A man imprisoned at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola for more than three decades, whose , was released from prison Tuesday to wait for a new trial after his $1 million bail was reduced
Keith Ezidore, a 73-year-old man from St. James Parish, was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1993, after he was convicted of second-degree murder in the 1991 stabbing death of Ralph Flowers. Then, in 2025, a court of appeals vacated Ezidore’s conviction and life sentence.
The vast majority of the state’s case rested on testimony from a 15-year-old with a juvenile criminal record, some of which was not presented to Ezidore’s defense attorneys.
The Louisiana Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal found that this violated the , which requires prosecutors to disclose to defense attorneys any evidence that tends to show a defendant is not guilty.
The Louisiana Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s decision, vacating Ezidore’s conviction and sentence and remanding it for a new trial. However, Ezidore remained behind bars for months after his conviction was vacated because a 23rd Judicial District Court judge set Ezidore’s bail for $1 million.
In April, however, the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled that the bail was excessive and ordered the district to set bail at a maximum of $100,000.
Ezidore’s $100,000 bail was paid earlier this week by Operation Restoration, a New Orleans organization. allowing Ezidore to be transported from Angola to the St. James Parish jail, where with family members, according to Innocence & Justice Louisiana.
Richard Davis, legal director of Innocence & Justice Louisiana and one of Ezidore’s attorneys, said Ezidore’s release was possible because the state supreme court recognized that Ezidore had an “extraordinary case.”
Davis said Ezidore has a retrial set for June 9.
“The Attorney General’s Office will be trying to send him back to Angola,” Davis said. “The AG’s Office should not be endorsing this original failed investigation and trying to send an innocent 73-year-old great-grandfather back to prison for the rest of his life.”
The Louisiana Attorney General’s Office prosecuted the case during Ezidore’s bail hearings and had previously requested the court to deny bail altogether or set it at no less than $1 million with ankle monitoring requirements, according to the bail order.
A spokesperson with the Attorney General’s Office said the office does not have a comment at this time on the bail update or the upcoming retrial.