Former N.O. officers convicted of "federal firearms charges"?

O

orangello

New member
I thought these guys were on trial for a questionable shooting incident? This yahoo article indicates they were sentenced to terms up to 65 years on "federal firearms charges".

Does anybody have a link to a better article or a previous thread that explains their charges?

http://news.yahoo.com/5-ex-cops-sentenced-katrina-killings-case-192815766.html


(Please don't bash LEO's in general, as these people appear to be the exception rather than the rule and were in a reeeeally bad situation with limited oversight.)
 
Interesting, i don't guess i had considered that fatally shooting a person (with a legally aquired firearm) involved the risk of "weapons charges". I thought the murder charge would be it. The wikipedia link seems to indicate that the "weapons charges" were for "using a weapon during commission of a crime of violence".

The judge's commentary seem to indicate a distaste for the deal-making aspect of this trial.
 
The judge's commentary seem to indicate a distaste for the deal-making aspect of this trial.
Click to expand...

I heard an interview with the prosecutor on NPR and he commented on the judge not being happy with the plea bargaining. However, he noted that without the information from the officers who got a plea bargain, they would not have had sufficient evidence to take the case to court. The plea bargaining was necessary despite the judge's disgust over it.
 
One aspect of this case is that the police planted a firearm at the scene.

I have never been able to figure out exactly what that falls under. Is it the weapons charge? Is it the civil rights conspiracy conspiracy, civil rights conspiracy for false persecution? Obstruction of justice?

Was the planting of the firearm just plead away?

I don't know... I'd like more information on the case too - especially how planting a firearm is dealt with.
 
Local coverage of the Danziger case

New Orleans Times Picayune front page story:
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2012/04/judge_imposes_sentences_on_5_n.html

Times Picayune editorial:
http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2012/04/sentences_for_danziger_bridge.html

Times Picayune has a Pulitzer winning investigative staff and, in my opinion, is one of the best regional newspapers in the country. The Danziger Bridge case involves police brutality, cover up, and unjustified murder. The police officers involved offered no help to the innocent and unarmed people on the bridge during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Instead they shot, killed, wounded, and lied about their role in killing innocents.

Welcome to New Orleans where the NOPD is under current federal investigation for general corruption and misconduct.
 
Regarding planting a firearm at the scene: I would think that would be "obstruction of justice" or something like that, but i don't know. Perhaps one of the local legal eagles will chime in with a definitive answer on that issue.

Edit* The article in the Times Picayune indicated one of the officers allegedly used a "AK-47" during the shooting incident. It mentioned the recovery of 9 casings that matched it; i wonder, was that "real" AK-47 with fully automatic firing ability or was it a WASR10-type imitation AK?
 
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