(C) Verite News New Orleans This story was originally published by Verite News New Orleans and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Man whose murder conviction was overturned awaits bail hearing [1] ['Robert Stewart', 'More Robert Stewart', 'Verite News New Orleans'] Date: 2025-12-19 During the months since Lashona Duhe learned that her father’s murder conviction had been overturned, her emotions have teetered between cautious optimism and outright frustration. She knew her dad, Keith Ezidore, could eventually be freed from prison, but the family faced several hurdles towards getting Ezidore home. But a Friday afternoon phone call on Dec. 12, lifted her spirits and changed the course of her coming week. The call was from Ezidore, a Louisiana man who had been convicted of 2nd degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in 1993 for the stabbing death of a St. James Parish businessman, Ralph Flowers. He called to inform her that another major hurdle to him getting out of detention had just been overcome. “I’m just so ecstatic,” Duhe said. Ezidore, who is still at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, had his conviction overturned in July. But the Louisiana Attorney General’s office wanted to reinstate his conviction and sought to do so by asking the Louisiana Supreme Court to overturn the lower court’s decision. Verite News did not receive a response to a request for comment from the Louisiana Attorney General’s office regarding the case. The judicial district court where his bail hearing was set to be held, denied him a hearing in early October. But on Thursday (Dec. 11), attorneys for Ezidore were informed that the Louisiana Supreme Court decided no further trial would be necessary, essentially finalizing the vacation of his conviction. Roughly five months after Ezidore’s conviction was overturned, his attorneys filed an expedited motion on Dec. 11, so that Ezidore could finally get a bail hearing and work towards going home. Duhe said she didn’t realize at first what he was telling her. Then it dawned on her. “My eyes ballooned. My heart swelled,” said Duhe, who had previously been cautioning her children from being too optimistic that Ezidore would be able to come home. A small personal victory in an almost 34-year long saga, Ezidore and his family’s story is one of several similar instances, in which people were tried and convicted of crimes, sentenced to decades or life in prison — or even death in Louisiana’s criminal justice system. Some of these individuals, among whom Ezidore might join, have been able to walk free through the work of criminal justice reform advocates who’ve found new evidence, demanded DNA testing or proven prosecutors used shoddy evidence or hid evidence to get people convicted. Innocence & Justice Louisiana, who represents Ezidore, has played a central role in helping many Louisianians in these circumstances become free or exonerated. In July, an appeals court overturned Ezidore’s conviction after his attorneys argued that the original prosecutors failed to disclose information that may have impacted Ezidore’s conviction. According to court records, they found that during this initial trial prosecutors had failed to disclose the full juvenile record of the prosecutor’s key witness. Disclosing that information could have discredited their arguments against Ezidore. Now that the Louisiana Supreme Court has weighed in on the appeal court’s decision, Duhe and her children are eagerly looking forward to the bail hearing and making plans for what they believe will be Ezidore’s return home. Ezidore’s attorneys filed an expedited motion with the 23rd Judicial District Court to hold a bail hearing within five days of the Louisiana Supreme Court’s decision. A week later, there has still been no bail hearing set. Ezidore is currently 73 years old and can no longer walk without assistance, Duhe said. According to documents provided by his attorneys, Ezidore’s physical condition worsened after undergoing neck surgery. His age and mobility issues are all the more reason Duhe wants him home, so she and the family can take care of him. “If this could happen like right now, this would be the best Christmas gift ever,” Duhe said. Related Most Read Stories Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. Republish This Story [END] --- [1] Url: https://veritenews.org/2025/12/19/keith-ezidore-angola-murder/ Published and (C) by Verite News New Orleans Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 US. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/veritenews/