In an egregious case of bad judgment, two federal prosecutors in the United States attorney's office in New Orleans surreptitiously posted hostile comments on a public news site about defendants in cases the office was pursuing and then lied about it. That conduct now jeopardizes important criminal convictions and has resulted in a judge's call for an independent investigation of the office.
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This scandal has become central to the case of five former New Orleans police officers who were convicted on federal criminal and civil right charges in 2011 for shooting six unarmed citizens soon after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, leaving two dead and four badly wounded.
The defendants have asked for a new trial, claiming the online comments by the prosecutors before and during their trial were part of "a secret public relations campaign" against the defendants that kept them from getting a fair trial. They also contend that "sources close to the investigation" improperly leaked information about plea negotiations and grand jury activities to the news media.
Last week, Federal District Judge Kurt Engelhardt issued a scathing 50-page opinion on the request for a new trial, calling the prosecutors' conduct acts of "perfidy" and "skulduggery" and noting that their false statements to the court might be "prosecuteable criminal conduct."
One lawyer, Salvador Perricone, admitted to posting the online comments and resigned in March. Another senior lawyer, Jan Mann, has been demoted. The judge called the report she submitted to the court about Mr. Perricone's activities "tendentious, unreliable and unacceptable" because she was engaged in the same conduct.
Nonetheless, the judge said he could not rule on the motion for a new trial until the Justice Department provides him with a reliable report on the source of leaks of confidential information. He urged the department to appoint an independent counsel for this inquiry. Attorney General Eric Holder should make that appointment immediately and show that the department has the will to discipline rogue lawyers in its ranks.
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