MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
AP
Saturday, December 30, 2006
One of the seven policemen charged in a deadly gunfight on a
bridge during the chaos that followed Hurricane Katrina had previously
been charged with murder in the 2001 death of a suspect, but the
charges were dismissed.
Fraternal Order of Police lawyer Donovan Livaccari said Friday
that Sgt. Kenneth Bowen had "acted within his rights to protect
himself" in that case. Records show that the city agreed
to pay the suspect's mother $12,500 to settle a lawsuit.
Bowen, five colleagues and another officer who has since left
the force were indicted Thursday in the Sept. 4, 2005, shooting
deaths of two men and wounding of four other people on the bridge.
The department suspended all of the officers without pay Friday
pending the outcome of the case and a review by Police Superintendent
Warren Riley.
A judge on Friday ordered the seven to surrender by Tuesday.
Lawyers for the officers said they planned to turn themselves
in as a group on Tuesday morning.
The shootings on the Danziger Bridge, just days after Katrina
flooded New Orleans, became a symbol of the city's loss of control,
and the facts of what happened remain murky. Police say that the
officers were responding a report of other officers down, and
that they thought one of the victims, Ronald Madison, had been
reaching for a gun.
Madison, a mentally retarded man, was shot seven times - five
times in the back, according to the coroner.
"We cannot allow our police officers to shoot and kill our
citizens without justification like rabid dogs," District
Attorney Eddie Jordan said Thursday in announcing the indictment.
Riley called Jordan's comment "highly prejudicial and highly
undignified," and defense lawyers said the officers are innocent
of the murder or attempted murder charges against them.
As with many events in the days after Katrina struck, reports
of what happened at the bridge six days after the storm varied
widely.
Police reported that some Army Corps of Engineers workers had
been fired on and that when the officers arrived, four people
began firing at them. The officers returned fire, killing Madison,
40, and James Brissette, 19.
Madison's brother, who was also on the bridge, insists Madison
wasn't armed. He said the two on their way to another brother's
dental office when a group of teens ran up behind them and began
shooting. As the brothers fled, Lance Madison said, seven men
jumped out of a rental truck and also began firing at them.
Bowen and Sgt. Robert Gisevius were charged with first-degree
murder in the bridge shootings, as were officer Anthony Villavaso
and former officer Robert Faulcon. Officers Robert Barrios, Mike
Hunter and Ignatius Hills were charged with attempted murder.
Attorney Frank DeSalvo, who represented Bowen in the 2001 shooting
and is doing so again, claimed his client has twice fallen victim
to overzealous prosecutors.
State District Judge Raymond Bigelow said there would be no bond
for the four accused of first-degree murder, which carries a possible
death sentence. For the other officers, the bond will be $100,000
per count, Bigelow said.
A spokesman for Mayor Ray Nagin declined comment.
The officers' indictments further scars the reputation of the
city's police department. More than 200 officers on the 1,500-member
force were disciplined after the hurricane for various offenses,
including failure to show up for work, and some were accused of
joining in the looting.
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