BATON ROUGE — A committee under the Louisiana Supreme Court said a candidate for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court violated judicial ethics by making a false statement about his campaign rival at the Baton Rouge Press Club.

At the event, 22nd Judicial District Judge William Burris claimed that his opponent, Judge Blair Downing Edwards, received a loan from Smitty's Supply a few years prior to the company's appearance before the judge at the First Circuit, where they won. 

The Louisiana Judicial Campaign Oversight Committee said Edwards did not receive a loan but instead granted a mortgage to Big 4 Investments, which is a separate entity from Smitty's Supply. 

The committee found the false statement made by Burris to be in violation of Canon 7A of the Louisiana Code of Judicial Conduct, which states that a judge shall not knowingly make a false statement concerning the identity, qualifications, present position or other fact concerning an opponent.