A special prosecutor in Louisiana on Wednesday dropped all felony criminal charges against Attorney General Liz Murrill, just weeks after a grand jury indicted her on accusations of intimidating New Orleans officials. The dismissal came after Mayor Helena Moreno, District Attorney Jason Williams, retired judge Calvin Johnson, and five City Council members urged the prosecutor to drop the case, stating they were not intimidated by Murrill's actions.
Murrill, a Republican, had been accused of threatening local officials in May after the state legislature passed a measure to reform the court system. The new law consolidated the Orleans Parish civil and criminal court clerks into one position, preventing Calvin Duncan, a former inmate cleared of a 1981 murder, from assuming his elected role. Murrill had accused local officials of attempting to circumvent the law by appointing an interim clerk and scheduling an election for November.
The case had been put on hold after the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled that the local court and special prosecutor did not follow proper procedures. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry had promised a swift pardon, calling the indictment a product of an "Orleans Kangaroo court." Murrill stated that the case should never have been started and vowed to investigate the actions that led to the charges.