A New Orleans police officer will serve 20 months in prison for lying about his actions after fatally shooting a man during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The victim was among thousands stranded after the 2005 storm.
Officer Ronald Mitchell shot and killed 45-year-old Danny Brumfield outside the city’s Convention Center. A federal jury convicted Mitchell in December of lying and obstruction of justice – not the shooting itself.
Mitchell told lawyers in a civil deposition that he got out of his patrol car and checked Brumfield’s pulse. Jurors acquitted Mitchell of lying about what led to the shooting.
