Jury hears closing arguments in Katrina trial

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal prosecutor says Hurricane Katrina is not an excuse for the carnage that occurred when police shot and killed two people and wounded four others on a New Orleans bridge after the storm.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodore Carter said during closing arguments today that police had no justification for shooting unarmed, defenseless people on the Danziger Bridge. Four current or former officers are charged in the shootings and a fifth defendant is charged with participating in an alleged cover-up.

Carter says police mistook the shooting victims for bad guys and fired out of anger, not because they perceived a threat. Defense attorneys say police were shot at before they fired.

Jurors are scheduled to hear roughly eight hours of closing arguments today before they begin deliberating Wednesday.