The federal lawsuit says the use of fake subpoenas by Orleans Parish prosecutors was “widespread and systemic.” Prosecutors obtained arrest warrants for 10 people because they ignored fake subpoenas, according to the suit Six were jailed, sometimes for days without seeing a judge.
The DA’s office delivered the notice to the girl’s house. When her lawyer told the prosecutor to leave the girl alone, the prosecutor got a real subpoena and had it delivered to the girl at school. The prosecutor said he was obligated to interview the victim in order to do his job.
The district attorney wants the city to restore $600,000 cut from his budget.
The Southern Poverty Law Center filed the complaint today with the state agency that disciplines attorneys.
Some people who get speeding tickets are given the option to write a check to the local district attorney’s office, which keeps the ticket out of court and off their driving record. The money stays with the DA. Public defenders, which rely on revenue from traffic tickets in court, say these diversion programs have hurt their budgets.
The DA’s office sent a fake subpoena to the mother of Hayes’ son.
Ronald Johnson left the school the day after the alleged incident. His case has been delayed 15 times.
The judge wasn’t swayed by an argument by the DA’s lawyer that it’s too hard to find the records.
But the judge didn’t recall the arrest warrant until after the case was dropped.
District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro has said people faced “no legal consequences” if they failed to obey fake subpoenas sent by his office. But one of his prosecutors got an arrest warrant for a woman in part because she didn’t obey a fake subpoena. She was never arrested because the charges were dropped.
