Four New Orleans police officers and a retired sgt. are in a combination of photos as they arrive for booking in New Orleans on January 2, 2007 and as as the sgt. enters Federal court for the start of jury selection in his trial on June 22, 2011.
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Lance Madison was with his mentally disabled brother, Ronald, when the shooting broke out on the Danziger bridge less than a week after Katrina-related levee failures inundated the city in 2005. They entered guilty pleas and were sentenced in federal court Wednesday (April 20), which essentially brings the case to a close.
“Though these officers will serve time in prison, it will never be enough for what they did”, said Lance Madison, the brother of victim Ronald Madison.
Their pleas and the sentencing came more than a decade after the high-profile shooting on the Danziger Bridge, which drew national scrutiny that, in many ways, preceded the ongoing national focus on how police officers use deadly force.
In addition to the former officers who are involved in today’s plea deal, several other officers pleaded guilty in 2011 to charges such as deprivation of civil rights, false prosecution and obstruction of justice. But a little over a year later, the judge in the case granted them a new trial, citing grotesque prosecutorial misconduct after federal prosecutors admitted to commenting on the case on online blog sites during the investigation and prosecution.
Four of the men have been behind bars for almost six years, while Kaufman was released on bond in 2013.
Their punishments are markedly less severe than those the officers received four years ago: While their previous sentences had carried a collective weight of more than 200 years in prison, the plea deal reduces that to less than 45 years in total.
Five former New Orleans police officers charged in connection to the deadly Danziger Bridge shooting in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina on Wednesday pleaded guilty in federal court in exchange for reduced sentences. It shortens sentences by 30 years for former officers Ken Bowen and Robert Gisevius. Kenneth Bowen and Robert Gisevius got 10-year sentences, down from 40 years. He also ordered that several records in the case be unsealed.
But from the beginning, the case created more distrust between the New Orleans Police Department and citizens.
According to the attorney’s office, Bowen and Gisevius were both sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison; they had been sentenced to 40 years after the first trial. It was not immediately clear whether he would have to serve any further time.
“While an imperfect resolution, today’s proceeding ensures that these defendants are held accountable for their criminal actions”, Polite said in a statement. Anthony Villavaso and Arthur Kaufman, who were serving 38 years and six years respectively, got seven and three years.
Mayor Mitch Landrieu said in a statement it was unfortunate that New Orleans has had to relive this dark chapter in the city’s history.
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Englehardt went over his “concerns” about the online comments which caused his throw out the convictions, including the Department of Justice for not disclosing information.
