A
former New Orleans police officer convicted in the deadly shootings of
civilians after Hurricane Katrina is seeking a transfer from a federal prison
while he awaits a new trial.
Robert
Faulcon's attorneys say in federal court papers this week that he should be
moved to a New Orleans area lockup from a federal maximum security prison in
Atwater, California. They say the move would improve Faulcon's safety and his
ability to help with his defense.
Faulcon's
conviction on civil rights charges related to the 2005 shootings at the
Danziger Bridge and the subsequent cover-up were overturned last September by a
federal judge. That followed news that anonymous comments on a New Orleans newspaper's
website had been posted by prosecutors.
A
co-defendant, former police Sgt. Kenneth Bowen, has already been granted a move
to a New Orleans lockup.
Faulcon's
motion outlines a dilemma he faces at the Atwater prison. As an ex-police
officer, he is at risk among the inmates in the prison's general population.
But if he is held in the prison's special housing unit, where he is isolated
from other prisoners, "he will be restricted to his cell for all but five
hours a week, where he will be allowed only one 15-minute telephone call a
month, and where his access to counsel will be limited to "snail
mail."
The
motion states that Faulcon was placed in the maximum security prison because he
had been sentenced to 65 years in 2012. But the overturning of his 2011
conviction means he is now a pretrial detainee, the motion notes.
The
charges stemmed from the killing of two people and the wounding of four others
on the Danziger Bridge less than a week after Hurricane Katrina hit on Aug. 29,
2005. Faulcon, Bowen and two others were charged in connection with the
shootings and cover-up. A fifth suspect, a now-retired sergeant, was charged in
the cover-up.