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Louisiana judge Michelle Odinet has officially resigned from her seat on the Lafayette City Court weeks after a home video showed her and other people using racial slurs after a suspect in an attempted car burglary was apprehended.
Odinet was on unpaid leave after video footage taken at her home circulated
online following an attempted burglary there.The video shows a group of people watching home surveillance. A woman’s voice can be heard saying the n-word and comparing the suspect to a roach.
Odinet’s lawyer, Dane S. Ciolino, later confirmed that she had used a racial slur in the video, which did not show the faces of those speaking.
Odinet said she was stepping down “after much reflection and prayer, and in order to facilitate healing within the community.”
Read her full letter below:
“I take full responsibility for the hurtful words used to describe the individual who burglarized the vehicles at my home. I am sorry for the pain that I have caused my community and ask for your forgiveness, as my words did not foster the public’s confidence and integrity for the judiciary.
After much reflection and prayer, and in order to facilitate healing within the community, I hereby resign as judge of the Lafayette City Court effective immediately. I am sending a copy of this letter to the Secretary of State and hope that a special election can be scheduled to fill the vacancy that my resignation creates.”
Related Story: UPDATE: Michelle Odinet, Louisiana Judge Who Allegedly Used N-Word On Video, Replaced By Black Female Judge
Odinet said in a statement, at the time, that she was given a sedative and had “zero recollection of the video and the disturbing language used during it.”
After an unknown person released the video to the local news media, civic groups, including the Lafayette branch of the N.A.A.C.P., called on the judge to resign, and criminal defense lawyers asked the judge to recuse herself from their cases.
Mr. Ciolino acknowledged that the video footage had raised understandable concerns about Ms. Odinet’s impartiality as a judge.
“There was never going to be a situation where African Americans would appear before her and not file motions to recuse,” Mr. Ciolino said.