Despite the conduct of the judge and jury, no trial will continue | Courts

Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Benedict Willard dismissed the jury in a first-degree rape trial while the judge's actions in handling a complaint of inappropriate juror conduct remain under scrutiny.

Orleans Parish Criminal Court Judge Kimya Holmes on Thursday denied the state's motion to dismiss Willard. But instead of continuing with the fourth day of trial on Friday, Willard sent the jury home for the weekend. The Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office said it will appeal Holmes' decision.

In the trial of Freddie J. Sterling, prosecutors accused Willard of bias by attacking them after a male juror twice made unwanted advances toward a female district attorney's office employee in court.

In court on Tuesday, Willard told the woman, “You are a distraction. I will remove this distraction,” and asked her to leave the courtroom, prosecutors said.

When prosecutors challenged Willard's decision, Willard testified that she asked that lead prosecutor Michelle Jones and another assistant district attorney be removed from the case.

Ultimately, that didn't happen, although the Fourth District Court of Appeals for Louisiana ordered a stay of proceedings because of the dispute. That ended the third day of the trial on Wednesday after about 90 minutes of testimony. The trial was also adjourned on Thursday so Holmes could consider the motion to dismiss, according to the appeals court ruling.

The recent appeal against Holmes' decision to allow Willard to proceed is also likely to be heard in the Court of Appeals.

“We respectfully disagree with the court's decision to deny our motion to recusal the judge on the grounds of bias,” said Keith Lampkin, a spokesman for the prosecution, adding that the decision affected the fairness of the trial.

The male juror in question looked at a woman from the state's special victims unit on the first day of the trial and said, “You are beautiful,” the prosecution said in its motion. The next day, it was alleged, as the jury was leaving the courtroom, he turned to the woman and asked, “How are you? How are you?”

Willard declined to comment on the matter on Wednesday, citing court rules that prohibit him from speaking publicly during an ongoing trial.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this article stated that the trial had already resumed.