A criminal justice watchdog told the state Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday that prosecutors under Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams had "fundamentally failed" by taking more than a dozen cases to trial before a judge with no witnesses.

Williams pushed back, saying he'd disciplined his staff but that the judge in question, Leon Roche, shoulders much of the blame for signaling his dim view of those cases, hobbling their prosecution. Williams also suggested a racist motive behind the latest attack on his leadership.

His fiery response followed testimony by Rafael Goyeneche, president of the nonprofit Metropolitan Crime Commission, who detailed an April report showing two of the 12 Orleans Parish judges, Roche and Nandi Campbell, held more than half of the court’s judge

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