Louisiana attorney general opposes compensation for exoneree Elvis Brooks after conviction overturned

Elvis Brooks was arrested in 1977 for a bar shooting despite a lack of physical evidence and conflicting eyewitness accounts, and he served over four decades before a prosecutor disclosed that fingerprint evidence had been withheld, leading a court to vacate his conviction. The state’s compensation program, created in 2005, makes him eligible for as much as $480,000, but Attorney General Liz Murrill has filed court papers asserting his continued guilt and seeking to reinstate a manslaughter charge.

Murrill’s office has opposed 22 of 23 compensation applications filed by exonerees whose convictions were overturned, even when DNA or blood evidence proved innocence. Critics say her tactics delay payments that the law expects to be resolved within five months, extending hardship for those already freed. The case remains pending before a New Orleans district judge, with the next hearing set for Monday. Brooks, who now relies on a modest Social Security income, says the state's actions threaten his reputation and his ability to move forward after decades of incarceration.