New Orleans D.A. Sued for Using Fake Subpoenas to Coerce Witnesses and Crime Victims
After the media revealed the threatening, fraudulent notices, a lawsuit has targeted the practice.

When New Orleans accountant Renata Singleton, 37, appeared in court after spending five days in jail on a $100,000 bond, she was wearing an orange jumpsuit and shackled at her hands and feet. Singleton was not on trial, though. She was a crime victim.
Singleton had been jailed after ignoring two fake subpoenas sent to her by the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office for private meetings with prosecutors, who then obtained an arrest warrant that relied "on false, misleading, and plainly insufficient" facts, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Singleton's former boyfriend, on trial for abusing her, had already been released on a $3,500 bond, appeared in court in his own clothes, pled guilty to two misdemeanors, received probation, and didn't spend a day in jail.
Singelton is one of several named plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed today against Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro's office for using fake subpoenas to coerce witnesses and crime victims into testifying. The suit was filed by the ACLU and Civil Rights Corps, on behalf of six New Orleans residents subjected to such tactics and Silence is Violence, a local anti-violence advocacy group.
"Defendants' policies are designed to create a culture of fear and intimidation that chills crime victims and witnesses from asserting their constitutional rights," the suit says. "As a result of these policies, crime victims and witnesses in Orleans Parish know that if they exercise their right not to speak with an investigating prosecutor, they will face harassment, threats, arrest, and jail."
The Lens first reported New Orleans prosecutors' use of fake subpoenas this April. The news outlet obtained copies of letters that ordered residents to meet with Orleans Parish prosecutors to discuss crimes they might have witnessed. The letters weren't authorized by a judge but gave every other indication of being official court documents. "A FINE AND IMPRISONMENT MAY BE IMPOSED FOR FAILURE TO OBEY THIS NOTICE," one such letter declared.
Cannizzaro's office initially defended the practice. But shortly after it learned that legal experts had told The Lens that such letters were likely illegal, it announced that it would stop. Follow-up investigations revealed that Cannizzaro's office attempted to obtain an arrest warrant against a domestic violence victim who ignored a fake subpoena.
"I'm a longtime crime defense lawyer whose worked all over the country, and I've never seen anything like this in my career," Anna Arceneaux, an ACLU senior staff attorney on the case, says. "The process in Louisiana is very specific and mentions the reason for court oversight: to prevent prosecutorial abuse. Cannizzaro's office completely sidestepped that procedure and created its own system of coercing witness testimony and compelling people to attend private meetings in their office."
The lawsuit alleges that Cannizzaro's office often used heavy-handed tactics to intimidate witnesses into testifying. When potential witnesses refused to provide prosecutors with private meetings, which are not compulsary unless accompanied by a lawful order, the district attorney's office obtained "material witness" warrants from judges to jail them until trial.
According to the suit, Cannizzaro's office has sought "material witness" warrants at least 150 times. "In a significant number of applications for these warrants," the lawsuit says, Cannizzaro's office made false statements and omitted material facts. "If prosecutors told the whole story, these warrants would never be issued."
Arceneaux says in many of those cases, prosecutors used witnesses refusal to comply with fraudulent subpoenas as justification for imprisonment.
Cannizzaro's office also sought exorbitant bonds, sometimes up to $500,000, or no bond at all to keep witnesses in custody. Jailed witnesses then had to languish behind bars for long periods before they could even appear in court to challenge their imprisonment.
"One rape victim spent 12 days in jail before her first court appearance," the suit says. "A victim of child sex trafficking was jailed for 89 days—including Christmas and New Year's Day—before she had an opportunity to challenge her confinement."
The lawsuit is seeking a court injunction to permanently bar Cannizzaro's office from using such tactics, plus monetary damages for its six named plaintiffs.
The lawsuit is a joint effort between the ACLU and Civil Rights Corps, two civil rights organizaitons which have both embarked on a major initiatives to increase oversight and public awareness of the role prosecutors play in the criminal justice system. "This is our first lawsuit to really challenge and hopefully change the landscape, so prosecutors who've been used to operating without any oversight will know they'll be held accountable," Arceneaux says.
The Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office did not immediately return a request for comment.
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
The Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office did not immediately return a request for comment.
Well, sheesh, C.J. -- send 'em a fake subpoena!
C.J. is so stoopit.
The lawsuit is seeking a court injunction to permanently bar Cannizzaro's office from using such tactics, plus monetary damages for its six named plaintiffs
That will make it aaaaaaall better.
Monetary damages to be paid by the criminals sending the fake subpoenas, or by the taxpayers?
""The lawsuit is seeking a court injunction to permanently bar Cannizzaro's office from using such tactics,"'
How about moving to permanently bar Cannizzaro from office.
lolz. This is the Big Sleasy we're talking about. This is the city that carried Gov. Edwin Edwards (convicted on federal corruption charges), and twice elected Ernest Morial and his son, Mark, either who could handedly win a 'Least Trustworthy' award at a pickpocket convention, and keeps reelecting a city council so crooked and incompetent they couldn't faithfully or profitably run a Lucky Dog stand on Bourbon St. during the Mardi Gras. Keeping Cannizzaro and his abuses is just, 'Naturally N'awlins, dawl'n' - I miss the food, family, friends, and festivals, but not much more.
"The lawsuit is seeking a court injunction to permanently bar Cannizzaro's office from using such tactics, plus monetary damages for its six named plaintiffs"
What's really needed is "The lawsuit is seeking a court injunction to strip Cannizzaro of his citizenship, place a bounty on his hide, and give him a fifteen minute head start."
It is sort of a shame that outlawry isn't a thing anymore.
Whoa, for a second there I thought there was a black DA in New Orleans.
OW MY SIDES!!!!!!
Cannizzaro's office initially defended the practice. But shortly after it learned that legal experts had told The Lens that such letters were likely illegal
Wait a second, it took 'legal experts' to tip practicing, credentialed lawyers off to the fact that this was 'likely illegal'?
No, it took a newspaper knowing it was likely illegal. In other words, it took them getting caught at it.
The lawsuit is seeking a court injunction to permanently bar Cannizzaro's office from using such tactics, plus monetary damages for its six named plaintiffs
And... disbarment for Cannizzaro?
Well OK, jailing women for the offense of pointing out that hubby or boy"friend" (boyfiend maybe more like it?) is abusing them... To force their testimony... Sounds like a very unlikely way to encourage witnesses (victims) of abuse to come forward. Gotcha...
HOWEVER, it seems to me that there is "prima facea" (primordial feces? Not a lawyer here, am guessing at the correct buzzwords) evidence that men are being discriminated against! Violent crime in general? 14 times as many men imprisoned as women! I am not sure what the ratio is for domestic abuse is, specifically here, but I am sure it indicates that Government Almighty is discriminating against men! Government Almighty must IMMEDIATELY implement a quota system to correct this, clearly!!!
Lol @ Paul.
I'm sure the FBI and DOJ civil rights division are all over this, right? I mean we're exceptional and shit.
So where's BLM in this? You want criminal justice reform, here's a poster child for the movement. Yeah, taking a knee when the national anthem plays is a lot easier than hiring lawyers and filing civil rights cases but somebody's gotta do the grunt work, too.
SPLC will soon issue a scathing statement of outrage.
Has Trump condemned this yet? Hillary? Chelsea? I need to know!
The process in Louisiana is very specific and mentions the reason for court oversight: to prevent prosecutorial abuse.
Except these are Louisiana courts we're talking about. I'm not sure why prosecutors even needed to sidestep them. Judges were apparently issuing material witness warrants left and right.
Oh, Nola, truly you are the Chicago of the South.
I lived in NOLA for several years a few decades ago; it's pretty much a third world country, so not much surprises me from that Quarter.
Lawsuits?
Where are the arrest warrants? This must at least be fraud.
Impersonating a court and lying to a judge are crimes? What first world civilization do you live in?
Hey if you haven't done anything wrong...ah forget it!