Bond Denied For Ex-N.O. Cops Who Won New Trial

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge has refused to free four former New Orleans police officers from custody while they await a new trial on charges stemming from deadly shootings on a bridge in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath.

U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt noted in Thursday's order that he didn't dismiss the "serious charges" involving violent crimes when he overturned their convictions and ordered a new trial.

Engelhardt had agreed to set bond for a fifth former officer, Arthur Kaufman, who also won a new trial. Kaufman was convicted of orchestrating a cover-up, but he wasn't charged in the shootings that killed two unarmed residents and wounded four others.

The Justice Department is appealing Engelhardt's ruling in September that the officers deserve a new trial due in part to allegations of prosecutorial misconduct.

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