23rd Judicial District Court Judge Jessie LeBlanc has resigned following her admission of her use of the n-word in an angry text message to former Assumption Parish Chief Deputy Bruce Prejean as their extramarital affair ended. Baton Rouge attorney Franz Borghardt says it would have been difficult for her to continue in her role.
“The question of whether or not she could be fair and impartial was going to be a constant issue for her,” said Borghardt.
Leblanc told a Baton Rouge TV station that she used the slur to describe a black sheriff’s deputy and black law clerk in her district.
In the resignation letter, LeBlanc admitted to the extramarital affair, but says that three members of her bench knew of her previous relationship, having direct meetings with two of them. She also said another judge in her district, Alvin Turner, was made aware in 2017 that his own law clerk allegedly had an affair with Prejean as well. Borghardt says he’s not sure that the letter was the proper avenue to shed light on those issues.
“Presumably a judge knew that his clerk was having a relationship with a law enforcement officer that presumably may have had cases before him,” said Borghardt.
Turner has since accused LeBlanc of distorting the truth.
Borghardt says that the letter creates a lot of questions and feels that the letter’s accusations warrant an investigation.
“If you have this sickness, this poison happening in those three parishes and you don’t look into it, you’re making a statement to the community,” said Borghardt.
