Heavy criticism has poured in from all sides following a decision by a top prosecutor within the Orleans Parish DA’s office to free over a dozen people who were found illegally carrying a weapon during Mardi Gras festivities.
The DA’s office is promising a review of all cases Assistant District Attorney Emily Maw was involved in. Maw was brought in to head the civil rights division of the Orleans DA’s office two years ago.
The Metropolitan Crime Commission says Maw stepped in as a prosecutor in the magistrate section of Orleans Criminal District Court on Tuesday when she dropped charges against 15 people who had been arrested in a gun sweep during Carnival as long as they turned their guns in.
The charges were dropped before police reports were turned in according to New Orleans Police Interim Superintendent Michelle Woodfork.
Among those freed was star LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers, who was arrested around 9 p.m. on Lundi Gras, accused of carrying a firearm on Bourbon Street. He was booked into the jail around 2 a.m. Tuesday and was released later that morning without being required to post bond.
The City of New Orleans spent more than $1 million to bring in dozens of outside officers to enforce laws such as the prohibiting of carrying weapons within 1,000 feet of a parade route. Woodfork says officers seized nearly 250 firearms during Carnival.
Charges against the more than 200 others arrested for weapons violations are pending.
