A judge on Friday gave district attorney Eddie Jordan until Feb. 1 to decide if he will ask for the death penalty for four police officers charged in a deadly bridge shooting in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath.

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From left to right: Sgts. Kenneth Bowen and Robert Gisevius, officer Anthony Villavaso and former officer Robert Faulcon.

Sgt. Kenneth Bowen, Sgt. Robert Gisevius Jr., officer Anthony Villavaso II and former officer Robert Faulcon Jr., were charged with first-degree murder in the Sept. 4, 2005, shootings on the Danziger Bridge that killed two men and wounded four other people.

Officer Mike Hunter Jr. and Officer Robert Barrios were charged with attempted first-degree murder. Officer Ignatius Hills was charged with attempted second degree murder.

Jordan would have no comment, his spokesman Dalton Savwoir said.

In the chaos that followed Katrina, Ronald Madison, a 40-year-old mentally retarded man, and James Brissette, 19, were shot and killed by police on the bridge.

Police say the officers were responding to a report of other officers being attacked when they came under fire. Police also claim Madison was reaching for a gun.

The coroner said Madison was shot seven times, with five wounds in the back, but the officers' attorneys said all the wounds could have come from a single shotgun blast.

Madison's brother, Lance, denies he or his brother was armed. He said they were running from a group of teens who had opened fire on the bridge when seven men jumped out of a rental truck and also shot at them without warning.

Judge Raymond Bigelow also set March 9, as the date to hear testimony on the motions on behalf of Bowen, Hunter and Hills to throw out the cases against them.

"They had immunity," said attorney Frank DeSalvo, who represents Bowen. "Case law makes it very, very difficult to prosecute them under these circumstances."

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From left to right: Officers Ignatius Hills, Mike Hunter and Robert Barrios.

Jordan's office allegedly assured the officers that their testimony couldn't be used against them.

DeSalvo said Bowen initially invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when he appeared before the grand jury in October. Jordan's office later obtained a court order compelling Bowen to testify in exchange for immunity from having their testimony used against them.

DeSalvo also turned over Bowen's passport to the judge on Friday.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)