THURSDAY, MARCH 30. 2006
NEWS
COURTS
New Orleans officers indicted
Alex Brandon/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Lawyer Joe Bruno, right, holds the door for Robert Davis, 64, a retired teacher whose beating by police on Bourbon Street on Oct. 8, 2005, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was caught on videotape, arrives at court to testify behind closed doors before a state grand jury in New Orleans on Wednesday.
BY MARY FOSTER
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW ORLEANS — Two fired New Orleans police officers and one current officer were indicted Wednesday in the videotaped beating of a retired teacher in the French Quarter last fall.
The Oct. 8 beating of Robert Davis,64,was caught on video by an Associated Press Television News crew covering the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The three officers were charged with battery and other offenses.
Davis spent more than an hour testifying about the beating, which left him lying on the street, hands cuffed and blood flowing from his head and face.
The retired elementary school teacher said he was "a private citizen here on business returning to my home. There was no need for what happened."
Afterward, he told reporters that he still has headaches and back problems and even had to interrupt his testimony to take medicine.
Davis said he had returned to the storm-struck city to check on his property and was looking for a place to buy cigarettes in the French Quarter when police grabbed him.
The videotape shows an officer hitting Davis at least four times on the head. Davis twisted and flailed as he was dragged to the ground by four officers.
One officer kneed Davis and punched him twice.
District Attorney Eddie Jordan declined to say whether he showed the video to the grand jury, but he called it "very important" evidence.
When asked if the false imprisonment charge meant that Davis should not have been arrested, Jordan said that would be "a fair inference."
Officer Stewart Smith had ordered APTN producer Rich Matthews and the cameraman to stop recording.
When Matthews held up his credentials, the officer grabbed him, jabbed him in the stomach and delivered a profanity-laced tirade.
Officers Robert Evangelist, 36, and Lance Schilling, 29, were charged with battery against Davis. Smith, 50, was
"W without this video tape, I'm sure this case would be swept under the rug."
Joseph Bruno
Lawyer
charged with battery against a reporter.
The video also shows two FBI agents joining the police in sub-
during Davis Their role is being investigated by federal officials
Evangelist and Schilling were fired after the incident; Smith was suspended but remains with the police force.
A federal civil rights investigation also was launched.
"Without this videotape, I'm sure this case would be swept under the rug," said Davis' attorney, Joseph Bruno.
Later, he said the case gave Davis "a sense of victory because he did nothing wrong."
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 5A HURRICANE KATRINA
Davis has pleaded not guilty to charges of public intoxication, resisting arrest, battery on a police officer and public intimidation. His lawyer said this week he expects the charges will be dropped.
Houston residents feel impact of storm
BY ANGELA K. BROWN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON — Seven months after taking in about 200,000 Louisiana residents left homeless by Hurricane Katrina, Houstonians aren't feeling so hospitable anymore.
Many people in the nation's fourth-largest city complain that the influx has led to more murders and gang violence, long lines at health clinics and bus stops, and fights and greater overcrowding in the schools. Some of those claims are debatable, but the sentiment is real.
"We still feel sorry for them. We still want to help them, but it's to the point where enough is enough," said Torah Whitaker, 25, of Missouri City, a Houston suburb.
Houston received national acclaim for accepting more Katrina evacuees than any other U.S. city.
It gave them apartments, houses and health care, and held job fairs for them. Celebrities visited schools and brought gifts for the youngsters.
About 150,000 refugees remain in the greater Houston area, which has more than 4 million people. While some evacuees plan to return to Louisiana, thousands have secured their own housing and jobs and plan to make Houston their home.
But a survey last month of 765 Houston-area residents by Rice University sociologist Stephen Klineberg found that three-fourths believed that helping the refugees put a "considerable strain" on the community, and two-thirds blamed evacuates for a surge in violent crime.
Tim Johnson/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Half thought Houston would be worse off if evacuees stayed, while one-fourth thought the
Keesha Ramos speaks in an interview in Houston. She said she didn't think Katrina evacuees were getting help at Houston's expense.
city would be better off.
The murder rate between the Katrina refugees' arrival in September and last week was up nearly 32 percent from the same period a year ago, Houston Police Chief Harold Hurt said.
He said some of that is attributable to Katrina refugees, but added: "I don't mean to send the message that all Katrina evacuees are involved in drug dealing, gangs and violent offenses."
Refugees were involved — as victims or suspects — in 35 of the 212 murders in that time period, Hurt said. Earlier this month, half of the 18 people arrested in an auto theft sweep were evacuees.
Angelo Edwards, a storm victim from New Orleans and vice chairman of the Katrina Survivors Association, said most evacuees are law-abiding citizens seeking jobs.
Associated Press writers Pam Easton and Juan A. Lozano in Houston contributed to this report.
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