[2] Connick later joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a civilian employee, where he met his future wife, Anita Livingston, an accomplished flute player who became a lawyer and judge.
In 1993, he and his son were part of the group that founded the Krewe of Orpheus, a superkrewe that participates in annual Mardi Gras parades.
[8] In 1973, Connick defeated incumbent New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, who had recently been tried and acquitted of corruption charges.
He maintained she had been fired for refusing the transfer, but judge Jack Gordon of the Eastern District of Louisiana held that the distribution of the questionnaire was speech on a matter of public concern and thus constitutionally protected.
After the Fifth Circuit affirmed Gordon, the Supreme Court granted certiorari and narrowly reversed the ruling, holding that Myers' questionnaire largely touched on matters internal to the office that were not of public concern and thus she was lawfully fired.
[12] In 1995, while district attorney, Connick promised to the Assassination Records Review Board and at a public meeting in New Orleans that he would donate the Garrison investigative files, which were still in his office.
[13] According to the review board's final report, Connick instructed one of his investigators, Gary Raymond, to destroy these documents after he took office.
"[18] In the case of Shareef Cousin, Connick's attorneys withheld a key witness statement from the defense, arguing that the prosecution was under no legal obligation to disclose such information.
Connick's office allowed the parish to hold onto the tapes for an extended period of time and initially declined to prosecute, citing lack of sufficient evidence.
[22] In 2007, John Thompson, who was wrongfully convicted of murder by Connick's DA office due to evidence withholding, was awarded a $14 million verdict by a federal court jury.
The jury found that "Thompson's 18 years behind bars (14 of which he spent in solitary confinement on death row) were caused by Connick's deliberate failure to train his prosecutors on their obligations to turn over exculpatory evidence.
"[23] The Orleans Parish DA's office appealed and the case, Connick v. Thompson, was orally argued before the U.S. Supreme Court during the October 2010 term.
By a 5–4 vote split along ideological lines,[24] the Supreme Court overturned the $14 million award in a decision issued on March 29, 2011.