Jury convicts 3 officers in post-Katrina death

[kpete]

Source: New York Times

Jury Convicts 3 Officers in Post-Katrina Death
By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON
Published: December 9, 2010


NEW ORLEANS — More than five years after a man named Henry Glover was shot and his body burned here by police officers in the days after Hurricane Katrina, a jury has weighed in on the circumstances of his death. Three police officers were found guilty Thursday night on nine federal counts in an emotionally charged case that painted a grim portrait of the city’s troubled Police Department.

David Warren, a former police officer, was found guilty of manslaughter in the shooting of Mr. Glover; Officer Gregory McRae was convicted of obstructing justice and other charges for burning Mr. Glover’s body; and Lt. Travis McCabe was convicted of perjury and obstructing justice for drawing up a false police report.

Two other police officers were found not guilty on various counts. The mixed verdict, returned by the jury after nearly three days of deliberation, left relatives and friends of Mr. Glover with an incomplete sense of vindication.

“All of them should have been found guilty,” said Rebecca Glover, Mr. Glover’s aunt, as she left the courtroom. “They all participated in this. How are you going to let them go free?”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/10/us/10katrina.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

[smiley]

1. 2 officers found not guilty

even though they beat the man who tried to help the victim. Disgusting.

[valerief]

10. This is America, not a true democracy. nt

[MountainLaurel]

2. 3 Guilty, 2 Not Guilty in Killing, Burning of Henry Glover (NO Police Dept)

Source: WWL TV

Three former officers have been found guilty in connection with the shooting death of Henry Glover, the burning of his body and the attempt to cover it up. Two other officers were found not guilty in the alleged cover-up.

David Warren, the man who shot Glover, was found guilty of a civil rights violation for the use of excessive force that resulted in the death of Glover. Warren was also found guilty of use of a firearm to commit a crime of violence, and the jury decided the result was manslaughter.

"We don't believe that Mr. Warren intentionally did anything wrong. He may have acted fast, but in these situations you have to," said Julian Murphy, Warren's attorney. "We are dissapointed, but we respect the system, we respect the jury and the court... I just think the decision was wrong."

Officer Greg McRae was found guilty of civil rights violation for the burning of Glover’s body after the fact and obstruction of justice.

Read more: http://www.wwltv.com/news/crime/Verdict-111596349.html

[frylock]

3. i hope these fuckers have a real good time in prison

[eppur_se_muova]

4. Hurricane Katrina: Police guilty over New Orleans death

Source: BBC

A US federal jury has convicted three police officers and cleared two over the killing of a man after Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans in 2005.

The jury convicted former officer David Warren of manslaughter in the shooting of 31-year-old Henry Glover.

Officer Gregory McRae was convicted of burning Mr Glover's body, while Lt Travis McCabe was convicted of writing a false report on the shooting.

Lt Dwayne Scheuermann and ex-Lt Robert Italiano were acquitted in the trial.



Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11966212

[defendandprotect]

5. k/r

[alp227]

6. I've got the Frontline documentary "Law & Disorder" on my DVR now still.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/law-disorder/
Hmm. I need to watch that soon. Just like that POV documentary about Daniel Ellsberg, The Most Dangerous Man. This verdict is great! I can't wait for the sentencing hearing.

[saras]

7. WTF?

They burned the body and tried to cover it up, but didn't intentionally do anything wrong?

Put it this way - what would they charge you with if you burned a police officer's body after killing them?

[catnhatnh]

8. Nothing...

...after all why charge a dead suspect? Even two or three of them?

[Downtown Hound]

9. Is it me, or do cops seem to get really light treatment for this kind of thing?

The two cops that beat a man get off, and one that shoots an unarmed man in the back and then has his body burned to destroy evidence gets convicted of MANSLAUGHTER.

For all you cop lovers out there, it's shit like this that really sours people's opinion of police. There seems to be two sets of laws, one for cops and the elite, and another for everybody else.

[valerief]

11. Yep, it sure seems that way. nt

[Downtown Hound]

12. I wonder if I would get convicted of manslaughter if I shot an unarmed cop in the back

and then burned his body in an attempt to cover it up?

Bwhahahahahaha! Boy, that sure is a good one, huh? Manslaughter...

I'd be lucky if I lived to see death row.

[bluedigger]

13. It took Federal prosecution to get this much.

City and State prosecutors refused to bring charges. Getting three convictions from a New Orleans jury is not insignificant.:shrug:

[Downtown Hound]

14. Not insignificant, but still insufficient. n/t

[BlueIris]

15. Members of the police state always have a built in alibi. nt

[uppityperson]

16. manslaughter, obstructing justice, perjury, burning body? another bit from article...

Damn them to hell.

“When you take into account reasonable versus unreasonable,” Rick Simmons, who represents Mr. Warren, said in his closing arguments, “you have to take into consideration the conditions under which he was living.”

But prosecutors, who described Mr. Warren as zealously looking for an opportunity to use his expensive personal assault rifle, said that even under the harrowing conditions after the hurricane, the rule of law was never abandoned.

“Hurricane Katrina didn’t turn petty theft into a capital offense,” said Jared Fishman, a federal prosecutor in his closing arguments.

[uppityperson]

17. Link to NOLA.com article with more on it here...

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2010/12/henry_glover_guilty_verdicts_a.html

(clip)
The Glover case is one of nine civil rights investigations into the New Orleans Police Department started by the FBI and Justice Department in recent years, most of which involve police conduct in the chaotic post-Katrina period. Ten New Orleans police officers face pending charges in three separate cases, including the well-publicized Danziger Bridge shooting two days after Glover was shot. Five former New Orleans police officers have pleaded guilty in a cover-up of that incident, in which two men were killed and four people injured.

Federal investigators began looking into Glover's death in early 2009, after an article about the mystery of his charred remains found on the Algiers levee was published in The Nation magazine.
(clip)
Attorneys for the convicted officers expressed dismay at the verdict. Julian Murray, who represented Warren, said his client was "more concerned about his wife and family than himself. He's a good man who tried to help this city. ... I don't think people understand the split-second decisions police officers have to make," Murray said.

Split-second decisions like shooting someone in the back then burning him and trying to cover it up? What color was he? Oh yeah, THOSE "split-second decisions".