Danziger Bridge cover-up convict seeks a new trial

Police shot and killed two unarmed people and wounded four others on the bridge less than a week after the storm's landfall on Aug. 29, 2005.

A former New Orleans police officer convicted of orchestrating a cover-up of deadly shootings on a New Orleans bridge after Hurricane Katrina claims federal authorities waged a "secret public relations campaign" that deprived him of a fair trial. In a court filing Friday, lawyers for retired Sgt. Arthur Kaufman asked U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt to order a new trial or hold a hearing "to determine the extent of the government's misconduct."

Kaufman's attorneys claim leaks to the media about a grand jury's probe of the Danziger Bridge shootings inflamed public opinion against the officers charged in the case.
Kaufman, who wasn't charged in the shootings, was sentenced in April to six years in prison for his role in the cover-up. Four other former officers convicted of charges in the shootings were sentenced to prison terms of up to 65 years.

Police shot and killed two unarmed people and wounded four others on the bridge less than a week after the storm's landfall on Aug. 29, 2005.
Five other former officers, including Lohman, have pleaded guilty to participating in the cover-up and are serving prison sentences.