New Orleans DA Pulls Out of Jailbreak Investigation One Day After Sheriff Asks for Him To Be Removed

Law Enforcement Today previously reported on the massive security breach from the Orleans Parish Jail. Nine out of the 10 inmates that escaped were in the pretrial stages for years and the majority of them had been arrested for committing violence crimes like murder. According to ABC News, in her court filing, Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said that District Attorney Jason Williams was letting "personal animus and political campaigning" interfere with the ongoing investigation into the escape.

Hutson claimed that Williams has publicly questioned her leadership and has launched a series of "ongoing attacks" on her office in "an unprecedented display of political self-serving bias." The sheriff also noted that Williams is supporting her opponent in the upcoming sheriff's election. Her motion said that Williams' investigation had given an "unfair advantage to his preferred candidate" and would be a "strain" on the resources of the sheriff's office.

New Orleans Parish Criminal Judge Nandi Campbell did not rule on the request and instead resolved it during a meeting behind closed doors.

The very next day, Williams removed himself from the Louisiana Attorney General-led investigation. Several days after the inmates escaped, Williams had initially described the inquiry as a "joint effort" with Attorney General Liz Murrill.

ABC News reported that in a statement, Williams said the recusal motion had not been granted because there were "no legal grounds to support it." 

Williams said he removed himself due to its "multi-jurisdictional nature," citing a separate jailbreak that occurred early in the month of May in another Louisiana parish. He said that his office engaged in the investigation to "ensure that no evidence was lost or compromised" after the escape happened.

He criticized Hutson for not "immediately" requesting an "independent forensic processing" of the facility. 

Authorities later arrested a maintenance worker for allegedly aiding in the escape. Williams said of the sheriff's office, "It's hard not to see this agency as anything but compromised until any bad actors have been identified and rooted out."  Two of the 10 inmates that escaped remain on the run, 4WWL reported that as of writing.

In a statement, Murrill said that she is heading the investigation to provide "accountability" and "recommendations" to the state and the city to "ensure that an escape like this never happens again." Hutson said that she welcomes the "oversight of the Attorney General's Office and remains fully committed to cooperating with all relevant authorities." 

In a statement, Williams called the sheriff's latest effort to have him removed from an investigation he's not leading "untimely and meritless." He said, "This is yet another example of the sheriff being two steps behind the moment," adding that his office "chose to refer this matter to the AG due to possible multi-jurisdictional implications and potential for statewide examination of jailbreak protocols."

He also said that his initial investigative steps after the escape were "necessary to ensure that no key materials were lost or compromised by the Sheriff's Office." The 10 inmates escaped from the Orleans Justice Center in the early morning hours of May 16th after climbing through a hole behind a toilet.

As reported by Law Enforcement Today, several people have been arrested on suspicion of helping the escapees, including another inmate in the jail and a jail maintenance worker who has been accused of shutting off the water to the toilet allowing the inmates to remove it before escaping.