7 Cops Turn Selves in for Hurricane-Katrina Related Shootings

NEW ORLEANS, La. — "With more than 200 supporters applauding them, the seven New Orleans police officers indicted in a deadly bridge shooting following Hurricane Katrina arrived at a jail Tuesday to turn themselves in.

Each faces at least one charge of murder or attempted murder in shootings of six people on the Danziger Bridge.

Outside the jail, uniformed officers from nearby districts and other supporters embraced the men and shook their hands and there was a final roar of applause as the seven entered the jail building.

A judge said there would be no bond for the four accused of first-degree murder. Bond will be $100,000 per count for the other three officers.

The officers are scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday. At that hearing, lawyers for the four officers charged with first-degree murder plan to seek bond for their clients, according to Zibilich and Frank DeSalvo, Bowen's attorney.

A first-degree murder conviction carries a possible death sentence. A spokesman for District Attorney Eddie Jordan said Monday that prosecutors haven't decided yet whether to seek the death penalty in the case.

Ronald Madison, a 40-year-old mentally retarded man, and James Brissette, 19, were shot and killed on the bridge. The coroner said Madison was shot seven times, with five wounds in the back.

The facts of what happened on the Danziger Bridge remain murky. Police say that the officers were responding to a report of other officers down, and that they thought Madison had been reaching for a gun..."

If the facts are indeed "murky", then no jury is going to return a guilty verdict. I'd be foursquare on the side of the N.O. police were it not for their gestapo tactics in disarming citizens, and the city's blatant disregard for the law. The NOPD got a deservedly bad rap after the godsawful performance during and after the hurricane, but I'm going to withhold condemnation of these men until the story unmurkys itself. For now I'm stuck trying to figure out why they are being hailed as heroes for turning themselves in.

If one had to pick the worst police department in the country, the one In New Orleans would have to be at the top of the list, but like I said, I'll be wishy-washy and give them the benefit of the doubt.