LaMont Cole pushes back against grand jury that indicted him, questions legality
BATON ROUGE — Just two weeks after being indicted, former Metro Councilman and current Superintendent LaMont Cole says the grand jury that charged him may not have had the authority to do so.
That’s according to a motion Cole’s attorneys filed in court on Friday.
In the motion, Cole’s attorneys say District Attorney Hillar Moore needed to submit a written request for Attorney General Liz Murrill’s office to get involved with grand jury proceedings. Without Moore’s request, Murrill would have needed a judge’s approval to get involved, the filing says.
“If no constitutionally sufficient written request or judicial authorization existed…the resulting prosecutorial conduct exceeded the authority shown by the present record, and the indictment should be quashed,” attorneys wrote in their filing.
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In the filing, Cole’s attorney requested an evidentiary hearing, with the state submitting any written requests by Moore for advice or assistance in persecuting Cole as well as showing who examined witnesses during the closed grand jury hearing and who presented Cole’s case.