Analyst: D.A. should answer questions about why he freed convicts

A Louisiana State Senate committee will hold hearings over the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office use of post-sentencing relief free some convicts from prison before the end of their sentences. Those hearings come after a senator from north Louisiana questioned why District Attorney Jason Williams ramped up his use of the post-sentencing relief before a law putting some limits on district attorneys' discretion took effect on August 1.

Sen. Jay Morris (R-West Monroe) told our partners at WWL-TV that he's fielded complaints from constituents who are concerned that Williams's office released violent criminals back into the general population. Morris claims that Williams has allowed more than 150 convicts to walk free this year alone.

We emailed the Orleans District Attorney's Office to find out exactly how many convicts have been granted release via post-conviction relief this year. We are awaiting a response.

According to one legal analyst, state officials are focusing on New Orleans for one simple reason.

"It appears as if it's happening a lot more frequently in Orleans Parish than it is in other jurisdictions in the state," attorney Joe Raspanti said.

According to Raspanti, the old law allowed district attorneys to provide post-conviction relief whenever they saw fit. The new law still provides that discretion, but it also allows the Attorney General's Office to challenge those decisions.

Williams is on record as saying that he wanted to use post-conviction relief to free convicts who may have been put away because of prosecutorial or police misconduct. That, Raspanti says, may be the crux of the disagreement between Williams and state officials.

"It appears as if Jason Williams and his office have a philosophically different approach and different opinion as to who should be released from prison and for what reasons," Raspanti says.

Raspanti believes it will serve Williams well to provide details about who has been freed via post-conviction relief sooner rather than later.
That way, Raspanti says, lawmakers, the Attorney General's Office, and the governor can see if Williams is righting wrongs caused by prosecutorial or police misconduct or if he freeing convicts for other reasons.

"They're trying to get to the facts," Raspanti said. "Once the information is put out there, what ever tribunal--the state senate (or) whoever--wants to look at it can look at these cases on an individual basis and determine whether or not the D. A. did, in fact, right a wrong or whether or not there were other reasons for him to go forward with the release of the prisoners."

"It's a fair discovery issue, and I think the D. A. is going to release it," Raspanti added. "Once that occurs, then everyone is gong to have a better understanding of what's going on."