NEW ORLEANS — In a case that rocked a city already torn by the
horrors of Hurricane Katrina, four police officers accused of gunning
down two unarmed people in the storm's chaotic aftermath could face
death themselves.
The officers who could face the death penalty were charged along with
two others in a 27-count indictment unsealed Tuesday. Five former New
Orleans police officers already have pleaded guilty to helping cover up
the shootings on the Danziger Bridge that left two men dead and four
wounded just days after the August 2005 hurricane. In one instance, a
mentally disabled man was shot in the back and stomped before he died.
Prosecutors say officers fabricated witness statements, falsified
reports and planted a gun in an attempt to make it appear the shootings
were justified. It was a shocking example of the violence and confusion
that followed the storm.
With 80 percent of New Orleans underwater, officers from a department
with a history of corruption were forced to battle rampant crime, and
some became criminals themselves. Dozens of officers were fired or
suspended for abandoning their post. In an separate case, an officer is
charged with shooting a man whose body turned up in a burned out car.
In the bridge shooting case, seven officers were charged with murder
or attempted murder in December 2006 but a state judge threw out all the
charges in August 2008. Federal authorities then stepped in a month
later to launch their own investigation.
So far, five former New Orleans police officers have pleaded guilty
to lesser charges of helping cover up the shootings on the Danziger
Bridge and await sentencing.
Tuesday's indictment
charges Sgts. Robert Gisevius and Kenneth Bowen, officer Anthony
Villavaso and former officer Robert Faulcon with deprivation of rights
under color of law and use of a weapon during the commission of a crime.
They could face the death penalty if convicted, though U.S. Attorney
Jim Letten said prosecutors haven't decided whether to seek that
punishment.
Sgt. Arthur Kaufman and retired Sgt. Gerard Dugue, who helped
investigate the shootings, were charged with participating in a cover-up
to make it appear the shootings were justified. Charges against them
include obstruction of justice.
The case is one of several probes of alleged misconduct by New
Orleans police officers that the Justice Department opened after the
August 2005 storm. Last month, five current or former officers were
charged in the shooting death of 31-year-old Henry Glover, whose burned
body turned up after Katrina.
Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department is working
with city officials to restore residents' trust in the police
department.
"We will not tolerate wrongdoing'
"Put simply, we will not tolerate wrongdoing by those who
are sworn to protect the public," Holder said Tuesday in New Orleans.
It's not the first time Justice has intervened. In the 1990s, the
Justice Department investigated several high-profile police corruption
cases, including a police officer convicted of arranging a woman's 1994
murder.
The new batch of federal probes are bearing fruit as the city
welcomes a new mayor, Mitch Landrieu, and his new police superintendant,
Ronal Serpas. At Landrieu's request, the Justice Department launched
the top-to-bottom review of the department.
Mary Howell, a civil rights attorney who represents relatives of one
of the Danziger bridge shooting victims, said the police department has
been plagued by a pattern of "episodic crises" that have eluded lasting
reforms.
"There is either a refusal or inability by local authorities to take
care of them," she said. "I think it's a question of leadership. This
stuff requires institutional changes that require the political
leadership of the community to make it last."
Eric Hessler, a lawyer for Gisevius, said the indictment wasn't a
surprise.
"We have long anticipated that this day may come," he said. "We're
certainly ready to begin the process of defending him against these
allegations."
Claude Kelly, a lawyer for Dugue, called the indictment "a travesty"
and denied his client participated in a cover-up.
Faulcon, who resigned from the department shortly after the storm,
was arrested at his home in Houston on Tuesday. Gisevius, Bowen and
Villavaso surrendered at FBI headquarters in New Orleans.
U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said prosecutors will ask for all four of
them to be detained.
Some of the defense attorneys bristled at the arrest of Faulcon.
"They really didn't have to do that," said Frank DeSalvo, a lawyer
for Bowen. "Nobody is going anywhere. We've never thought about doing
anything other than face these charges."
Kaufman and Dugue weren't arrested. A date for the six men's initial
court appearances wasn't immediately set.
The indictment claims Faulcon shot 40-year-old Ronald Madison, who
had severe mental disabilities, in the back as he ran away on the west
side of the bridge. Bowen is charged with stomping and kicking Madison
while he was lying on the ground, wounded but still alive.
His brother, Lance Madison, was arrested and charged with trying to
kill police officers. He was jailed for three weeks and released without
being indicted.
Cover-up alleged
Bowen, Gisevius, Faulcon and Villavaso also are accused of
shooting at an unarmed family on the east side of the bridge, killing
17-year-old James Brissette and wounding four others.
All six officers are charged with participating in a cover-up. In
court filings, police are accused of fabricating nonexistent witnesses,
plotting to plant a gun to make it seem as if the shootings were
justified and kicking spent shell casings off the bridge weeks after the
shootings.
"This indictment is a continuing reminder that the constitution and
the rule of law do not take a holiday, even after a hurricane," said
Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez, head of the Justice
Department's civil rights division.
Dugue retired from the force earlier this year. Kaufman has been on
paid sick leave.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
By MARY FOSTER, Associated Press Mary Foster, Associated Press
–
Wed Dec 1, 6:47 pm ET
NEW ORLEANS – Michael Hunter stood quietly as a judge
sentenced the former New Orleans Police officer Wednesday to eight
years in federal prison for his role in the coverup and deadly shooting
of unarmed civilians after Hurricane Katrina.
The sentence by U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance was the maximum allowed and nine months more than the sentencing guidelines recommended.
Vance called the police shooting on the Danziger Bridge that killed two and wounded four civilians, "sickeningly brutal."
"It is hard to imagine a more profound breach of public trust than what happened here," Vance said.
Hunter admitted firing at the people on the bridge,
although he knew they were unarmed and posed no threat, but said he did
not hit anyone. But Vance pointed out that he did nothing to stop his
fellow officers from firing, in fact watching "an officer shoot Ronald
Madison in the back at close range."
Ronald Madison, 40, and mentally disabled, and James Brissette,
19, were killed and four wounded as they crossed the bridge in search
of food five days after Katrina struck Aug. 29, 2005. The officers
claimed they opened fire only after being shot at.
Lance Madison,
who accompanied his brother, Ronald, and was arrested for attempted
murder, testified less than a month later that a group of teenagers
started shooting at them before they met police.
Hunter, who pleaded guilty as part of a deal with
prosecutors, is one of five former officers who have pleaded guilty in
the shootings. Six other current or former officers also have been
indicted on charges related to the shooting and coverup.
Before the sentence was read, Hunter told the victims' families and his wife that he was sorry.
"I apologize for not having the moral courage to do the right thing from the beginning," he said.
The Madison family, including Lance Madison, sat in
the court's front row. Lorna Humphrey, Madison's sister, said the family
appreciated Hunter's coming forward, acknowledging that the truth might
not have come out otherwise.
But, she said, Hunter did nothing to comfort her brother as he lay dying, other than intervening when a sergeant began kicking Ronald, using "as much force as he could muster."
"The horror of that scene continues to haunt us to this day," Humphrey said.
Hunter is to report to the Bureau of Prisons on March
14. Prosecutors said they could ask for a sentence reduction if Hunter
continues to cooperate and testifies against other officers.
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