State Ex. Rel. Darrell Draughn v. Darrel Vannoy, Warden, Louisiana State Penitentiary, Angola, La

Supreme Court of Louisiana
December 16, 2025
Chief Deputy Clerk of Court
For the Court
The Supreme Court of the State of Louisiana
STATE EX. REL. DARRELL DRAUGHN
VS.
DARREL VANNOY, WARDEN, LOUISIANA
STATE PENITENTIARY, ANGOLA, LA
No. 2025-KD-01285
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I
N RE: Darrell Draughn - Applicant Plaintiff; Applying For Supervisory Writ, Parish
of Caddo, 1st Judicial District Court Number(s) 212,107;
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December 16, 2025
Writ application granted. See per curiam.
JMG
JLW
JDH
WJC
JBM
PDG
CRC
12/16/2025 "See News Release 055 for any Concurrences and/or Dissents."

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SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA
No. 2025-KD-01285
STATE EX. REL. DARRELL DRAUGHN
VS.
DARREL VANNOY, WARDEN, LOUISIANA STATE PENITENTIARY,
ANGOLA, LA
On Supervisory Writ to the 1st Judicial District Court, Parish of Caddo
PER CURIAM
Writ granted. The district court’s ruling denying Mr. Draughn’s Motion to
Disqualify is affirmed. We agree with the district court that La. C.Cr.P. art. 65 does
not apply here.1 The district court correctly granted the Attorney General’s motion
to enroll two private sector attorneys to defend the warden and state.
The argument that this contract is prohibited by provisions of the Code of
Governmental Ethics has been evaluated and rejected by the Board of Ethics. 2 La.
R.S. 49:258 authorizes the Attorney General to appoint “private legal counsel to
represent the state or a state agency .” This Court recently held that the attorney
general is authorized, as a matter of state law, to represent the state, and any state
officer defendants, in state or federal habeas or other post conviction proceedings.
State v. Frank, 25-767, p. 3 (La. 10/7/25), 420 So. 3d 22, 24. That holding applies
1It has been long recognized that this provision does not apply to law partners of special assistant
attorneys general handling civil cases. Op.Atty. Gen., No.12 -0036 (April 3, 2012), 2012 WL
1680119. We agree and also find it does not apply to the private counsel employed here.
2Notably, at the request of the law firm contracted with the Attorney General (Taylor Porter), the
Louisiana Board of Ethics issued an advisory opinion on June 23, 2025, addressing several issues
arising out of the firm’s contract with the Attorney General’s office. It found that because John
Murrill, partner at Taylor Porter and the Attorney General’s spouse, does not own more than a 5%
interest in the law firm and his compensation is “ring fenced” and calculated without including
any revenues received from the State, Taylor Porter is not prohibited from entering into contracts
with the Attorney General’s Office like the one at issue here . See La. Bd. of Ethics, Docket No.
2025-325 Advisory Opinion (June 23, 2025)). Draughn also has no standing to use a motion to
disqualify an attorney as a means to usurp the Board’s constitutional authority concerning ethics
enforcement. La. Const. art. X, Sec. 21.

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equally to private counsel as well as state employees, and there is no federal or state
constitutional prohibition or other legal impediment to such representation.
The state’s role in defending post conviction proceedings is not prosecutorial.3
Mr. Draughn’s federal due process argument about ‘private prosecution’ is
inapplicable since the Supreme Court has long recognized that “it is well settled that
habeas corpus is a civil proceeding.” Browder v. Dir., Dep't of Corr. Of Illinois, 434
U.S. 257, 269, 98 S.Ct. 556, 54 L.Ed.2d 521 (1978)). As we recently observed
concerning these matters “the question of the state’s representation falls on the civil
side of the scale.” Frank, 25-767, p. 2, 420 So. 3d at 24 (emphasis added).
Taylor Porter has been selected by the Attorney General pursuant to her clear
statutory authority to hire private counsel to defend the warden and state. There is
little as fundamental to a litigant as one’s ability to select the counsel of your choice.
As Justice Johnson explained in this Court’s opinion in Disaster Restoration Dry
Cleaning, L.L.C. v. Pellerin Laundry Mach. Sales Co.,
In civil matters as well as criminal matters, the right to counsel includes
the right to legal representation of one's choice . McCuin v. Texas
Power, 714 F.2d 1255, 1257 (U.S. 5 th Cir. 1983). This right is “one of
constitutional dimensions and should be freely exercised without
impingement.” Id. [While not absolute, this] right can be overridden
only if it can be proven that there is a compelling reason to do so. Id
at 1263.
2005-0715 (La. 4/17/06), 927 So. 2d 1094, 1101 (emphasis supplied).
We find that the Attorney General is not prohibited from hiring private
counsel in general, or Taylor Porter in particular, to assist in the defense of the state,
or state officers, under these circumstances. Petitioner’s request for relief is denied.
AFFIRMED AND REMANDED.

3The United States Supreme Court has stated that “‘[p]ostconviction relief is even further removed
from the criminal trial than is discretionary direct review. It is not part of the criminal proceeding
itself, and it is in fact considered to be civil in nature .’” Murray v. Giarratano , 492 U.S. 1, 8,
109 S.Ct. 2765, 2769, 106 L.Ed.2d 1 (1989) (emphasis added) (internal citation omitted).