Sentencing of Danziger cops spurs debate

10th April 2012   ·   0 Comments

The U.S. Department of Justice’s push to clean up New Orleans’ troubled police department reached a milestone Wednesday as a federal judge sentenced five former officers to prison terms of up to 65 years for their roles in the deadly shootings of unarmed residents on the Danziger Bridge in eastern New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and devastating levee breaks that flooded 80 percent of the city.

The five former NOPD officers were sentenced Wednesday for their roles in the now-infamous Danziger Bridge shootings and a subsequent cover-up that included a planted gun, fabricated witnesses and falsified reports. Wednesday’s sentences ranged from a 65-year prison term for one of the officers involved in both fatal shootings on the bridge to six years for a former officer who played a key role in the cover-up.

The Associated Press reported last week that that effort is far from over, however. Now the focus shifts from the criminal courts to the civil arena, where federal and city officials are negotiating terms of a consent decree that would impose court-ordered reforms on the New Orleans Police Department.

Tom Perez, head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, said after Wednesday’s sentencing hearing that he is confident a consent decree will be finalized in the “near future.”

“Culture change does not occur overnight,” Perez said. “The challenges that we saw manifested in the Danziger Bridge trial were many years in the making and they will take many years to resolve.”

Perez told reporters that federal investigators transformed a cold case into the “most significant police case since Rodney King.”

“We didn’t have a case in 2008 when we inherited this. We had nothing. And hindsight is 20/20. It is easy to look back in hindsight and say why did you do this, why did you do that,” he said. “You don’t go to the witness store to pick out your witnesses. You take what is dealt.”

“What we learned through this trial, what we learned in these convictions is that the Constitution never takes a holiday,” Perez added. “The Constitution applies every day of every week, and no police officer can take it upon himself or herself to suspend the Constitution. Today’s sentences are a reminder that we live in a society of laws and not of men who can take the law into their own hands — that’s not the society we live in.”

“I think today’s sentences reflect that when you do something, it should always be in mind that at some point it needs to withstand the light of day and it needs to withstand the scrutiny of a later time,” said David Welker, FBI special agent in charge.

“Just to see that they were sentenced was justice for me, for the family, that they were sentenced for the crime,” said Dr. Romell Madison, brother of Danziger shooting victim Ronald Madison. “It tells the world and the citizens of New Orleans that they did commit a crime.”

Perez praised the resilience and courage of the families whose loved ones were killed or wounded on the Danziger Bridge almost seven years ago. “Our justice system worked in this case because these victims never gave up — their family members never gave up,” Perez said. “Despite everything they’ve been through — unspeakable pain, both physical and emotional — they continued to have faith in the possibility of justice. Despite having been betrayed by law enforcement officers who told awful lies about them to cover up their own misdeeds, these victims trusted our federal team… The victims and their families trusted the federal government to get things done, to hunt for evidence, to search for the truth, and that is what the criminal justice system is about — the search for truth. The sentences today are the culmination of that seven-year journey for justice.”

Police shot and killed two people and wounded four others on the Danziger Bridge less than a week after the 2005 storm plunged the city into chaos.

Jose Holmes Jr., one of the four people wounded on the Danziger Bridge by cops, had his attorney, Gary Bizal, read a statement Wednesday to the five officers before they were sentenced.

“For you to have shot an unarmed innocent person should make you feel guilty and ashamed,” Holmes said. “I have you to blame for all of my scars, depression and embarrassment of having to wear a colostomy bag. … But when it’s all said and done I’m a loving person, so I have to forgive you for what you’ve done to me because God forbids me to have hatred in my heart.”

Holmes was a friend of 17-year-old James Brissette, one of the two people killed on the bridge. The other victim was 40-year-old Ronald Madison, a mentally disabled man.

“This has been a long and painful six-and-a-half years,” said Lance Madison, whose mentally disabled brother, Ronald, was killed. “The people of New Orleans and my family are ready for justice.”

Lance Madison addressed each defendant individually, including former Officer Faulcon, who shot his brother: “When I look at you, my pain becomes unbearable. You took the life of an angel and basically ripped my heart out,” Madison said Wednesday.

Madison also told the five officers, “You are the reason I can no longer trust law enforcement.”

Madison added that he was horrified by Kaufman’s actions and role in the cover-up: “You tried to frame me, a man you knew was innocent, and send me to prison for the rest of my life.” Lance Madison was arrested on attempted murder charges after police falsely accused him of shooting at the officers on the bridge. He was jailed for three weeks before a judge freed him.

An emotional Sherrel Johnson, the mother of James Brissette, also addressed the court Wednesday, saying several times, “I can’t for the life of me understand what they were thinking.”

“He didn’t deserve this,” Johnson said of her son. “He never even knew what hit him.”

The Rev. Robert Faulcon Sr. told Judge Engelhardt that his son “didn’t go looking for trouble.”

“He was on duty and he was called to do a job, and that’s what he did to the best of his ability,” Rev. Faulcon said.

“I know in my heart that my son would never shoot anyone without cause,” Kenneth Bowen Sr., father of one of the convicted officers and himself a former cop, told Judge Engelhard at Wednesday’s sentencing hearing. “I wanted the court and everyone to know how proud I am of my son and all of his accomplishments.”

None of the officers addressed the court before they were sentenced.

U.S. District Judge Kurt Engel­hardt expressed frustration that he was bound by mandatory minimum sentencing laws to imprison former sergeants. Kenneth Bowen and Robert Gisevius and former officers Anthony Villavaso and Robert Faulcon for decades when other officers who engaged in similar conduct on the Danziger Bridge — but cut deals with prosecutors — are serving no more than eight years behind bars.

“These through-the-looking-glass plea deals that tied the hands of this court … are an affront to the court and a disservice to the community,” he said.

Police gunned down James Brissette and 40-year-old Ronald Madison, who were both unarmed, and wounded four others on Sept. 4, 2005, less than a week after the devastating 2005 storm. To cover it up, the officers planted a gun, fabricated witnesses and falsified reports. Defense attorneys have indicated they will appeal.

Engelhardt also criticized prosecutors for the different ways they charged those who didn’t cooperate with a Justice Department civil rights investigation and those who did. The charges were filed in such a way that they left judges with little discretion in handing out sentences in each set of cases, Engelhardt said.

Faulcon received the stiffest sentence of 65 years. Bowen and Gisevius each got 40 years while Villavaso was sentenced to 38. All four were convicted of federal firearms charges that carried mandatory minimum sentences ranging from 35 to 60 years in prison. Faulcon was convicted in both deadly shootings.

“The court imposes them purely as a matter of statutory mandate,” Engelhardt said.

Retired Sgt. Arthur Kaufman, who was assigned to investigate the shootings, received six years in prison — a sentence below the federal guidelines. Kaufman wasn’t charged in the shootings but was convicted of helping orchestrate the cover-up.

During a scathing lecture that lasted roughly two hours, Engelhardt questioned the credibility of officers who cut deals and testified against the defendants during last year’s trial.

“Citing witnesses for perjury at this trial would be like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500,” Engelhardt said.

Justice Department attorney Bobbi Bernstein defended prosecutors’ tactics, saying the officers who cooperated with the probe gave them the breakthrough they needed to reveal the cover-up.

“Those deals are the reason that the whole world now knows what happened on the Danziger Bridge,” she said.

Steve London, one of Kaufman’s attorneys, said his client was pleased that the judge gave him a sentence below the guidelines, which had called for a sentence ranging from a little over eight years to a little over 10.

“This judge recognized that the government put liars on the stand to testify and convict other people,” London said.

Lindsay Larson, one of Faulcon’s attorneys, said the judge “laid out the blueprint” for how defense attorneys will challenge the firearms convictions and sentences.
“We have only just begun to fight,” he said.

Wednesday’s sentencing isn’t the final chapter in the case. The convicted officers are expected to appeal, and Gerard Dugue, a retired sergeant, is scheduled to be retried in May on charges stemming from his alleged role in the cover-up.

Perez expressed hope that a consent decree will provide a “comprehensive blueprint for sustainable reform” that will reduce crime and restore the public’s trust in the police department.

“Reform, reconciliation and rebirth cannot occur in New Orleans unless those who are held accountable are indeed prosecuted criminally, yet we must also respect and understand that criminal prosecutions are not enough to bring about sustainable reform,” Perez said.

NOPD Superintendent Ronal Serpas said he and New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu “stand lockstep” with the Justice Department in the effort to overhaul the police department and develop “a consent decree that will have the force of law to make sure we never go down this dark horrid path ever again.”

Landrieu said the convictions and sentence “provide significant closure to a dark chapter in our city’s history.”

“We now have an opportunity to turn the page and to heal,” he said in a statement. “The citizens of New Orleans deserve a police department that protects, serves, and partners with the community to keep New Orleans safe. It is my commitment to the people of New Orleans to rebuild and reform the NOPD.”

Lance Madison described his family’s ordeal as “devastating and traumatic.”

“We’re still going through the devastation and going through problems dealing with this,” Lance Madison added. “I hope that one day, once this is all over with, we’ll be able to get back to our lives.”

Lance Madison told reporters Wednesday that since the 2005 shootings he tries to avoid crossing or going near the Danziger Bridge. “I try to avoid the Danziger Bridge because when I go there it just brings back memories of what I went through,” he said. “I try to stay away from there.”

Twenty current or former New Orleans police officers have been charged in a series of Justice Department probes, most of which center on actions during the aftermath of Katrina. Eleven of those officers were charged in the Danziger Bridge case, which stunned a city with a long history of police corruption.

“I want to make clear that the process of reforming the New Orleans Police Department is far from over,” Perez said Wednesday. “We are using criminal tools and civil tools that we have at the Department of Justice to bring about these reforms. Our criminal work is about accountability for past wrongdoing and the Depart­ment of Justice will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute criminal wrongdoing by members of the New Orleans Police Department and other police departments across this country.

“Reform, reconciliation and rebirth cannot occur in New Orleans unless those that are held accountable are indeed prosecuted criminally, yet we must also respect and understand that criminal prosecutions alone are not enough to bring about sustainable reform,” Perez added. “That is why, equally importantly, our civil pattern and practice work is about looking forward. It’s about working collaboratively with all stakeholders, from the police department, frontline officers, senior leadership and community leaders. We are working together to develop and implement a comprehensive blueprint for sustainable reform that will reduce crime, ensure respect for the Constitution and restore public confidence in the New Orleans Police Department.”

Some of the city’s Black community leaders say that the current administration and police department still don’t get the community’s push for top-to-bottom changes in the way the city addresses the needs of the Black community. “The mayor has said repeatedly that the city has a ‘gun culture’ that is responsible for all of the violent crime and murders that plague the city,” the Rev. Raymond Brown, president of National Action Now, told The Louisiana Weekly. But you never hear Mitch Landrieu talk about the city’s culture of oppression and racism that is choking the life and hope out of the Black community. You never hear the mayor take the white business community and school system to task for the poor job that is being done giving Black people an opportunity to lift themselves out of poverty and dead-end jobs.

“Operation CeaseFire is a good idea, but in order for that to work, the NOPD needs to cease firing on unarmed Black men and the business community needs to commit to ending the exploitation of Black workers,” Brown continued. “Black people in this city are tired of being pushed around, taken for granted and exploited by the powers that be. Things in this city are going to have to change, one way or another.”

A 2011 DOJ report said there is widespread corruption, abuse and ineptitude in the New Orleans Police Department.

Ramessu Merriamen Aha, a former congressional candidate and New Orleans businessman, said that those jumping for joy about the outcome of the Danziger sentencing hearing Wednesday should remember that there are still cops on the New Orleans force that see nothing wrong with killing unarmed residents and posting racially divisive Internet blogs.

“This is not the new and improved NOPD,” he told The Louisiana Weekly. “The department still has a lot of problems and the Landrieu administration seems to be more interested in making up excuses for the NOPD’s lackluster leadership than he is in rooting out the problem.

“At the same time, the Department of Justice does not seem to be as fully committed to reforming the NOPD as it once was,” he added. “If Black people in New Orleans are going to be treated fairly by the NOPD and enjoy equal protection under the law, we are going to have to hold the DOJ’s feet to the fire and make sure the Feds do their job.

“We can’t afford to let this opportunity to reform the NOPD to slip through our fingers,” Ramessu Merriamen Aha said. “As Bro. W.C. Johnson has said repeatedly, we may never get this opportunity to bring about real change in the NOPD again.”

On Saturday, March 31, in the midst of the Final Four tournament, several hundred protesters marched through the streets of New Orleans demanding answers and justice in the NOPD shootings of Justin Sipp and Wendell Allen last month. There were also signs calling for justice in other cases, like that of Adolph Grimes III, who was gunned down by New Orleans police while sitting in a car outside his grandparents’ home on January 1, 2009, and Levon Jones, a college student who was killed by four white bouncers from Razzoo Bar & Pation on December 31, 2004.

W.C. Johnson, a member of Community United for Change and the United New Orleans Front, said Wednesday that he recognizes what motivated so many people in New Orleans to participate in the recent UNOF march and rally. “People are fed up, refusing to take any more, standing up to be counted,” Johnson, host of local cable-access show “OurStory,” said. “The rally and march against injustice proved to be more than a Black rally and march but rather a universal gathering for a platform of declaring the disgust and disdain of the participants for the direction America is being forced to charter in the wake of the ‘Right Winged’ influences found throughout the peaks and valleys of America. The rally and march against injustice has established the United New Orleans Front as a viable vehicle for change and legitimate discourse for the disenfranchised and the politically naïve. The continued work of the UNOF to frame a Black agenda for the city is a challenge that will create an opportunity for the Black community to educate itself and become comfortable with self-rule.”

Those fighting for justice in the cases of Justin Sipp and Wendell Allen hoped to build upon the momentum of the March 31 rally and march with a gathering on Saturday morning, April 7, at St. James A.M.E. Church, 222 N. Derbigny Street. A community march has been planned for Saturday, April 21, beginning at 10:00 a.m. in front of Louis Armstrong Park and ending at Duncan Plaza (across from City Hall).

According to Danatus King, president of the New Orleans branch of the NAACP, the purpose of the rally and march is to “demand transparent and thorough investigations of the shootings of Wendell Allen, Justin Sipp and Earl Sipp; show support for the national effort to obtain justice for the family of Trayvon Martin; take back control of our schools from the RSD and take control of the operation of our schools from the charger organizations; take back our streets from the criminals; take back our criminal justice system by changing the leadership in the NOPD, instituting changes in the NOPD and District Attorney’s Office; adopting a Consent Degree with meaningful community input; taking back our contracts and jobs from out-of-town contractors by enforcing by enforcing city ordinances that require a good faith effort to hire minority and local contractors; taking back our housing by increasing affordable housing and ensuring good faith efforts to allow previous residents of public housing to return.”

W.C. Johnson predicted that the growing movement in New Orleans for justice and equal protection under the law could secure a prominent place for the city and its residents in the history of the liberation struggle in the African Diaspora. “Black people can and will ascend to their proper seat of stewardship again,” Johnson said. “New Orleans could very well be the beginning for this journey.”

Associated Press writers Cain Burdeau and Alan Sayre, both in New Orleans, contributed to this report. Louisiana Weekly editor Edmund W. Lewis also contributed to this report.

This article was originally published in the April 9, 2012 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper