5 ex-cops to plead guilty in shootings after Katrina Michael Kunzelman and
Kevin McGill, Associated Press New Orleans ' Five former police officers said
in court Wednesday they intend to plead guilty to lesser charges in the deadly
shootings on the Danziger Bridge in the days following Hurricane Katrina.
If the guilty pleas are accepted by a judge, the ex-officers could see
drastically reduced prison time. The officers were convicted in 2011 in the
shootings
but U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt set aside the jury's verdict two years
later because of federal prosecutors' misconduct ' including anonymous online
comments about the case. Four of the former officers have been locked up for
nearly six years while the fifth has been out on bond. The plea deal calls
for them to get credit for time served and they could be released from prison
anywhere from the next one to six years. The court hearing was still ongoing
Wednesday afternoon and the judge had not yet formally accepted their guilty
pleas. On Sept. 4 2005, days after the levees failed and water swamped the
city, police gunned down 17-year-old James Brissette and 40-year-old Ronald
Madison, who were both unarmed, and wounded four others on the Danziger Bridge.
To cover it up, the officers planted a gun, fabricated witnesses and falsified
reports, prosecutors have said. Police said at the time the officers were
responding to a report of other officers down when they came under fire.
However, after hearing from five dozen witnesses and examining 400 pieces of
evidence
during a monthlong trial, a federal jury convicted the officers for opening
fire and trying to cover up wrongdoing. Former officer Robert Faulcon was
sentenced
to 65 years in prison; ex-Sgts. Kenneth Bowen and Robert Gisevius each received
40 years; Anthony Villavaso got 38 years; and Arthur Kaufman, now out on
bond, received a six-year sentence. Under the new plea agreement, the sentences
would be significantly reduced to a range of 12 years to three years for
the defendants. A scandal involving Justice Department employees unraveled the
convictions and sentences. In September 2013, the judge said the case had
been tainted by 'grotesque prosecutorial misconduct,' including leaks to media
and posting of anonymous comments by at least three government attorneys
on a New Orleans newspaper's website. Prosecutors have argued that there is no
evidence the misconduct affected the verdict. Copyright 2016 The Associated
Press.
