NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A former New Orleans police lieutenant wants his job back and back pay after prosecutors dropped federal charges against him in the alleged cover-up of Henry Glover’s burning and fatal shooting.
Travis McCabe was accused of doctoring a police report to make it seem like former Officer David Warren was justified when he fatally shot Glover four days after Hurricane Katrina.
McCabe was convicted in December 2010, but a federal judge granted him a new trial after ruling that an early draft of the report, discovered after the trial, likely would have produced an acquittal.
McCabe was set to be retried March 10 but the charges were dropped last week.
“He wants to come back,” said attorney Eric Hessler, who represented McCabe before the Civil Service Commission. “He’s always maintained his innocence in this and said he did the right thing, and I think he’s been vindicated.”
The New Orleans Advocate (https://bit.ly/1iLYMRF ) Tuesday reports Hessler petitioned the commission last year to reinstate McCabe after U.S. District Judge Lance Africk overturned his conviction in May 2011. In April, the commission decided to withhold ruling until McCabe’s criminal case was adjudicated.
The Police Department fired McCabe in February 2011 for “obstruction of a federal investigation” and making false statements to the FBI and a grand jury, according to court documents. But McCabe’s termination was rooted entirely in his criminal conviction, Hessler said.
“They did no independent investigation, and they accused him of no other wrongdoing,” Hessler said. “So once that falls and is proven not to be legal cause, he has a right to his employment back.”
Police Department spokeswoman Remi Braden declined comment on whether the department would oppose McCabe’s reinstatement.
Hessler said the commission likely will rule on the motion once the case gets back on the docket, adding that a hearing could be held as soon as next week. “We were always confident that the new evidence would clear him, but nevertheless, the Civil Service Commission decided to wait and see what the outcome would be.”
Eleven police officers lost their jobs as a result of the Glover investigation. The department last fall reinstated one officer, former homicide Detective Catherine Beckett, who challenged her termination in federal court.
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Information from: The Advocate, https://theadvocate.com
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