Benedict Willard

Benedict Willard, a New Orleans Criminal District Court judge with more than 22 years on the bench, drew calls for a Louisiana Judiciary Commission review after his conduct in two rape trials in August and September 2024. During the trial of Freddie Sterling, Willard was notified that a male juror had made unwanted advances toward a female DA's office employee; rather than address the juror, Willard told the woman she was "the source of distraction," dismissing her complaint.

When Assistant DA McGowan objected and called the ruling cowardly, Willard left the bench, approached him, and had deputies escort McGowan and another DA staffer out of the courtroom. Willard's decision to keep the juror who had harassed the employee contributed to a hung jury in that case. Weeks later, at the start of the child-rape trial of former priest Lawrence Hecker, Willard again turned his anger on the same prosecutor, accusing him of "disrespect," and abruptly transferred the Hecker case to a different court.