Cop sentenced to 25 years for shooting 'looter' in the wake of Hurricane Katrina is cleared at retrial



•           Former New Orleans police officer David Warren has been acquitted of the shooting of Henry Glover, 31, in the days after Hurricane Katrina
•           Warren had been found guilty in 2010 and sentenced to nearly 26 years
•           Last year an appeals court ordered a new trial after ruling he should have been tried separately from officers charged with covering-up the death
•           An ex-colleague said Warren told him shortly after the shooting that he believed looters were 'animals' who deserved to be shot
•           After the verdict was read, Glover's sister, Patrice, started wailing and had to be carried out of the courtroom
•           Warren's family embraced each other and fought back tears
•           On his release Walker said: 'We have spent years talking about something that lasted seconds'

By Daily Mail Reporter and Associated Press 

A former New Orleans police officer whose 2010 manslaughter conviction was touted as a milestone in the city's healing after Hurricane Katrina was acquitted Wednesday by a different jury of charges he fatally shot a man without justification during the storm's chaotic aftermath.
David Warren spent more than three years behind bars after he was charged in the September 2005 death of 31-year-old Henry Glover, whose body was burned in a car by a different officer after a good Samaritan drove the dying man to a makeshift police compound.
Leaving the courthouse a free man, Warren, 50, was reunited with his wife and five children after jurors acquitted him of a civil rights violation and a firearm charge.
Warren told reporters that he 'took the action that I had to take' when he shot Glover once with a rifle from a second-story balcony at a strip mall he was guarding.
'We have spent years talking about something that lasted seconds,' he said.
Warren's trembling relatives wept and embraced each other after the verdict, which jurors delivered less than two hours after they informed a judge they were struggling to reach a unanimous decision.
'Oh my gosh, I can't even get it in my head,' his wife, Kathy Warren, told a supporter.
Her husband had been in custody since June 2010, when he surrendered to authorities following his indictment.
On the other side of the courtroom, Glover's sister, Patrice, slumped over and wailed so loudly that U.S. District Judge Lance Africk paused as he spoke to jurors. After a man carried Patrice Glover out of the room, several jurors wiped away tears as they filed out.
Friends and relatives tried to console Patrice Glover as she sat in a chair in the lobby of the courthouse.
'He was a good child,' she said of her brother. 'That was my baby.'
U.S. Attorney Kenneth Allen Polite Jr. said in a statement that prosecutors were disappointed by the verdict but thanked jurors for their 'attentive service.'
His predecessor, Jim Letten, said after the 2010 verdict that it marked a 'critical phase in the recovery and healing of this city, of the people of this region.'
Africk had sentenced Warren to nearly 26 years in prison after the jury in his first trial convicted him and two other former officers of charges stemming from Glover's death.
But an appeals court overturned Warren's convictions and ordered a new trial last year.
A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit ruled that Warren should have been tried separately from four other former officers charged in an alleged cover-up of Glover's death.
The panel agreed with Warren's lawyers that the 'spillover effect' of evidence about the cover-up, including testimony about the burning of Glover's body and photos of his charred remains, denied him a fair trial.
A different officer, Gregory McRae, was convicted in 2010 of burning Glover's body. The 5th Circuit upheld McRae's convictions.
The jury for Warren's retrial was barred from hearing any testimony about what happened to Glover in the aftermath of the shooting.
On Monday, Warren testified that he feared for his life when he shot Glover because he thought he saw a gun in his hand as he and another man ran toward the building he was guarding.
Prosecutors, however, said Glover wasn't armed and didn't pose a threat.
Defense attorney Richard Simmons said the case was always about 'a policeman's worst nightmare, that split-second decision.'
'The benefit of the doubt has to go to the officer,' Simmons said, adding that 'there's no winners or losers, there's just survivors.'
Warren and another officer, Linda Howard, were guarding a police substation at the strip mall on the morning of Sept. 2, 2005, when Glover and another man pulled up in a truck.
Warren said he screamed, 'Police, get back!' twice after Glover and his friend, Bernard Calloway, exited the truck and started to run toward a gate that would have given them access to the building he was guarding.
Calloway, however, testified that Glover was standing next to the truck and lighting a cigarette when Warren shot him. Howard testified Glover and Calloway were running in different directions when Warren opened fire.
Jurors also heard testimony from a former officer, Alec Brown, who said Warren told him shortly after the shooting that he believed looters were 'animals' who deserved to be shot. Warren denied saying that.
Earlier on the same morning as Glover's shooting, Warren had fired what he called a warning shot at a man who had been riding a bike near the mall.
Warren said he knew officers aren't allowed to fire warning shots, but was worried the man intended to do 'something stupid' because he had circled the mall several times.
Warren was one of 20 officers charged in a series of federal investigations of alleged police misconduct in New Orleans.
His December 2010 conviction was touted as a major milestone in the Justice Department's ambitious efforts to clean up the city's troubled police department.
The same jury that convicted Warren and McRae also convicted a third former officer, Travis McCabe, of writing a false report on the shooting.
Africk later ordered a new trial for McCabe based on new evidence that surfaced after the trial: a different copy of the report that McCabe is accused of doctoring.

The jury at the first trial also acquitted two other former officers of charges related to the alleged cover-up.

Alleged swinger cop resigns after shooting arrest

 By Michelle Mondo

SAN ANTONIO — An Olmos Park police officer accused of shooting a man after a failed attempt to swap sexual partners while off duty has resigned from the force, Olmos Park Police Chief Fritz Bohne confirmed Tuesday.
Frankie Salazar, 29, had been on administrative leave with pay since his Nov. 30 arrest on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the shooting of Jesus Edward Guitron that same day.
He was released on bail not long after his arrest.
Guitron, who was hit multiple times and taken to San Antonio Military Medical Center, was discharged on Sunday, a hospital spokesman said.
Bohne said he had no problems with Salazar since he was hired in January. He said he was shocked that his officer ended up arrested and accused in a shooting.

“It's a 4 a.m. call you never want to get,” Bohne said Tuesday.

Former Marion cop arrested on meth charge


MARION — A former Marion police officer is being held on suspicion of manufacturing methamphetamine following an arrest last month.
Steven C. Waterbury, 61, of Marion, is being held at the Williamson County Jail in lieu of $5,000 cash bond, a spokesman for the state’s attorney’s office said.
A spokesperson for the Marion Police Department confirmed Waterbury was an officer there more than 20 years ago. He has no active role with the department today.

Neither the state’s attorney’s office nor Marion police could say which agency arrested Waterbury or provide details leading to his arrest.

Lake Arthur officer accused of rape, molestation


LAKE ARTHUR, LA (KPLC) -

A Lake Arthur police officer has been charged with aggravated rape and molestation of a juvenile, state police said.
Troop I spokesman Stephen Hammons said 37-year-old Damon Broussard, of Egan, was arrested Tuesday following an investigation.
"During the investigation, detectives found that Broussard engaged in sexual activity several years ago with a child who was under 15," Hammons said in a news release. "Detectives also discovered that Broussard engaged in sexual activity with a different child, who under 13."
Hammons said that there is no indication the alleged incidents occurred during Broussard's duties as an officer.


Linwood Barnhill, D.C. Cop Accused of "Pimping" Teens, Arrested


By Erica Jones


A D.C. police officer is facing felony charges following allegations that he "pimped" teenage girls, police announced Wednesday.
Linwood Barnhill, 47, was charged Wednesday with two counts of pandering of a minor. In the District, pandering is defined as inducing or compelling an individual to engage in prostitution.
The charges comprise one count each for allegedly pimping a 16-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl. Authorities say Barnhill advertised the girls on Backpages.com and by other means for $50-$80, News4's Mark Segraves reported.
Sources tell Segraves that other D.C. police officers are being questioned in the case, including his roommate who is also a D.C. officer.
In court Wednesday afternoon, Barnhill was shackled as he appeared before a D.C. Superior Court judge. He did not enter a plea and was ordered held until his next court date Friday.
His attorney asked that he be separated from the general population while in a D.C. jail.
Barnhill was arrested Wednesday morning, eight days after he was found inside his Southeast D.C. apartment with a 16-year-old girl who had been reported missing, as well as an 18-year-old woman.
The 16-year-old told authorities that Barnhill had approached her at a shopping mall about two weeks earlier and asked if she wanted to be a model. She visited his apartment several times after that, and at one point, Barnhill gave her a cellphone and told the girl he had made a "date" for her with another man to engage in sex acts, according to charging documents.
He told her that the man would pay her $80 and the girl should give Barnhill $20 of it, the documents say.
The girl also told authorities that Barnhill took naked photos of her wearing sparkly high-heeled shoes he had given her, and told her he'd take her shopping at Rainbow to purchase clothes for the "date."
The girl also told authorities that she met other women at the apartment who said they had worked as prostitutes for him, according to a search warrant affidavit.
A court hearing Wednesday afternoon revealed that police have found a second alleged victim, a 15-year-old girl. That girl told authorities she met Barnhill at a bus stop in September and initially told him she was 18, before admitting that she was 15 after Barnhill asked her to "escort" for him.
"The defendent informed [the girl] that he plans bachelor parties and has 'tons' of girls. [The girl] stated the defendent told her that her young age was not a problem because he had other minors who worked for him," the charging documents state.
Barnhill took nude and clothed photos of the girl and then arranged for her to have sex with a man in his 40s or 50s in Barnhill's bedroom, the documents say. Barnhill allegedly provided condoms for the encounter.
The 15-year-old girl performed the sex acts and then told Barnhill she was not interested in continuing to work for him, according to authorities.
A mirror in Barnhill's apartment displayed the names of other women whom the 16-year-old girl said were prostitutes, police said. Authorities say they know of at least six other females allegedly pimped by Barnhill. The ages of these girls or women are unknown at this point, Segraves reported.
If convicted, Barnhill could face up to 20 years in prison. He is due back in court Friday morning for a detention hearing and preliminary hearing.
Barnhill's arrest came hours after a D.C. officer facing child porn charges was found dead in the waters of Hains Point in Southwest D.C.
Last week, 32-year-old Marc Washington was arrested after he allegedly went to the home of a 15-year-old girl who had previously been reported missing, ordered her to remove her clothing and took photos of her, all while he was on duty.
In a press conference last week, Lanier said that while both officers were from the same precinct,  the two investigations were not connected.
"As disheartening as it is to have members of this department involved in this type of conduct, I take solace in knowing that it was members of this department who worked tirelessly to ensure that they were brought to justice," Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier said in a release regarding Barnhill's arrest.
Barnhill, who has been with D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department for 24 years, has been on light duty since September 2012. Lanier declined to comment on why, citing medical privacy laws.
He is now on administrative leave.
A third officer is also under investigation for possibly tipping Washington off about his forthcoming arrest earlier this week, sources said.

All three officers work in MPD's Seventh District, law enforcement sources said.

Defendant, Marc Washington's GPS devices not monitored 24/7



Andrea McCarren @AndreaMcCarren

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WUSA9) -- Just one day after the apparent suicide of a DC cop who was charged with child pornography, some new questions are emerging about the electronic monitoring system that was supposed to ensure he never left his home.
The body of 32 year-old Marc Washington was pulled from the water near Hains Point in Southwest last night.
If he was indeed wearing a monitoring device, why did no one realize the officer had left his home in Waldorf, Maryland and headed to the District to commit suicide?
You may be surprised to learn that it is very rare for a defendant to be monitored around the clock. On any given day in DC, there are 375 defendants awaiting trial and equipped with GPS monitoring devices. Most are only being closely tracked during business hours.
Washington was equipped with that GPS monitoring device and under home confinement as of yesterday morning. Less than 12 hours later, his lifeless body was plucked from the frigid waters of the Potomac River.
Several sources tell us it is extremely rare to monitor a defendant 24/7 unless that person is a flight risk or a public safety threat. In most cases, PSOs, or pretrial service officers, won't even learn a defendant violated their home confinement until the next business day, when an alert is sent via email.
The head of DC's pretrial services agency, Cliff Keenan, said: "While the supervision technology is good, it's not foolproof and it's not going to make some people do the right thing all the time."
Ironically, court documents reveal that in Officer Washington's case, "The government asked the Court to detain the defendant without bail pending trial." It was a request that was denied.
The Washington case remains under investigation, but based on standard procedures, it is unlikely his child pornography charge would have made him a candidate for round-the-clock surveillance.
One other note: PSOs are not routinely issued smart phones, so even if they were willing to work off the clock, they would not necessarily have access to those emailed alerts.
Again, DC is attempting to keep track of 375 defendants who have electronic monitoring devices, but there are as many as 45-hundred others also under pre-trial supervision, but not equipped with GPS.

Written by Andrea McCarren, WUSA9

Police Officer Arrested on Child Porn Charges Dies After Being Pulled From Potomac



Officer Marc Washington, 32, was accused of taking nude photographs of a 15-year-old girl. 

By Benjamin Freed

A DC cop who was arrested last week after he allegedly took nude photographs of a 15-year-old girl was pronounced dead Tuesday night after police and firefighter teams pulled his body out of the frigid Potomac River, the Metropolitan Police Department said. The officer, Marc Washington, was pronounced dead shortly after being pulled from the water off Hains Point about 9:30 PM.
Washington, 32, was arrested December 2 after visiting the Southeast DC residence of the girl, who had been reported as having run away from home. According to court documents, Washington allegedly asked to speak to the girl privately, and during the conversation asked her to disrobe so he could take several photos of her. The girl and her mother reported the encounter to police, and Washington was arrested a short time later.
Charging documents allege that Washington deleted the photographs before he was arrested, though investigators were able to retreive them from his camera, along with photo sets of other girls.
Washington, a seven-year MPD veteran who lived in Waldorf, Maryland, was released from custody Monday pending trial after his lawyer moved to have him placed in a high-supervision program. According to the conditions of Washington's release, he was ordered to remain at home 24 hours a day and to wear a GPS tracking device.
After Washington was arrested last week, MPD Chief Cathy Lanier said his alleged behavior was especially "egregious" because it occurred while he was on duty.