Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill has filed a second emergency request to the Louisiana Supreme Court, asking them to recall her arrest warrant after the high court already issued a stay over her recent indictment.
An Orleans Parish grand jury indicted Murrill on Thursday, charging her with 16 felony counts of malfeasance in office and intimidation. Criminal District Judge Leon Roche issued an alias capias warrant for her arrest. Murrill immediately asked the state’s high court to weigh in, who granted a stay of the indictment early Friday morning.
But by Friday evening, Murrill said that the special prosecutor handling her case, former New Orleans Criminal Court judge Laurie White, had refused to recall her arrest warrant and $400,000 bond.
An attorney for Murrill, Laura Cannizzaro Rodrigue, wrote in the emergency filing Friday night to the Supreme Court that they had sought to have Murrill’s warrant recalled in district court. She quoted a response from White to two of Murrill’s attorneys, Kyle Schonekas and Blake Arcuri.
“Counsel sought consent from Special Prosecutor Laurie White, who responded ‘Kyle, Blake, I also like the tone of the letter. Good job Blake, you can do a letter!’” according to the filing.
White then added, “I object to the removal of the capias (warrant), as the accused should not get any more preferential treatment than any other criminally charged defendant,” according to the filing from Murrill’s legal team.
White also accused Murrill’s team of asking the Supreme Court “to micromanage this case differently than a regular pending matter,” according to the filing.
“Speaking of conflicts, is the State of Louisiana paying for the defense of the accused using taxpayer money??!” White added, the filing says.
While the Louisiana Supreme Court’s order staying Murrill’s indictment noted several potential flaws with the grand jury process, the order did not specifically address the warrant.
Rodrigue asked in the emergency filing that the high court order the capias warrant’s recall. She also asked the court to order the Orleans Parish Sheriff to remove it from law enforcement databases.
“It is clear that this Court’s stay of criminal proceedings intended to encompass — if not exclusively target — the execution of an arrest warrant of the Louisiana Attorney General in a matter which the Court deemed her ‘likely to succeed on the merits of a motion to quash this indictment on either a legal basis or due to apparent procedural irregularities,’” Rodrigue wrote.
This is a developing story, check back later for more.
