New report flags unusually high acquittal rates in Orleans Parish judge trials

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — A new report from the Metropolitan Crime Commission is raising questions about how justice is being served in the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court, specifically when judges, not juries, decide the verdict.

According to the report, judges Nandi Campbell and Leon Roche not only presided over more judge only trials than any other judges in the parish, they also issued not-guilty verdicts at dramatically higher rates.

From 2021 to 2023, 123 bench trials were held in the court. Campbell and Roche handled more than half, 51% of them.

• Judge Campbell acquitted defendants in 79 percent of her judge trials.
• In violent felony cases, that number climbed to 91%. That’s 21 acquittals out of 23 trials.
• Judge Roche, in his first full year on the bench, acquitted defendants in 88 percent of his judge trials.

Judge Roche, who began serving a full term in 2023, acquitted defendants in 88% of his judge trials in his first full year on the bench.

“These cases indicate that there is a strategic advantage for defendants to waive a jury before these two judges,” said Rafael Goyeneche, president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission. “And these two judges should not be outliers to this extent.”

For comparison, Orleans Parish juries returned not guilty verdicts just 43% of the time during the same period.

Louisiana law currently gives only defendants the right to waive a jury trial, a power not shared by prosecutors. That’s something the MCC wants to change. The group is proposing a legal amendment that would require both the prosecution and defense to agree to a bench trial, mirroring the approach in federal court and 31 other states.

“Most judges have two or three judge trials a year. That’s a busy year for most of the court,” Goyeneche said. “These judges are doing 15-plus judge trials per year, and their acquittal rates are well outside the norms of juries and the other 10 judges of the court.”

While the MCC isn’t accusing judges Campbell or Roche of wrongdoing, the report suggests their high acquittal rates may be symptomatic of a larger issue in the judicial system, one that may warrant further oversight or reform.

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