Born in New Orleans in July 1953, Washington was the middle of a middle-class family's three children. He graduated from Tulane University School of Law in 1976. He served as a N.O.P.D. detective from 1977 to 1993, and an A.D.A. for the New Orleans office afterwards. He takes over as D.A. temporarily after his friend Alan Grimes was shot by a sniper, and then took over full time after Grimes retired over a year later. He has been married three times, and divorced twice, and has 6 children from his three relationships.