Mary Lou Soller and Mark Rochon, on behalf of the lawyer who represents Rogers Lacaze, filed suit under the Freedom of Information Act on November 8. Lacaze is a death row inmate who hopes to acquire documents that he claims will help prove his innocence. The complaint alleges the public value of the documents, which Lacaze's attorneys said could help exonerate him, outweigh any privacy interest in the information.

"The jury based its verdict on three questionable identifications and a coerced confession from Mr. Lacaze," Miller & Chevalier lawyers said in the suit filed last week in Washington. Lacaze has post-conviction proceedings pending in New Orleans state court. In those proceedings, his lawyers argue prosecutors unfairly withheld information that would have aided his defense.