Danziger Bridge Murderers Sentenced

[Habbaku]

http://articles.cnn.com/2012-04-04/justice/justice_louisiana-danziger-bridge-case_1_kenneth-bowen-james-brissette-robert-faulcon?_s=PM:JUSTICE

A federal judge Wednesday sentenced five former New Orleans police officers to prison terms ranging from six to 65 years for the shootings of unarmed civilians in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, prosecutors said.

The shootings occurred on the Danziger Bridge on September 4, 2005, six days after much of New Orleans went underwater when the powerful hurricane slammed into the Gulf Coast. The ex-officers were convicted in August on a combined 25 counts of civil rights violations.

U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt imposed the stiffest sentence on former officer Robert Faulcon, who was handed a 65-year term for his involvement in shooting two of the victims. Former sergeants Kenneth Bowen and Robert Gisevius got 40 years for their roles in the incident, while ex-officer Robert Villavaso was sentenced to 38 years.

The lightest term went to former detective sergeant Arthur Kaufman, who was sentenced to six years for attempting to cover up what the officers had done, according to the U.S. attorney's office in New Orleans.

The men were accused of opening fire on an unarmed family, killing 17-year-old James Brissette and wounding four others. Minutes later, Faulcon shot and killed Ronald Madison, a 40-year-old man described by Justice Department officials as having severe mental disabilities and who was trying to flee the scene when he was shot, according to the Justice Department.

At the time, New Orleans police said they got into a running gun battle with several people. Prosecutors said Kaufman wrote the department's formal report on the incident, which concluded the shootings were justified and recommended the prosecution of two of the survivors "on the basis of false evidence."

During the trial, the defense asked the jury to consider the stressful circumstances the officers were operating under following Katrina. The shootings took place during a week of dire flooding, rampant looting and death by drowning, and police were strained by suicides and desertion among their ranks.

But U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said the prison sentences send the message that "when the crisis we face is the most threatening, that when the challenges are the greatest, the rules don't go out the window."

"In fact, that's when the discipline, when the honesty of our public servants, our police and the men and women of law enforcement are most critical," Letten said.

[grumbler]

This case always struck me as one of the worst incidents of police misconduct in half a century, and the fact that it took Federal indictments for "civil rights violations" to compensate for the local "justice" system's inability to try them for murder (which should have been the course justice followed) says a lot about the honesty and integrity of the Louisiana legal system.

It's hard to believe that a system could be so obviously dysfunctional for so long and still be unreformed.  Once upon a time, I thought all the stories about how "the Big Easy" was corrupt and nobody much minded were exaggerated.  This case changed my mind.  I steer well clear of Louisiana, just to be on the safe side.

[Capetan Mihali]

At least they'll be doing federal time instead of Angola.  Though I suspect they'll be doing a lot of it in protective custody anyways.  It isn't easy for cops in prison.

[mongers]

I remember seeing the network news coverage of this event at the time and thinking it looked wrong; do the media have some responsibility for helping to generating an atmosphere of fear and hysteria in the wake of Katrina ? 

[DGuller]

This case always struck me as one of the worst incidents of police misconduct in half a century, and the fact that it took Federal indictments for "civil rights violations" to compensate for the local "justice" system's inability to try them for murder (which should have been the course justice followed) says a lot about the honesty and integrity of the Louisiana legal system.

It's hard to believe that a system could be so obviously dysfunctional for so long and still be unreformed.  Once upon a time, I thought all the stories about how "the Big Easy" was corrupt and nobody much minded were exaggerated.  This case changed my mind.  I steer well clear of Louisiana, just to be on the safe side.

Louisiana and Mississippi always struck me as the two states that civilization left behind.  It's almost a sure bet that any time states are ranked on some factor, those two are going to be all the way at the shitty extreme.