An Orleans Parish Criminal District Court judge today granted a new trial for Michael Anderson in the 2006 Central City massacre that left five teenagers dead, agreeing with the defense team that prosecutors violated the rules at his August trial that ended with a jury condemning Anderson to death row.
"The ends of justice require that Michael Anderson receive a new trial," Judge Lynda Van Davis wrote, in a seven-page ruling that found prosecutors' withholding of a videotaped interview with the sole eyewitness, and a jailhouse informant's plea deal, could have blindsided his defense attorneys.Prosecutors said they will appeal. Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro will hold a news conference Monday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. outside his headquarters at 619 S. White St.
It's the first time in recent state history that a trial judge has granted a new trial in a capital murder case, said defense attorney Richard Bourke, who represents Anderson post-conviction.
The quintuple murder was one of the city's bloodiest crimes, and took place just ten months after Hurricane Katrina, as the region was grappling with recovery. The governor responded by sending in National Guard troops and State Police troopers to patrol streets still shattered by the levee failures that followed the storm.
And:
Davis heard two days of testimony last week as Anderson's post-conviction defense team presented 18 grounds in an argument that included the bombshell that prosecutors had a two-hour videotaped interview with their sole eyewitness to the crime that they didn't turn over to the defense until Jan. 5.
In the tape, the witness puts herself at the shooting scene after 6 a.m., about three hourse after the killings had already transpired.
Comments