Michelle Miller Odinet (born ) is an American lawyer who was elected as a

Lafayette, Louisiana Lafayette (, ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the most populous city and parish seat of Lafayette Parish, located along the Vermilion River. It is Louisiana's fourth largest incorporated municipality by population and the 234th- ...

City Court Judge in November 2020. Odinet was previously an assistant district attorney in New Orleans and Lafayette and a

public defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Hungary and Singapore, ...

. She resigned from her judgeship on December 31, 2021, days after a video surfaced of her repeatedly using a racial slur.

Early life

Michelle Marie Miller was born in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, the daughter of Metairie attorney M.O. Miller II and his wife Diane. The extended Miller family have "deep roots" in New Orleans, and in 1989, Odinet was "crowned Queen of the Hermes Ball." She completed a B.A. at H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College in 1990 and a J.D. at

Tulane University Law School Tulane University Law School is the law school of Tulane University. It is located on Tulane's Uptown campus in New Orleans, Louisiana. Established in 1847, it is the 12th oldest law school in the United States. In addition to the usual common ...

in 1993.

Career

Odinet joined the New Orleans district attorney's office as a prosecutor part time in June 1991. She became a full-time assistant assistant attorney in November 1993. From September to December 1996, Odinet was a part-time worker for the indigent defender program. In December 1996, following the resignation of Robin Rhodes, Mike Harson, the fifteenth judicial district attorney, named Odinet as the new assistant district attorney. In this role, she served as a

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the Civil law (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...

of misdemeanors. Odinet worked at a private

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to r ...

where she managed insurance defense cases. Odinet took a break from her career to

homeschool Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or an onlin ...

her four children. In the fall of 2019, she returned to the Lafayette Parish, Louisiana public defender's office. In 2020, Odinet was elected to a six-year term as Lafayette City Court Judge, Division A. She ran as a Republican and succeeded Francie Bouillion. Odinet won 56 percent (32,104) of the vote to

nonpartisan Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party. While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers sp ...

Jules Edwards III's 43 percent (24,237).

Use of racial slurs

In December 2021, Odinet took an unpaid leave of absence following the surfacing of a video of her repeatedly using a racist epithet. Odinet issued a statement that she was on a sedative at the time and had no recollection of the event. The

Louisiana Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Louisiana (french: Cour suprême de Louisiane) is the highest court and court of last resort in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The modern Supreme Court, composed of seven justices, meets in the French Quarter of New Orlea ...

appointed

Vanessa Harris Vanessa Harris is an American lawyer and judge serving as judge pro tempore of the Lafayette City Court. She was the first woman and African-American Opelousas City Court Judge. Harris was an assistant district attorney in St. Landry Parish, Lou ...

to replace Odinet from December 17, 2021 through February 28, 2022. In December 2021, the New Orleans district attorney, Jason Williams, ordered a review of all of Odinet's New Orleans cases by the civil rights division in his office. Odinet resigned from the bench on December 31, 2021.

Personal life

In 1996, Odinet was a resident of

. She is married to plastic surgeon and otolaryngologist Kenneth Louis Odinet, Jr. Odinet is the son of Kenneth Odinet, Sr., who served as the state representative for

St. Bernard Parish St. Bernard Parish (french: Paroisse de Saint-Bernard; es, Parroquia de San Bernardo) is a parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat and largest community is Chalmette. The parish was formed in 1807. St. Bernard Parish is part of ...

in the

Louisiana House of Representatives The Louisiana House of Representatives (french: link=no, Chambre des Représentants de Louisiane) is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. This chamber is composed of 105 repr ...

from 1987 to 2007 as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, though he changed his party affiliation to Republican when he ran for Public Service Commissioner in 2008 and lost. Odinet has four children, two sets of boy/girl twins.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Odinet, Michelle Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Lawyers from New Orleans People from Lafayette, Louisiana 21st-century American women lawyers 21st-century American lawyers Tulane University Law School alumni 21st-century American judges Public defenders American prosecutors Louisiana Republicans 21st-century American women judges