Suspended Lafayette City Marshal Brian Pope wants a state judge to order District Attorney Keith Stutes to turn over evidence he argues could be used to reveal prosecutorial misconduct and to remove them from his case.

Pope, who is facing 19 counts of malfeasance in office, is seeking evidence in his case that might show a relationship between Assistant District Attorney Alan Haney and Gary McGoffin, a private lawyer who represented the now defunct Independent publication in a civil suit against Pope in 2015 over failure to fill a public records request.

If a relevant relationship is identified with the prosecutor serving the 15th Judicial District, Pope's lawyer argues in the court filing that "a district attorney must be recused if he is involved or interested in any extrinsic matters which might, consciously or unconsciously, impair or destroy his power to conduct the accused's trial fairly and impartially."

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McGoffin also was a witness in Pope's criminal trial that stemmed from that civil suit. Pope was convicted of perjury and malfeasance in the criminal case.

Prosecutors have accused Pope of taking more than $84,000 in fees collected by the marshal's office in 2018. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in January 2019 and has asked a judge to dismiss those charges.

Pope also is accused of pocketing $3,000 in 2018 in reimbursements of business expenses already paid by the marshal's office from Lafayette Consolidated Government, according to his indictment. He pleaded not guilty to those charges.

All of those charges were consolidated into one trial, which Pope has asked to have held outside Lafayette Parish. He is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 6.

Brett Grayson, one of Pope's attorneys, has asked a judge to require the district attorney's office to disclose all the evidence it has in his case, a standard request.

However, Grayson also is asking the judge to require prosecutors to disclose "any and all text messages, email messages, voicemail, or letters" between McGoffin and the staff of district attorney's office about Pope's investigation and indictment.

Grayson argues the evidence would give guidance on McGoffin's relationship with prosecutors.

"The proponent of recusal needs only to produce evidence that would lead a reasonable person to question whether the district attorney can conduct the trial fairly and impartially," Grayson wrote. "Hence, evidence of a relationship or affinity between *(Haney) and Gary McGoffin, attorney for The Independent, is relevant pretrial to a motion for recusal."

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The filing also seeks any emails belonging to Pope or obtained from the Lafayette Consolidated Government that prosecutors intend to use in the trial.

In October 2015, Pope held a press conference claiming Lafayette Sheriff Mark Garber, who was then running for the position, encouraged illegal immigrants to file worker's comp claims in the state.

Pope went to civil court to fight a public records request from The Independent regarding the press conference, which eventually led to the deposition for which he was convicted of perjury.

Pope has since filed a lawsuit claiming McGoffin maliciously prosecuted him by turning over the public records from Pope's civil trial to prosecutors. McGoffin has responded calling the lawsuit "frivolous" and "unwarranted" and asking a judge to dismiss Pope's claims because "the sole purpose of this suit is to retaliate for being exposed."

In his January request, Pope also argues the evidence from prosecutors is necessary to prove his claim that he has been selectively "prosecuted for exercising his First Amendment right to freedom of speech during (that) press conference."

The evidence would help Pope and his lawyers decide whether to file motions requesting dismissal based on selective prosecution and removal of prosecutors from the case.

A Lafayette Parish jury found Pope guilty in October 2018 of perjury and malfeasance after prosecutors accused him of lying under oath in a public-records case. He was accused of lying about approving a campaign-related mass email distribution from his official work address. The malfeasance conviction stemmed from his illegal use of public money to pay for personal legal work.

Last June, Pope was sentenced for three counts of malfeasance in office for using public money to hire attorneys for his personal use in 2016. His 2018 perjury conviction also was set aside at that time by 15th Judicial District Court Judge Donald Smith, who granted Pope's motion for acquittal. The Lafayette District Attorney's Office has filed a motion to appeal that acquittal.

Contact Ashley White at adwhite@theadvertiser.com or on Twitter @AshleyyDi. Reporter Andrew Capps contributed to this report.

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