NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A New Orleans prosecutor’s decision to let a man who committed murder at age 15 seek parole has been upheld by a state appeal court.
Louisiana’s 4th Circuit Court of Appeal ruled last week that District Attorney Jason Williams had the authority to clear the way for 54-year-old Scott Lingle to seek parole. The appellate ruling said Williams could make the decision despite the objections of the state district judge in the case, who wanted a hearing to be held in her court on the issue.
The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reports that Lingle is now a chaplain’s assistant at a state prison. He was convicted of slashing the throat of a woman in the early 1980s. The newspaper reported that Lingle professed his innocence through two trials but later took responsibility for the death of 60-year-old housekeeper Janet McLeod.
His appeals were unsuccessful until a 2016 U.S. Supreme Court ruled that life without parole sentences in such cases should be reserved only for the “worst of the worst” juvenile offenders. As a result, Louisiana adopted a policy granting parole eligibility to such young killers after 25 years of imprisonment, unless a district attorney objected at a special court hearing.
Former District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro filed dozens of such objection notices. However, Cannizzaro did not seek re-election last year and Williams, a fierce critic of his policies, won election to the post promising reforms. After taking office in January, Williams reversed Cannizzaro's policy and began moving cases to the state Parole Board.
In Lingle's case, state District Judge Karen Herman ruled in May that Williams was bound by Cannizzaro's decision to seek a no-parole life sentence. She wanted to move ahead with a full hearing in which she would decide the matter. In its 2-1 decision last week, the appeal court said district attorneys have broad power over life-or-death decisions, and that they can reverse their own decisions.