Article
Attorney General Liz Murrill and Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams execute historic agreement on New Orleans
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill announced additional members of her Leadership team. The announcement follows the recent naming of Larry Frieman as Chief Deputy, Benjamin Aguiñaga as Solicitor General, and her entire Communications staff.
John W. Sinquefield - Executive Counsel
Tracy Short - Assistant Chief Deputy
Stormy Hambrice - Director of Administrative Services
Leon Cannizzaro - Director of Criminal
Division
Mike Dupree - Director of Public
Protection Division
Christopher B. Hebert - Director of
Gaming Division
Carey T. Jones - Director of Civil Division
Joe Picone - Director of Investigation Division
Alex Reinboth - Director of Litigation Division
Renée Roberts Gassen - Director of Outreach
Background:
John W. Sinquefield,
Executive Counsel, has been First Assistant to three District Attorneys and two
Attorney Generals. He is known for successful prosecutions of Capital Murder
cases and for defense of Louisiana’s Death Penalty Statues. He started as
an assistant prosecutor in New Orleans, worked for the National Center for
Prosecution Management in Washington D.C., and served as First Assistant District
Attorney in Baton Rouge and Lake Charles for over 23 years. He has been
featured in TV productions related to cases he prosecuted. He is known as an
expert in the management of prosecution offices and is a past Vice President of
the National District Attorneys Association.
Tracy Short,
Assistant Chief Deputy, manages special litigation operations and provides
guidance to the Attorney General on strategic legal and policy matters.
He is a graduate of Texas Christian University and the Louisiana State
University Law Center.
Stormy Hambrice,
Director of Administrative Services, has 25 years of legal experience. Hambrice
previously served as a paralegal in the Jindal administration for 7+ years.
Prior to that she served as a paralegal to the Office of the Disciplinary
Counsel and Kean Miller Law Firm.
Leon Cannizzaro, Director of Criminal Division, has
served as the director of the Criminal Division for the last three years. In
1986, Cannizzaro was elected Judge in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court.
During his 17-year tenure on that bench, Cannizzaro presided over more jury
trials than any judge in the history of Louisiana. He then served five years as
a judge on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeal. In 2008, Cannizzaro was elected
District Attorney of Orleans Parish where he served the completion of an
unexpired term and then two full terms.
Mike Dupree, Director of Public Protection
Division, has spent over 18 years in service to
the State of Louisiana. As the Director of the Public Protection Division for
the past 6 years, he has led the Department of Justice’s efforts to protect
Louisiana consumers from unfair and deceptive trade practices, to provide equal
access in housing for our citizens, and to represent the state in antitrust
litigation. He formerly served as
Deputy General Counsel for the Louisiana Board of Ethics.
Christopher B. Hebert, Director of Gaming Division, has
served under three Attorneys General, including the previous eight years as
Director of the Gaming Division. Under his leadership, the Problem Gambling
Resource Services program was established. Led by the Louisiana
Department of Justice, Gaming Division, in partnership with the Louisiana
Department of Health, Office of Behavioral Health, the program brings awareness
to the legal community about problem gambling and the FREE gambling treatment
services available for all Louisiana residents. Hebert is a current board
member of the Louisiana Bar Foundation and a former member of the Board of
Governors for the National Bar Association
Carey T. Jones,
Director of Civil Division, has been part of the Civil Division at the
Louisiana Department of Justice for the last six years. Jones began practice
with Gachassin & Capretz in Lafayette in the defense of medical malpractice
and offshore litigation. He continued in practice with Watson, Blanche, Wilson
& Posner in Baton in hospital liability defense until 1987 when he joined
Fayard & Kuhn handling personal injury cases. In 1991 he opened an
office to represent a number of local government entities and the Louisiana
Secretary of State in election matters.
Joe Picone,
Director of Investigation Division, has over
three decades of law enforcement experience, specializing in criminal
investigations. He has served as a deputy sheriff, detective, supervisor, and
commander. Picone, a veteran of the Louisiana Army National Guard, earned his
college degrees from Loyola University New Orleans, Department of Criminology
and Justice.
Alex Reinboth,
Director of Litigation Division, has served in the Department of Justice since
2017, including as an Assistant Attorney General and Section Chief in the Civil
Division. Alex has successfully represented the State, the Department of
Justice, the Legislature, and other State entities in a number of high-profile
matters.
Renée Roberts Gassen, Director of Outreach, has extensive
experience in the legislative process, having worked as a legislative staffer
for the joint capital outlay committee, a legislative liaison for Governor M.J.
"Mike" Foster, Jr. and the legislative liaison for the St. Tammany
Parish President. Gassen has established professional relationships with
elected officials and staff at the parish, state and national levels of
government.
On Monday, Attorney General Liz Murrill and Orleans Parish
District Attorney Jason Williams met at the Louisiana Department of Justice to execute
the historic agreement between their offices.
In the agreement, first announced at the Superdome in
November, the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office and the Louisiana
Attorney General’s Office agree that the Louisiana’s Attorney General’s Office
shall have the authority to prosecute any and all criminal matters in Orleans
Parish that result from an arrest or investigation conducted by the Louisiana
State Police or any law enforcement agencies working under the direction of or
in cooperation with the Louisiana State Police.
“We’re executing the cooperative endeavor agreement to reboot New Orleans and make sure that New Orleans is safe for all of our people, the people who live there and the people who visit there,” said General Murrill. I would like to thank DA Williams, Governor Landry, and Colonel Hodges for their hard work. I know that we’ve had great response from the people of New Orleans, and I believe that our partnership is what’s going to work."
Files
- download AGandDAAgreement.pdf