Current, ex-cops convicted in Katrina shootings

A federal jury on Friday convicted five current or former New Orleans police officers of civil rights violations in one of the lowest moments for city police in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina: the shooting deaths of a teenager and a mentally disabled man as they crossed a bridge in search of food and help.

Three officers and one former officer were convicted of civil rights violations in the shootings that killed two people and wounded four others on the Danziger Bridge less than a week after the storm. All four and a retired police sergeant were convicted of engaging in a brazen cover-up that included a planted gun, fabricated witnesses and falsified reports. The five men were convicted of all 25 counts they faced.

The case was a high-stakes test of the Justice Department's effort to rid the police department of corruption and brutality. A total of 20 current or former New Orleans police officers were charged last year in a series of federal probes. Most of the cases center on actions during the aftermath of the Aug. 29, 2005, storm, which plunged the flooded city into a state of lawlessness and desperation.

"The officers convicted today abused their power and violated the public's trust during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina - exacerbating one of the most devastating times for the people of New Orleans," U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Friday in a statement. "I am hopeful today's verdict brings justice for the victims and their family members, helps to heal the community and contributes to the restoration of public trust in the New Orleans Police Department."

Shaun Clarke, a defense attorney and former federal prosecutor who moved from New Orleans to Houston after Katrina, said it was a "huge verdict for the government. Of all the cases concerning alleged misconduct by police officers after Katrina, this was the one that had the highest national profile."

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten echoed that, saying the verdicts send a message that "public officials, and especially law enforcement officers, that they will be held accountable and that any abuse of power will have serious consequences."
Convicted in the shootings were New Orleans police Sgts. Robert Gisevius and Kenneth Bowen, Officer Anthony Villavaso and former officer Robert Faulcon. They face possible life prison sentences. All five defendants are scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 14.

Jurors found Faulcon guilty in the fatal shooting of Ronald Madison, a 40-year-old mentally disabled man, but the jury decided his killing didn't amount to murder. Faulcon, Gisevius, Bowen and Villavaso were convicted in the death of 17-year-old James Brissette. Jurors didn't have to decide whether Brissette was murdered because they didn't hold any of the defendants individually responsible for causing his death.

Retired Sgt. Arthur "Archie" Kaufman and the other four defendants also were convicted of engaging in a cover-up. Kaufman, who was assigned to investigate the deadly encounter on the bridge, wasn't charged in the shootings.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, who invited the Justice Department last year to conduct a thorough review of the police department, said the verdicts "provide significant closure to a dark chapter in our city's history."

In March, the Justice Department issued a blistering report that said New Orleans police officers have often used deadly force without justification, repeatedly made unconstitutional arrests and engaged in racial profiling. Landrieu has said he expects the federal review to bring about court-ordered reforms.

Five former officers pleaded guilty to participating in a cover-up of the bridge shootings and testified during the trial. Another former officer, retired Sgt. Gerard Dugue, has a separate trial scheduled to start in September.

Brissette's mother, Sherrel Johnson, said she was relieved by the verdict after "a long, hard six years" and would now try to move on. But she lamented what her son has lost.More...