5th Circuit won't block retrial in Danziger case - FOX 8 WVUE New Orleans News, Weather, Sports

5th Circuit won't block retrial in Danziger case

Updated:

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A federal appeals court has refused to block a retrial of a retired New Orleans police sergeant charged with helping cover up deadly shootings on a bridge after Hurricane Katrina.

Gerard Dugue's trial was cut short in February when U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt declared a mistrial. Engelhardt had ruled that Justice Department prosecutor Bobbi Bernstein may have unfairly influenced the jury by mentioning the name of a man who was beaten to death by a New Orleans police officer in a case unrelated to Dugue's.

Dugue asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to bar retrial on the basis of double jeopardy but the district court denied the request and the appellate court upheld the ruling Thursday.

(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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