Maya Rodriguez / Eyewitness News
NEW ORLEANS -- New Orleans District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro is criticizing a criminal court judge who released a perjury suspect on her own recognizance.
Monday's arrest of Danielle Hampton on perjury charges is now morphing into the poster child of what Cannizzaro says is a historic practice called bond shopping. That’s where attorneys appeal to a criminal court judge for a bond hearing, circumventing the magistrate.
“What happens is sometimes, if you don’t like necessarily what a magistrate does, you go to another judge,” Cannizzaro said.
The latest case involves Judge Frank Marullo releasing Danielle Hampton on her own recognizance. Hampton was arrested Monday on two counts of perjury, based on testimony she gave several weeks ago in the murder trial of Telly Hankton. That trial ended in a hung jury.
Court documents obtained by Eyewitness News show that while Hampton claimed she met Hankton on the day of the murder and testified she was with him at a hotel bar at the time of the murder, a police investigation found “phone records indicated she knew Mr. Hankton prior to the day in question.”
Hampton’s release led to strong words from Cannizzaro, aimed toward Marullo. The district attorney said the judge made a decision without hearing the prosectuion’s side.
“It is time we as a community draw a line in the sand and say to this judge, enough is enough. I am tired of hearing Judge Frank Marullo argue that this is a historical practice, and therefore it is right,” Cannizzaro said.
But beyond the bond shopping issue, there are other concerns now too, according to Rafael Goyeneche of the Metropolitan Crime Commission.
“By releasing this witness, I think that not only was an injustice done, but her safety could be at risk,” he said.
Phone calls to Marullo were not returned, and Hampton’s attorney would not comment on this case.
Cannizzaro said he would now like the Louisiana Supreme Court to step in and take a look at this practice. In the meantime he says he also spoke with Sheriff Marlin Gusman, who has agreed to stop taking phone calls from judges having to do with these particular bond shopping issues.
