NEW ORLEANS -- A second New Orleans Police officer has been named in the apparent cover up in the Danziger Bridge shooting.
The ongoing investigation, however, into how and why officers shot at six unarmed people on the bridge in 2005 is now impacting another high profile murder case in New Orleans.
A shooting atop the Danziger Bridge just six days after Hurricane Katrina continues to ring out even today.
Two people were killed as a result, including Ronald Madison, a 40-year-old man with a severe mental disability. Four others were injured and the seven officers on the scene that day were thrust into the spotlight. But nearly five years later, it's their supervising officers who currently face charges.
The latest is former NOPD investigator Jeffrey Lehrman who, according to documents just released by the federal government, "knew of a conspiracy among police officers to obstruct justice ... and the defendant concealed the conspiracy and participated in the creation of false reports." Click to read the bill of information.
It was just last month when former NOPD Lt. Michael Lohman pleaded guilty to covering up what actually happened during the shooting.
"Instead of one officer alleging a conspiracy, you have two officers and both of them were responsible for conducting the investigation into the shooting that occurred on Danziger Bridge," said Rafael Goyeneche of the Metropolitan Crime Commission, a New Orleans based watchdog group.
The implications over a police cover-up, however, are now extending far beyond the deadly day on the Danziger.
The NOPD's investigation into the 2006 killing of five teens in Central City, which recently landed Michael Anderson a death sentence, was lead by Lehrman.
"He's central to this and we now know he's a corrupt officer who's willing to falsify reports and lie in the most serious of circumstances," said Richard Bourke, Anderson's defense attorney and head of the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center.
On Monday, Criminal Court Judge Lynda Van Davis ruled that Anderson should get a new trial in August in light of missteps by the district attorney's office leave.
"I think it's really important that this stage that everyone just take a deep breath and say whatever we thought we knew about the Michael Anderson case and investigation, let's go back and have a look at what the real credible reliable evidence here is," said Bourke.
The district attorney's office isn't saying much, other than they're now "evaluating the situation." Earlier this week, however, District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro reaffirmed his stance.
"Michael Anderson is a murderer," Cannizzaro said on Monday. "He killed five teenagers on the streets of this city in one of the most gruesome acts of violence in the history of this city."
Monalisa Hunter lost her two sons, Arsenio and Markee Hunter, in that central city shooting. She said she still longs for justice, but doesn't know who to believe.
"I want to know so bad," said Hunter. "I wish I could get out there and help them do their job. Because something is missing. Something, somewhere is missing."
Lehrman was with the NOPD just over a year, from March 2005 through September 2006. Prior to that, he was with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office for about 8 years.
According to former U.S. Attorney Harry Rosenburg, Lehrman is expected to plead guilty to the charges on Thursday.
"I’d suspect you’d see many more details about what he’s going to acknowledge occurred as part of the cover up in part of that investigation.”
Eyewitness News was unable to reach Lehrman or his attorney for comment.
