Courts

How a Syrian former boxer’s testimony shaped art heist trial in New Orleans federal court

By JAMES FINN | Staff writer
Jun 28, 2026

Fouad Zeton was there to tell the truth.

Louisiana Supreme Court won’t revisit law merging New Orleans court clerks; city to seek SCOTUS review

BY MATT BRUCE | Staff writer
Jun 26, 2026

The Louisiana Supreme Court won’t grant New Orleans city leaders a review hearing to argue against a controversial new law that merged the city’s clerk of court offices last month, declining t…

Jury finds ex-New Orleans police officer guilty of 5 corruption counts after federal trial

By JAMES FINN | Staff writer
Jun 26, 2026

A jury convicted a former New Orleans police officer of federal corruption charges Friday, finding that the ex-officer solicited kickbacks from a local restaurateur in exchange for falsely rep…

Jury deadlocks in trial over fatal French Quarter mass shooting after two days of deliberation

BY MATT BRUCE | Staff writer
Updated Jun 26, 2026

A New Orleans jury failed to reach a verdict Thursday after two days of testimony in the murder trial of a man accused of killing a woman during a mass shooting in the French Quarter.

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Louisiana judge punished for ‘$100 handshake’ handed new suspension for repeated misconduct

BY JOHN SIMERMAN | Staff writer
Jun 26, 2026

A Louisiana judge who just served a 20-day suspension for accepting a “$100 handshake” has agreed to spend his last four months in office on unpaid suspension over a handful of other ethical fouls.

Here’s how much energy giants will pay for new Lake Charles bridge after past chemical spill

BY MEGAN WYATT | Staff writer
Jun 25, 2026

Two petrochemical giants will chip in a tiny percentage toward the overall cost of building the new Lake Charles Interstate-10 bridge after the state quietly settled a lawsuit earlier this yea…

Zachary schools, bus company spar over liability in alleged rape on school bus

BY QUINN COFFMAN | Staff writer
Updated Jun 26, 2026

The Zachary Community School District and its contracted school bus operator are sparring over who is potentially liable after a middle school girl claimed she was raped by classmates during a…

Major firm hired to help AG in New Orleans sheriff, Baton Rouge corruption investigations

BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER | Staff writer
Jun 24, 2026

The Louisiana Attorney General's office has hired a top-flight accounting firm, records show, as it continues to pursue separate investigations into alleged corruption in Baton Rouge governmen…

Cousins plead guilty in fatal French Quarter quadruple shooting. Third relative slated for trial.

BY MATT BRUCE | Staff writer
Jun 24, 2026

Two of the three men accused of opening fire on a bustling French Quarter sidewalk in 2024, killing a woman and wounding three others, pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges from the mid-afternoon …

Gov. Jeff Landry says Louisiana has reached a 'final agreement' with Exxon in coastal lawsuits

By ALEX LUBBEN | Staff writer
Jun 23, 2026

Gov. Jeff Landry announced Tuesday that Louisiana and ExxonMobil had reached a final settlement agreement in lawsuits brought by parishes alleging that the oil company had polluted the state’s…

Inmate death in private Louisiana jail sparks legal battle over corporate accountability

BY PATRICK SLOAN-TURNER | Staff writer
Jun 23, 2026

Sprawled on the concrete floor of a jail cell in LaSalle Parish, Jaleen Anderson could do little more than wave at an overhead surveillance camera for help.

Convicted art dealer testifies in trial of ex-NOPD officer accused of planning insurance fraud scheme

BY MATT BRUCE | Staff writer
Jun 23, 2026

A Las Vegas appraiser of high-end artwork testified Monday in a federal courtroom that he took his cues from then-New Orleans policeman Christian Claus when he inflated values for a slate of p…

How will a federal prosecutor’s scandal shape LaToya Cantrell’s legal fate? It’s complicated.

By JAMES FINN | Staff writer
Jun 21, 2026

Allegations that a veteran federal prosecutor hid a romantic relationship with a workplace subordinate, a source of seething controversy within New Orleans’ U.S. Attorney’s Office, have set le…

How Louisiana nitrogen gas executions could be affected by court ruling on Alabama

BY JOHN SIMERMAN | Staff writer
Jun 20, 2026

Advocates for death row inmates in Louisiana are praising a decision this month by the U.S. Supreme Court that barred Alabama from carrying out its latest scheduled execution by nitrogen gas, …

Alabama man admits to faking his dad’s death in Louisiana to evade rape charges in another state

BY MATT BRUCE | Staff writer
Jun 20, 2026

Melvin Phillip Emde was facing sexual misconduct charges in North Carolina when he and his son, Seth Emde, devised a scheme to fake his drowning death in the Mississippi River in St. Charles P…

Are ‘six pack’ juries, used in Louisiana, constitutional? U.S. Supreme Court to decide

BY JOHN SIMERMAN | Staff writer
Jun 20, 2026

In crimes where Louisiana’s criminal code does not specify hard labor upon a conviction, six-person juries can decide a defendant’s guilt.

NOLA federal prosecutor under investigation for alleged relationship with subordinate, sources say

By JAMES FINN and JOHN SIMERMAN | Staff writers
Jun 17, 2026

He was the lead prosecutor on the case against former mayor LaToya Cantrell but has since been placed on leave.

Tangipahoa sheriff's deputy fired, two staffers suspended following inmate's escape from courthouse

BY CHAD CALDER | Staff writer
Jun 16, 2026

The Tangipahoa Sheriff's Office has fired one deputy and suspended two senior employees following the escape of an inmate Monday from the courthouse in Amite.

Senior federal prosecutor withdrawn from LaToya Cantrell case, placed on leave, sources say

By JAMES FINN and JOHN SIMERMAN | Staff writers
Jun 16, 2026

After being prompted to the office’s head of criminal prosecutions, he was recently stripped of the title, people familiar with the matter told The Times-Picayune.

2 guilty of killing New Orleans man after fight at Plum Orchard gas station

BY MATT BRUCE | Staff writer
Jun 16, 2026

An Orleans Parish jury has found two men guilty of murder more than two years after they converged to gun a man down outside a New Orleans East gas station, prosecutors said.

Trial starts for ex-New Orleans cop accused of staging art theft with local restaurateur

By JAMES FINN | Staff writer
Jun 16, 2026

A jury was impaneled Monday in the case of a former New Orleans Police Department officer charged with faking an art heist in exchange for kickbacks, a saga that yielded a trove of evidence — …

New details revealed in crossfire killing of U.S. Marine vet in New Orleans

BY MATT BRUCE | Staff writer
Jun 15, 2026

Michael Garcia, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran described by police as a bystander killed in the crossfire of an April shootout, was the casualty of a feud over less than half an ounce of marijuan…

12 New Orleans judges, 9 seats. Bill shrinking criminal court launches turbulent election.

BY MATT BRUCE | Staff writer
Jun 15, 2026

It's shaping up to be an unusual game of musical chairs in the New Orleans criminal courthouse as the dozen sitting district judges jockey in an election year for three fewer seats.

Louisiana judge slams ICE for trying to deport 77-year-old Palestinian man living here 51 years

By JAMES FINN | Staff writer
Jun 12, 2026

Federal officials this week tried to deport a 77-year-old Palestinian-born man — a 51-year U.S. resident living in north Louisiana — after a federal judge ordered him released from custody, in…

Louisiana fire chief facing misconduct charges over fire during burn ban, spat with police chief

BY JOHN SIMERMAN | Staff writer
Jun 11, 2026

As Louisiana broiled in August 2023, the State Fire Marshal issued a burn ban, leaving it to local officials to grant exceptions if needed.

Louisiana judge accused of misconduct over Gonzales bar scrap at Swamp Chicken Daiquiris

BY JOHN SIMERMAN | Staff writer
Jun 10, 2026

Three years ago, a late-night fracas landed a state judge, Steven Tureau, in the mud and trash behind Swamp Chicken Daiquiris, a Gonzales bar.

Former DeRidder Mayor Misty Roberts to spend 90 days in jail after sex case involving teen boy

BY MEGAN WYATT | Staff writer
Jun 9, 2026

Former DeRidder Mayor Misty Roberts, convicted of multiple sex crimes after a 2024 party in which she was charged with having sex with her son’s 16-year-old friend, was ordered by a judge Tues…

Gov. Jeff Landry signs into law pair of bills cutting New Orleans judges

BY MATT BRUCE | Staff writer
Jun 9, 2026

Senate Bill 217 cuts 7 judges across New Orleans’ criminal, juvenile and municipal/traffic courts. Senate Bills axes two judges from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal.