Ex-Cop Seeks New Judge For Retrial Over Katrina Shooting

A former New Orleans police officer has asked a federal judge to disqualify himself from presiding over his retrial on charges he fatally shot a man without justification in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath before the man's body was burned in a car.

A court filing Monday by lawyers for the former officer, David Warren, says U.S. District Judge Lance Africk made comments on the case that could call his impartiality into question.

During Warren's sentencing, Africk said Warren's testimony about his shooting of 31-year-old Henry Glover was "contrived and fabricated" and commended prosecutors for "unmasking (his) deceit."

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a new trial for Warren last month, ruling that Africk should have separated his trial from four other officers charged in Glover's 2005 death.