Candidate for 2nd Circuit judgeship accused of illegally accessing, sharing details of a case before the court

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) — A Louisiana attorney who is challenging a judge’s re-election bid is accused of illegally accessing and disclosing confidential court documents.

Trina “Trinh” Chu, 46, of Shreveport, is out of jail after being booked into Caddo Correctional Center on Tuesday on two felonies — one count each of trespass against state computers and offenses against intellectual property. Her bond was set at $10,000 on each charge.

Chu, who listed her address as the 8800 block of Youree Drive in Shreveport, qualified July 24 as a candidate for the 3rd District, Election Section 2C seat on Louisiana’s 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal bench. That election is to be held Nov. 3.

Chu allegedly used a USB flash drive to copy sensitive court documents from the 2nd Circuit’s files during her brief time as a law clerk to Chief Judge Henry N. Brown Jr., the Caddo Sheriff’s Office reports.

Digital forensic examinations, in-person interviews and search warrants that were served on email providers led sheriff’s Detective Douglass Smith to determine that Chu forwarded three confidential court documents to her personal email account in July 2018, authorities say.

The Sheriff’s Office says those documents were about a case the 2nd Circuit was considering. It involved a judgment against Chu’s close friend Hahn Williams for more than $460,000.

Chu reportedly forwarded those documents directly to Williams.

Chu’s candidacy in the Nov. 3 elections is not the first time she’s sought a position on the 2nd Circuit bench.

In 2016, Shonda Stone led a three-Democrat field vying for the judgeship of the 2nd Circuit’s 3rd District, Election Section 1A. About 21.4 percent of eligible voters went to the polls to select Stone with 56 percent of the day’s tally. Sheva Sims got 36 percent; Chu, 8 percent.

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