute and warning local officials about potential legal consequences. For that, a conflicted special prosecutor, appointed by a single judge, secured 16 felony counts from a grand jury the Supreme Court has now flagged for procedural defects. An arrest warrant went out for the state's top law enforcement officer, and stayed active even after the Supreme Court ordered the case frozen, until the court had to step in a second time to force compliance.
The Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office followed the court's orders. The special prosecutor, by Murrill's account, did not, at least not voluntarily.
When the legal system is used to punish an elected official for exercising the duties of her office, the question is not whether the charges will stick. The Supreme Court has already answered that. The question is who benefits from the attempt, and whether anyone will be held accountable for making it.
