The Louisiana Supreme Court on Friday paused the criminal proceedings against Attorney General Liz Murrill, one day after a grand jury issued an indictment accusing her of threatening New Orleans officials over job security matters.

Justices determined that the lower court and special prosecutor bypassed required legal steps in securing the indictment, amid reports that a reporter was physically restrained and barred from observing grand jury activities.

The temporary stay halts all action in the matter. Murrill, a Republican, announced plans to seek full dismissal, underscoring ongoing friction between state-level GOP leaders and Democratic officials who govern Louisiana's largest city.

"I hope this political witch hunt is not a harbinger of things to come," she stated Friday, "but I fear that it is."

The 16-count indictment from Thursday charged Murrill, the state's first female attorney general, with counts of intimidation and malfeasance in office.

The Supreme Court identified major deficiencies in how the charges were brought forward.

"This indictment appears to turn the law on its head and flows from what appear to be extraordinary procedural defects and improprieties," the court wrote in an order signed by Justice Jay McCallum, a Republican.

Potential conflicts were flagged involving special prosecutor Laurie White, a former judge now defended by the attorney general's office in a separate sexual harassment lawsuit.

The intimidation statute requires that any threat be unlawful or involve bodily harm or death, the court noted.

Justices concluded Murrill is likely to prevail in dismissal efforts and would endure lasting damage if the case advanced.

Four Republican justices and one Democrat approved the order, while the remaining Democrat and an independent justice dissented. Democrat Justice John Guidry faulted the expedited review, writing that due process does not permit preferential treatment for any party.

The dispute arises from legislative changes that eliminated the standalone New Orleans criminal court clerk position and merged it with another role, shortly after Calvin Duncan won election to the post despite prior imprisonment.

Murrill and fellow Republicans have declined to recognize Duncan's exoneration, even though his case appears in the National Registry of Exonerations.

The court highlighted White's prior representation of Duncan as another probable conflict.

Murrill's letter to city council members and Mayor Helena Moreno followed the council's decision to schedule a special election for the merged clerk position, warning that officials risked removal for backing an unauthorized officeholder.

Murrill maintains she acted within her official duties.

Gov. Jeff Landry, also a Republican, pledged a pardon after the indictment and directed state police to probe alleged grand jury irregularities. On Friday he praised the Supreme Court decision and labeled the charges a political witch hunt.