Offside on the thin blue line

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/05/2011 (5447 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A former professional hockey player from Winnipeg is facing up to 25 years in an American prison after being convicted of trying to cover up a man’s death while working as a police officer in New Orleans.

Dean Moore, 37, was immediately taken into custody after his trial ended last month in Louisiana. Jurors spent three days weighing the evidence before finding him guilty of submitting a false incident report and lying to the FBI about the 2005 death of 48-year-old Raymond Robair. His partner, Melvin Williams, was convicted of inflicting fatal injuries on Robair and is facing life in prison.

Moore and Williams had originally been investigated by the FBI and justice officials following the death but were found to have done nothing wrong. In fact, a medical examiner concluded Robair’s death was accidental and caused by injuries sustained prior to any contact with police. However, a new review was ordered in early 2010 as part of a sweeping federal probe of several high-profile civil rights violations between New Orleans police and citizens following hurricane Katrina, including the shooting deaths of several unarmed black men.

Moore and Williams were then caught in the net and arrested last summer, based on new allegations that uncovered a handful of local residents who now claim to have seen Williams beating Robair with a nightstick.

Moore was never accused of laying a hand on the victim, but his charges stem from telling the FBI that his police partner did nothing wrong and filing a report stating the same. Moore is now sitting in custody, waiting to be sentenced on July 14. His family and friends back home in Canada believe Moore is the victim of a corrupt system that has made him a scapegoat for other legitimate issues involving police.

“This wasn’t Dean on trial. This was the entire New Orleans Police Department on trial,” his mother, Fran, told the Free Press Thursday from her home in St. Vital. She attended all eight days of the trial and believes her son never stood a chance. “It was just awful. He calls us every day from jail, just beside himself. He’ll say ‘Mom, help me get out of here. I’m innocent.’ It just breaks my heart.”

Moore was born and raised in Winnipeg and dreamed of playing in the NHL. He played for the famed Notre Dame Hounds junior team in Saskatchewan and was set to play for the University of Manitoba Bisons in 1993, only to suffer a stroke on the day he learned he made the team.

Moore defied the medical odds and was able to resume playing hockey after extensive rehabilitation — his therapist at the time was Sirpa Selanne, who is married to NHL star Teemu Selanne. He made it as far as the East Coast Hockey League, playing 250 games in various U.S. cities during a five-year career that began in 1995. Moore even had a three-game stint with the Manitoba Moose in 1996 when they played in the now-defunct International Hockey League.

Moore’s final hockey stop was in New Orleans, where he met a local girl and got married after his playing days ended in 2000. Moore spent a few years working as an agent with the Professional Hockey Players’ Association before getting accepted with the New Orleans Police.

Moore was just a few months into training as a cadet when he was partnered up with Williams, a 13-year veteran, for a night shift in the infamous “Red Zone,” which is one of the city’s most crime-inflicted neighbourhoods. Williams and Moore testified they were flagged down by a person concerned about Robair, who appeared to be in distress. They said Robair took off running as they approached, then appeared to spit a bag full of cocaine from his mouth after they caught up to him.

The officers said they were concerned he had overdosed on drugs and drove him to hospital. He died several hours later of a ruptured spleen. Moore’s supporters say medical staff at the hospital are truly to blame for Robair’s death and that he would have survived had he been properly assessed and treated when he first arrived.

Moore’s family said he and Williams didn’t get a proper defence at trial, as no evidence was called about the fact they had previously been exonerated. As well, they feel a motion should have been filed to move the trial out of New Orleans, where tensions are running high among citizens toward police.

“Everyone there hates the cops,” Fran Moore said Thursday.

Moore’s first official day on the job with New Orleans police came a month after hurricane Katrina devastated the city. Moore spent weeks living in a tent in a Walmart parking lot, working around the clock.

Moore, a father of two young boys, rose through the ranks of the police service, joining the SWAT team and getting accepted into the Drug Enforcement Administration in early 2010. Then his world came crashing down. He is now confined to a segregated cell, where he gets one hour of outdoor time per week and is allowed one hour of visitation every second Friday. His lawyers have told him to expect “at least 10 years” if the conviction stands.

“He’s going to lose everything now,” his father, Lionel, said Thursday.

Members of the Notre Dame Hounds have now set up a website — matthewdeanmoore.com — seeking donations to pay for experienced lawyers to handle Moore’s appeal. In the meantime, family and friends are planning to head down to New Orleans for his sentencing in July.

“We’ll have a busload going down there from Winnipeg, I’m sure,” said Fran Moore.

www.mikeoncrime.com

WHO IS DEAN MOORE?

 

Born in Winnipeg in July 1973. His parents, Lionel and Fran, and several siblings still live in the city.

Played junior hockey with the Notre Dame Hounds of Wilcox, Sask.

Made the University of Manitoba Bisons hockey team in 1993, only to suffer a stroke.

Began his pro career in 1995 with the Knoxville Cherokees of the East Coast Hockey League. Also played with the Charlotte Checkers and New Orleans Brass, along with a three-game stint in 1996 with the Manitoba Moose.

Played a total of 250 games, earning 33 goals, 41 assists and 908 penalty minutes largely as the team’s “enforcer.”

Retired in 2000 and settled in New Orleans, where he met a local woman and got married. They have two sons together.

Worked for several years as an agent with the Professional Hockey Players’ Association.

Was accepted into the New Orleans police service in 2005.

Joined the New Orleans SWAT team in 2009 and was accepted into the DEA in early 2010.

Was arrested in July 2010 following a new review into the 2005 death of a man he and his partner had dealt with.

Convicted in April 2011 of obstruction of justice and lying to the FBI. Immediately taken into custody.

Set for sentencing on July 14, 2011, where he faces up to 25 years in prison. Must wait until sentencing is over before appealing.

 

THE TWO SIDES TO THE STORY

What the prosecution claims happened

 FEDERAL prosecutor Forrest Christian told jurors last month there was no doubt police officer Melvin Williams beat a man to death — only to have his partner, Winnipeg-born Dean Moore, attempt to cover it up.

 He called several witnesses who claimed they saw Williams assaulting the victim, Raymond Robair, back in 2005.

 “They didn’t want anyone, certainly not you, to connect the dots,” Christian told the jury last month, according to the the Times-Picayune newspaper. He and fellow prosecutor Jared Fishman accused the two officers of changing their story over the years in an attempt to hide the truth.

 “The defendants want you to see a drug addict and to think that somehow Raymond Robair deserved to die,” Fishman said during closing arguments. “They demonize the community, want you to think Red Zone: drugs, high crime. They want you to disregard those people.”

 

What the defence claims happened

 DEFENCE lawyer Eric Hessler said the handful of eyewitnesses who now claim to have seen Raymond Robair getting beaten by Williams were clearly lying.

The witnesses, largely drug-addicted “street people,” all had axes to grind with police that motivated them to come forward years later.

 He questioned why there was no physical evidence of Robair being hit with a baton, as alleged.

 “You get hit with this, it’s gonna leave a mark,” he said, according to the the Times-Picayune newspaper.

 “It’s meant to do damage… It’s meant to disable people.”

 Defence lawyer Frank DeSalvo, who represents Williams, accused medical staff who treated Robair of malpractice. And he urged jurors not to make the two police officers the scapegoats.

 “Every man, rich or poor, drug addict or not, deserves to have the same medical treatment that you or I would get in a time of need,” DeSalvo said. “And he didn’t get it.”

 Neither lawyer called any evidence about the fact the FBI and justice department had initially cleared Moore and Williams of any wrongdoing during a 2005 investigation.