Update on the Danziger Bridge Massacre
In the confusion immediately following hurricane Katrina, the NOPD made headlines striking back at criminals looting their city. Deputy Police Chief W.J. Riley declared his officers shot at eight people carrying guns on the Danziger Bridge, killing five or six snipers.
The autopsy report of Ronald Madison, 40, a mentally disabled black man killed by the police on the Danziger Bridge on September 4, 2005 in New Orleans has been made public. It appears Mr. Madison died as the result of being shot in the back. Madison was only one of several who were shot by police on that bridge that day.
This contradicts testimony by a police sergeant who claimed the victim turned toward officers and was reaching into his waistband when shot. "Clearly he was shot from behind," said famed New York pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, who examined the body for the family's lawyer. A prosecutor said the case will go before a grand jury and acknowledged the investigation includes the possibility of police wrong doing.
A lawsuit was brought against the coroner of Orleans Parish to gain access to Madison's autopsy report. At a court hearing on that lawsuit in New Orleans, the coroner, Dr. Frank Minyard, verified the handwritten autopsy report obtained by news media as one prepared in his office by a pathologist on his staff who listed the wounds as being located in the victim's right back. Under cross-examination Dr. Minyard testified those five wounds in the back "were entrance wounds, yes."
Dr. Michael Baden, chief forensic pathologist for the New York State Police, discussed his own observations when he examined Ronald Madison's body for the family lawyer last fall. Asked if Ronald Madison could have been facing the police when shot, Dr. Baden said, "Absolutely not."
No weapon was found on or near Ronald Madison's body.
The autopsy report of Ronald Madison, 40, a mentally disabled black man killed by the police on the Danziger Bridge on September 4, 2005 in New Orleans has been made public. It appears Mr. Madison died as the result of being shot in the back. Madison was only one of several who were shot by police on that bridge that day.
This contradicts testimony by a police sergeant who claimed the victim turned toward officers and was reaching into his waistband when shot. "Clearly he was shot from behind," said famed New York pathologist Dr. Michael Baden, who examined the body for the family's lawyer. A prosecutor said the case will go before a grand jury and acknowledged the investigation includes the possibility of police wrong doing.A lawsuit was brought against the coroner of Orleans Parish to gain access to Madison's autopsy report. At a court hearing on that lawsuit in New Orleans, the coroner, Dr. Frank Minyard, verified the handwritten autopsy report obtained by news media as one prepared in his office by a pathologist on his staff who listed the wounds as being located in the victim's right back. Under cross-examination Dr. Minyard testified those five wounds in the back "were entrance wounds, yes."
Dr. Michael Baden, chief forensic pathologist for the New York State Police, discussed his own observations when he examined Ronald Madison's body for the family lawyer last fall. Asked if Ronald Madison could have been facing the police when shot, Dr. Baden said, "Absolutely not."
No weapon was found on or near Ronald Madison's body.
Labels: Danziger Bridge, New Orleans
posted by Xavier at 2:47 PM
3 Comments:
Yep, sounds about right to me--I'm armed in N.O. as much for defense against the no pd as against the civilian criminals. There were a whole lot of looters, though, who needed shooting and didn't get their just desserts--we'll be paying for that into the future.
I have a question that you might just be the ideal person to answer: Is there any confusion over whether Ronald Madison's wounds were from multiple bullets or pellets from a single shotgun cartridge? What type of guns did the police have on hand in that incident besides shotguns? Assuming it were a single shotgun blast, as the police are insisting, and the standard bullet with twelve or thereabouts pellets, how close would the shooter have to be to Madison to leave seven holes across his back and shoulder large enough to resemble separate bullet entry wounds? Madison was running away, but how far was he from the police? Is any of this publicly available information yet? Did the Orleans Parish coroner, Frank Minyard, specify?
As you can see in the photo of Lance Madison being arrested, the police were carrying AR type carbines as well as shotguns.
The facts will come out at trial.
More here. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6063982
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