Nearly a decade after allegations first arose that he hid evidence concerning whether a jailhouse informant expected a reward for testifying at a murder trial, the Louisiana Supreme Court has dismissed a misconduct allegation against a former New Orleans prosecutor.

But the high court’s long-delayed decision this month to spare the ex-prosecutor any sanction drew a strongly worded dissent from Chief Justice Bernette Johnson, who painted it as the state’s latest failure to hold rogue prosecutors accountable.

At issue were the actions of Eusi Phillips, a former Orleans Parish assistant district attorney who’s now a defense lawyer, before the 2010 trial of a man accused in a killing near the former Fischer housing development in Algiers.

Prosecutors said Jamaal Tucker shot 25-year-old David Sisolak Jr. in the head as Sisolak tried to buy drugs from him on Hero Boulevard in January 2008.

At Tucker’s murder trial, Phillips called to the stand another inmate, who claimed that Tucker had confessed to the killing.

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“I haven’t been promised or offered anything. I did that out of the goodness of my heart,” said the inmate, Morris Greene, of his testimony. Tucker was convicted.

Greene soon reaped rewards, or at least appeared to do so. A prosecutor in Lafayette amended Greene’s armed robbery charge there to theft, shaving 10 years off his sentence. In agreeing to the reduction, the prosecutor explained that he'd received a phone call from Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro.

More than a year later, prosecutors turned over a letter from before the trial in which Greene claimed that Phillips had “guaranteed” him a prison transfer he wanted.

Prosecutors are required by law to tell defense attorneys about anything that could be used to impeach the credibility of state witnesses — including deals for leniency.

Tucker’s appellate lawyers moved to have his conviction vacated, citing the phone call and letter as evidence that prosecutors may have made promises to Greene.

Cannizzaro said his call only made Lafayette prosecutors aware of Greene's testimony, and that he never asked for a sentence reduction.

A judge issued a subpoena for Cannizzaro to testify at an appellate hearing, but before the DA took the stand, he agreed to scrap Tucker’s murder conviction. Tucker eventually pleaded guilty to manslaughter and received a 25-year sentence.

The case left a lingering distrust among defense attorneys toward Cannizzaro, who was in his first term. Cannizzaro had sought to distance himself from numerous failures to disclose evidence under his predecessor, Harry Connick Sr., who served as district attorney for three decades.

In 2012, defense attorney Ben Cohen, who supervised the Promise of Justice Initiative lawyer who handled Tucker’s appellate case, filed an ethics complaint against Phillips with the state Office of Disciplinary Counsel.

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Ethics complaints can result in sanctions like suspension from the practice of law or a public reprimand.

In an interview on Friday, Cohen said the case moved at a snail's pace despite his prodding.

The Office of Disciplinary Counsel brought formal ethics charges against Phillips in May 2019. In October, a Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board hearing committee issued a recommendation that they be dismissed.

The committee said that the “principal fact issue was whether Mr. Greene had an expectation that he would receive a change in his place (of) incarceration, a reduced sentence, or a reward in exchange for his testimony, or (whether) he simply had a hope for such consideration.”

The committee cast doubt on the credibility of Greene’s claim in the letter that Phillips “guaranteed” him a better prison, noting that Phillips strenuously denied it. Committee members also said there was no evidence that Phillips knew of Cannizzaro’s call to Lafayette prosecutors.

The Louisiana Supreme Court has the final say on recommendations from the Attorney Disciplinary Board, including the ability to send cases back for more consideration.

In an unsigned order, the justices on Feb. 18 tossed out the charges.

Johnson, Justice John Weimer and ad hoc Justice James Boddie Jr. dissented, saying they would have sent the case back for more review.

In her written dissent, Johnson said that while the court frequently imposes discipline for wayward attorneys who mishandle client funds, sanctions for errant prosecutors are rare.

“Yet, the actual injury caused by prosecutorial misconduct is much greater. A loss of a liberty interest is undoubtedly more valuable than financial loss,” she said. “If we have trepidation about disciplining prosecutors whose deliberate misconduct sends people to jail, we have abdicated our responsibility.”

Phillips, who left the District Attorney’s Office in 2011, declined to comment.

Cohen, the attorney who originally filed the complaint, said he was disappointed by the slow pace of the process, the outcome and the fact that the Office of Disciplinary Counsel declined to appeal the hearing committee’s decision.

A separate complaint against Cannizzaro went nowhere, Cohen said.

“The process demonstrates that the courts won't hold prosecutors accountable,” he said. “What's striking to me is that the people who speak most loudly about the power of deterrence and punishment to change behavior, they're completely absolved from any consequences for their own behavior.”

Cannizzaro’s spokesman praised the Supreme Court decision.

“It is worth noting that even after this information was provided and this defendant was extended the opportunity for a second trial, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter instead, admitting that he shot someone in the head,” said Ken Daley, an office spokesman.