Louisiana legislators grill New Orleans DA for releasing people convicted of violent crimes

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana legislators interrogated New Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams over reform policies that have allowed several hundred people to have their convictions voided or sentences reduced in the past few years, during a fiery Senate hearing Thursday at the state capitol.

Conservative lawmakers, Republican Attorney General Liz Murrill and several former prosecutors said Williams failed to fulfill his duty to defend convictions for violent crimes. They highlighted cases of convicted murderers and rapists released from prison through post-conviction relief, which allows new information to be considered after all appeals have been exhausted.

Williams, a Democrat who took office in 2020 on a progressive platform, defended his record and said his office is seeking to restore trust in the legal system. He has pushed for expanding the use of post-conviction relief to review cases where his office believes unconstitutional or unjust procedures were employed to reach convictions.

Murrill said she is reviewing what she called the “disproportionately higher number” of relief cases awarded by Williams’ office since January. He has granted relief in around 40 cases during that period, while district attorneys in neighboring Jefferson and St. Tammany parishes have only allowed for one case of relief each.

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