Deal to stay out of federal court ends disciplinary action for ex-prosecutors Jan Mann and Sal Perricone
Former prosecutors Jan Mann, left, and Sal Perricone, right, talk with the media outside the federal courthouse in New Orleans on Aug. 21, 2009. They left the U.S. Attorney's Office amid the online commenting scandal and now are permanently barred from practicing in the federal court in New Orleans. (Chris Granger, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
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on May 01, 2014 at 5:48 PM, updated May 02, 2014 at 11:39 AM
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The federal prosecutors whose anonymous online comments felled high-profile cases and ended the career of U.S. Attorney Jim Letten avoided disciplinary action by agreeing to stay out of federal court in New Orleans.
Jan Mann and Sal Perricone will never again practice in the U.S. District Court where they were once high-ranking figures.
Mann, the second-in-command under Letten, and Perricone, the chief litigation counsel, left the office in 2012 after they were outed as commenters on NOLA.com. Under monikers, they authored comments about federal cases their office handled, a no-no for Justice Department officials.
The lifetime ban from the local federal courthouse doesn't necessarily end their law careers. Both Mann and Perricone are currently admitted to the Louisiana State Bar, and could practice in state courts or in some other capacity, unless they face disciplinary action by the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board.
Charles Plattsmier, the chief disciplinary counsel for the board that investigates allegations of lawyer misconduct, did not respond to a call for comment. Neither did Valerie Willard, the public information officer for the Louisiana Supreme Court, which metes out any punishment of lawyers.
Perricone and Mann posted comments on NOLA.com about federal probes, trials and courthouse figures. The comments -- sometimes criticisms of other prosecutors, judges and targets of probes -- helped topple the convictions of police who killed unarmed civilians on the Danziger Bridge after Hurricane Katrina. The comments, along with other actions by Justice Department officials, amounted to "grotesque prosecutorial misconduct," U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt wrote in granting a new trial for five ex-NOPD officers.
Mann's attorney previously said she authored no comments on the Danziger Bridge case during trial and only posted on the case after Engelhardt granted a mistrial for another officer who was tried separately.
On Thursday, Steve Scheckman, an attorney for Mann, and John Litchfield, an attorney for Perricone, did not respond to calls seeking comment.
Perricone and Mann also were subjects of an internal investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice into the comments and possible leaks. A recent court filing confirmed the probe has ended, but the findings of the investigation remain secret. (READ: Prosecutor's letter about the probe's conclusion.)
One local criminal defense attorney is trying to get the investigative reports made public. Eddie Castaing on Thursday asked for the records from the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility to be unsealed as he tries to get Stacey Jackson, former head of a city-funded housing program, out from under corruption charges on the grounds of prosecutorial misconduct.
The Justice Department has not responded.
Jan Mann and Sal Perricone will never again practice in the U.S. District Court where they were once high-ranking figures.
The development was revealed in court records unsealed for the first time Thursday (May 1). It was the first publicly disclosed information about disciplinary proceedings against the two, whose conduct was the topic of a scathing court order last year citing "grotesque prosecutorial misconduct" by them and others in the U.S. Department of Justice.
Most of the records related to the federal court's disciplinary proceedings remain under seal. And court officials said the only information that would be disclosed is contained in the one-page orders that say each was "permitted to resign in lieu of discipline in the Eastern District of Louisiana." Perricone and Mann's names will be "permanently stricken from the roster of attorneys licensed to practice" in the federal court that handles federal cases from the 13-parish area. (READ: Perricone order and Mann order.)Mann, the second-in-command under Letten, and Perricone, the chief litigation counsel, left the office in 2012 after they were outed as commenters on NOLA.com. Under monikers, they authored comments about federal cases their office handled, a no-no for Justice Department officials.
The lifetime ban from the local federal courthouse doesn't necessarily end their law careers. Both Mann and Perricone are currently admitted to the Louisiana State Bar, and could practice in state courts or in some other capacity, unless they face disciplinary action by the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board.
Charles Plattsmier, the chief disciplinary counsel for the board that investigates allegations of lawyer misconduct, did not respond to a call for comment. Neither did Valerie Willard, the public information officer for the Louisiana Supreme Court, which metes out any punishment of lawyers.
Perricone and Mann posted comments on NOLA.com about federal probes, trials and courthouse figures. The comments -- sometimes criticisms of other prosecutors, judges and targets of probes -- helped topple the convictions of police who killed unarmed civilians on the Danziger Bridge after Hurricane Katrina. The comments, along with other actions by Justice Department officials, amounted to "grotesque prosecutorial misconduct," U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt wrote in granting a new trial for five ex-NOPD officers.
Mann's attorney previously said she authored no comments on the Danziger Bridge case during trial and only posted on the case after Engelhardt granted a mistrial for another officer who was tried separately.
On Thursday, Steve Scheckman, an attorney for Mann, and John Litchfield, an attorney for Perricone, did not respond to calls seeking comment.
Perricone and Mann also were subjects of an internal investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice into the comments and possible leaks. A recent court filing confirmed the probe has ended, but the findings of the investigation remain secret. (READ: Prosecutor's letter about the probe's conclusion.)
One local criminal defense attorney is trying to get the investigative reports made public. Eddie Castaing on Thursday asked for the records from the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility to be unsealed as he tries to get Stacey Jackson, former head of a city-funded housing program, out from under corruption charges on the grounds of prosecutorial misconduct.
The Justice Department has not responded.
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