A day after the District Attorney’s Office and NOPD butted heads when charges were dropped against a quintuple murder suspect, New Orleans Police Chief Warren Riley said Thursday he was not out to attack DA Eddie Jordan.

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New Orleans Police Chief Warren Riley

On Tuesday, Jordan’s office dismissed charges against 20-year-old Michael Anderson, the man suspected of gunning down five teenagers in June 2006, because prosecutors could not find a witness, only to have the NOPD produce the very witness the next day.

But during a press conference Wednesday night, Jordan said his office did make contact with the NOPD and efforts were made to try and locate the witness. According to the DA, a letter was sent to the NOPD requesting help locating witnesses in 14 homicide cases, with Jordan claiming that police did not respond to his request for help.

Riley said the letter that Jordan presented was a response to an NOPD sergeant’s request for a list of cases in which the DA was having trouble finding witnesses.

“That was based on a conversation from Sgt. Danny McMullen from our office, who contacted the DA's office and asked the DA's office to send them a list of any cases they needed help on,” Riley said. “It was not…a list that was prioritized saying, ‘I need this, or this is going to trial.’"

Riley said his intention was not to slam Jordan, but to show the public that both police and prosecutors were working hard to keep Anderson off the street.

City Council members applauded the police department's actions in finding the witness, adding that the trend of cases falling apart or getting dismissed because the DA cannot find witnesses has to stop.

“We've got to…do a better job of setting rules and expectations, and if those expectations are not met, then the funding's gotta stop,” said Stacy Head, New Orleans City Council (District B). “We've said that, and now it's time for the rubber to meet the road and we're gonna do it."

Mayor Ray Nagin had called for state Attorney General Charles Foti to launch an investigation into the Orleans Parish DA’s Office if the witness problem does not improve.

The mayor was expected to make a statement about the situation on Thursday.

WWLTV.com will have more information on this story as details become available.