Assistant District Attorneys Mario Arteaga and Eusi Philips can be found perfecting their arguments and detailing their cases – sometimes until one in the morning – for the next day’s trials at the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court.

“Every day. And weekends,” said Arteaga, Loyola Law A’07. “Like Judge Cannizzaro said, he’s not a nine-to-five kind of guy. He’s not a Monday through Friday type of guy. And he expects that from his attorneys.”

District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro, who filled the void left by Eddie Jordan, is a former Orleans Parish Court of Appeals fourth circuit judge and a Loyola Law alum, class of ‘78.

Cannizzaro’s first assistant Graymond Martin and chief operating officer Val Solino are also Loyola Law graduates.

Metropolitan Crime Commission has repeatedly named the new district attorney “Top Judge.” Cannizzaro has a reputation for being tough on crime, but says he credits his empathy to his Jesuit education.

“Especially in this job … I think my Loyola education has helped me to realize … that although I have a job that involves sometimes making some very tough decisions that will come down very hard on people, I still have to always remember that in some cases everyone does not have to go to jail, so-to-speak,” he said.

“People are entitled to breaks and there should be some compassion exercised in the decision-making process in regards to how these cases are handled,” said Cannizzaro.

Philips, Loyola Law A’03, said his Jesuit education gave him a “foundation in service.”

“I think the main aspect of Loyola, for me, is the close-knit spirit of the whole student body,” he said. “Even with some of the professors. You get a sense of family there.”
Arteaga, who took law classes at night felt the same about Loyola’s more intimate community.

Arteaga and Phillips both say that they look at Cannizzaro like a “player’s coach” in football.

“I love working for Mr. Cannizzaro,” said Philips. “He’s accessible, and that’s something I don’t think we’ve had in the past. And he’s a hard worker, just like I’m a hard worker. He’s not afraid to get his hands dirty. … The proof is in the pudding.”

“I can tell you that he brings discipline to the office and accountability,” said Arteaga.
“Having served in the Marine Corps, those are the two things that I respect about Mr. Cannizzaro.”

“I respect his work ethic,” Arteaga said. “I’ve been told he used to do two trials a day in court trying to work his docket.”

The young prosecutors had much to say about working late with no weekends off.

“I keep this above my desk,” Phillips pointed at a sheet of printer paper with large, black print that reads, “Somewhere somebody is practicing while you’re not, and when you meet him, he will beat you.”

“Those 20 minutes or 30 minutes or that hour that I’m just daydreaming or not focused, for that hour there is a defense attorney that is working on his case. … He’s probably figuring out how he’s going to tear my case apart,” he said.

Arteaga had a similar attitude.

“If I have to stay up all night and be ready, I will,” he said. “I won’t let any defense attorney or public defender say, ‘Oh, those guys. They’re not ready.’ Because they know every time they call to ask us if we’re gonna be ready for trial, the answer is yes.”

“It’s not even a question,” said Phillips.

And they’re prepared to stay up all night. In the mini-fridge are stacks of Lunchables, Snak-Paks, Poptarts and cheese.

“This is our home away from home,” said Arteaga.

These Loyola Law graduates work hard and both have wives and children. But Phillips summed it all up as to why they work at the DA’s office: “Not too many people can say they love what they do.”

Jean Paul Arguello can be reached at [email protected].