Louisiana Judicial Candidate Charged with Hacking

A judicial candidate in Louisiana has been charged with hacking into state computers and sharing confidential court documents with a friend.

Attorney Trina Chu allegedly committed the offenses while working as a law clerk to now retired Chief Judge Henry Brown in 2018. 

According to a statement released by Caddo Parish sheriff Steve Prator, Chu copied sensitive court documents from the Louisiana 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals onto a USB flash drive. 

Chu allegedly sent three confidential documents relating to a judgement made against her friend Hanh Williams from the drive to her own personal email account in July 2018. These documents were then forwarded directly to Williams. 

At the time of the alleged crimes, three judges were considering Williams' appeal from a district court's ruling against her.

"The documents concerned a case under consideration by the 2nd Circuit involving a judgement against her close friend Hanh Williams for over $460,000," said Prator. 

The court had ruled that financial adviser Williams owed $460,605 to the estate of a Caddo Parish man to whom she had been a financial adviser. 

In his will, Williams' client, Fred Houston, had named her as his executor. Williams' administration of the Fred L. Houston Inter Vivos Trust was then challenged by the will's chief beneficiary, Louisiana State University's veterinary school.

“The jury charged Ms. Williams with $1.1 million in damages for breach of duty to the Trust and determined she was liable to the Estate for $460,605,” according to the 2nd Circuit  louisiana judicial candidate charged hacking