NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A judge has officially revived a civil lawsuit against New Orleans officials over the death of a man who was shot and killed by a police officer - and whose body was burned - after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The suit by relatives of Henry Glover had been put on hold while federal criminal cases against former New Orleans police officers proceeded. Those cases are over and court records show a federal judge recently ruled that the civil case can proceed.
Former police officer Gregory McRae is serving a sentence of more than 11 years on charges related to the burning of Glover’s body.
Former officer David Warren was acquitted after testifying he thought he saw a gun in Glover’s hand when he shot Glover.
Five people were indicted in the Glover case. However, after years of prosecutions and appeals, McRae stands as the only person convicted in the case. His conviction and 11-year, nine-month sentence came despite his attorney’s insistence that he was mentally “unhinged” in the chaotic days after Katrina and that he was not trying to cover up a crime. His attorneys said he was unaware that another officer had shot Glover.
Warren and then-police officer Linda Howard were guarding a police substation at a strip mall on the morning of Sept. 2, 2005, when Glover and another man pulled up in a stolen truck. Prosecutors said Glover was anxious to flee New Orleans after levee failures flooded most of the city. He had gone to the building to retrieve a suitcase containing stolen items that a friend had left there earlier, according to prosecutors.
Warren testified that he thought he saw a gun in Glover’s hand as Glover and another man ran toward the building. Prosecutors insisted Glover wasn’t armed.
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