Press Group Slams Handcuffing of New Orleans Journalist

A prominent media rights group has condemned the handcuffing of a New Orleans journalist and a media lawyer who were trying to object to a courtroom closure during proceedings tied to the since-dismissed indictment of Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill.

In an August 5 letter to the chief judge of the New Orleans criminal district court, an attorney for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP) called the detention of WWL Louisiana investigative producer Danny Monteverde and outlet lawyer Elana Beiser "outrageous" and said it sent "a chilling message to members of the press and the public."

The pair were detained in early July after objecting to Judge Leon Roche's decision to close the courtroom where a grand jury handed up an indictment against Murrill, who was accused of threatening the jobs of Democratic New Orleans officials who opposed a Republican-led overhaul of a court clerk position. Louisiana law requires grand jury returns to be made in open court.

After the courtroom was cleared and closed, deputies ordered Monteverde and Beiser to leave the courthouse entirely and briefly handcuffed them when they protested again. RCFP attorney Virginia Hamrick wrote that "there is no excuse for deputies to handcuff reporters and counsel asking to be heard," and urged the courthouse to accept training on the legality of press access to judicial proceedings.

Roche has said in court filings that he never instructed deputies to detain journalists. The sheriff's office, which handles courthouse security, said deputies "acted in accordance with the directives they received" to protect grand jurors.

The case against Murrill was quickly halted by the Louisiana Supreme Court over procedural issues, then dismissed on July 22 by a special prosecutor — a day after New Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams, Mayor Helena Moreno and city council members urged the dismissal. Murrill called the case "malicious prosecution," saying, "What I did was not a crime." Williams, Moreno and the others said the prosecution had only "alienated the city from the rest of the state."