BreaktheChains.info: Henry Glover jury finds 3 officers guilty in death, burning of Algiers man

Friday, December 10, 2010

Henry Glover jury finds 3 officers guilty in death, burning of Algiers man

December 09, 2010 Times-Picayune Staff

A federal jury on Thursday evening found three New Orleans police officers guilty in the shooting, burning and cover-up of the death of Algiers man Henry Glover after Hurricane Katrina.

Lt. Travis McCabe, left, was convicted of writing a false police report about the incident and lying to federal investigators. Officer Greg McRae, center, was convicted of burning Henry Glover's body in a car. The jury convicted former officer David Warren, right, for shooting Glover, finding he was responsible for the man's death and that he committed manslaughter.

The jury deliberated for three days before coming back with the verdict. Their decision was split, completely acquitting two of the officers -- Lt. Dwayne Scheuermann and retired Lt. Robert Italiano -- in the burning and cover-up.

The jury convicted former officer David Warren for shooting Glover, finding he was both responsible for the man's death and committed manslaughter. Officer Greg McRae was convicted of burning Glover's body in a car. Lt. Travis McCabe was convicted of writing a false police report about the incident and lying to federal investigators.

Immediately after the verdicts were read, prosecutor Jared Fishman asked that McRae and McCabe, who have been free on bond, be taken into custody. U.S. District Judge Lance Africk declined to rule on the request right away but scheduled a bond hearing for Friday at 9 a.m.

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said after the verdict, "There are men and women in that police department who honor the badge every day and every night, and they sweat and they strain, and they work for too little money and they don't see their families enough, and they risk and sometimes give their lives. This is a win for them, too. This case is not about departments; it's about individuals who thought they were above the law and weren't."

The five current and former New Orleans police officers were accused of shooting Glover, beating men who tried to help him, burning his body and covering up the incident with a false report and lies to federal investigators. McRae and Scheuermann were both cleared in the beating of two men who tried to help Glover after he was shot.

Only former officer Warren, a rookie on the force at the time of Hurricane Katrina, was accused in the shooting of Glover, a 31-year-old Algiers man. Witnesses testified that Glover and his family stayed for the storm and on Sept. 2, 2005, went to a nearby Firestone outlet and took a truck to use in evacuation.

Glover and a friend, Bernard Calloway, next drove to a nearby strip mall, where two women they knew had left suitcases they took from a Tuesday Morning store. Warren and his partner that day, officer Linda Howard, were protecting the mall because it was also home to the 4th District's detective bureau.

What happened when Glover drove up to the strip mall was a key factor for jurors to consider.

Warren testified that the men roared into the back parking lot, jumping out of the truck and running toward an unlocked ground-floor gate to the mall. Fearing for his life, and spotting an object in Glover's hand that he said he perceived as a weapon, Warren aimed his personal assault rifle and fired.

Retired Lt. Robert Italiano, left, and Lt. Dwayne Scheuermann were completely acquitted in the burning of Henry Glover's body and the subsequent cover-up.

But government witnesses painted a very different picture of the shooting. Calloway testified that just before he heard the "pop" of a gunshot Glover had actually been leaning up against the truck, lighting a cigarette. Warren's partner that day, Howard, testified that Warren fired after the men began running away, startled by his scream for them to "get out."

Warren was charged with depriving Glover of his civil rights by shooting him, as well as using a firearm to commit a crime of violence. For the civil rights count, jurors were asked to consider multiple factors, including whether Warren was acting "under color of law," meaning in his official capacity as a police officer and whether he "willfully" deprived Glover of his rights.

To convict Warren of the weapons charge, jurors had to first find that he committed the civil rights violation and used a firearm in the process, according to U.S. District Judge Lance Africk's instructions.

Struck by a bullet, Glover ran away from the strip mall, collapsing in the street less than 100 yards away. His brother, Edward King, flagged down a nearby motorist, William Tanner, who agreed to help get Glover medical attention. Along with Calloway, the men put Glover into the backseat of Tanner's car. Making a decision that it would take too long to get to the nearest hospital, Tanner drove Glover to a nearby school, Paul B. Habans Elementary School>, where the NOPD's Special Operations Division had set up camp.

At the school, Tanner and Calloway testified that the officers handcuffed them and accused them of looting. The officers offered no help for Glover, who pictures show lay bleeding or dead in the back of a car. Tanner accused two officers, Scheuermann and McRae, of beating him and King. His testimony was corroborated by a police officer, Jeffrey Sandoz, who said he also saw his colleagues beat two men.

Scheuermann and McRae denied they beat anyone. Frank DeSalvo, McRae's attorney, pointed out during cross examination that Tanner previously identified a man with tattoos, a description that fits Sandoz, as the person who beat him.

Both Scheuermann and McRae are charged with civil rights violations for the alleged beatings.

Capt. Jeff Winn, their commanding officer, testified he checked on the man in the back of the car, determining that he was dead. He ordered McRae to move the car, with Glover's body inside, to the Mississippi River levee behind the 4th District's station. Scheuermann followed behind in a pickup truck.

When the men got to the levee, however, McRae didn't just leave the vehicle. He tossed a flare inside. McRae testified that he alone made the decision to torch the vehicle, while Scheuermann sat in a truck on top of the levee. Prosecutors disputed that McRae acted alone.

Two other officers, Italiano and McCabe, are accused of helping cover up what happened to Glover by authoring a false report. The only supervisor to respond to the Warren shooting scene was Sgt. Purnella Simmons, who testified she did write a report about the incident three months later. But the report eventually filed into police records was not what she wrote, Simmons testified.

Simmons testified that her report was later changed, deleting that Howard did not agree with the shooting and adding language that justified the shooting. But McCabe testified that the report was actually one he helped Simmons write, not a false document cooked up after the fact. Simmons denied that she worked on the report with McCabe.

Italiano, the supervisor of the 4th District detective bureau, signed the report, but otherwise said he didn't remember the four-year-old document until after federal investigators asked about it in the spring of 2009.

Both Italiano and McCabe were accused of obstruction of justice for allegedly putting together a misleading and false report.

They were also accused of making false statements to FBI agents about the report and what they knew about the circumstances of Glover's death. Both Italiano and McCabe said their statements were misunderstood by FBI agents, who as a policy don't record their interviews with witnesses.

McCabe was also accused of perjuring himself before a grand jury. But he testified he told the grand jury the truth.

This is the form used by the federal jury to report their verdicts in the Henry Glover case.

Count 1.

Civil rights violation, use of force against Henry Glover

Jury unanimously found the defendant, David Warren: Guilty

If guilty, jury must consider these questions:

Did this offense result in the death of Henry Glover? Yes

Did this offense involve an attempt to kill? Yes

Count 2.

Use of a firearm during a crime of violence

Jury unanimously found the defendant, David Warren: Guilty

If guilty, jury must consider these questions:

Did this offense constitute murder? No

If this offense did not constitute murder, did it constitute manslaughter? Yes

Count 3.

Civil rights violation in the use of force against William Tanner and Edward King