December 1, 2010 09:35

Scheuermann: Surprised McRae Torched Car with Glover's Body

Yesterday Officer Dwayne Scheuermann took to the stand to testify in his own defense; he is accused of civil rights violations in the death of Henry Glover, as well as obstructing a federal investigation.

Scheuermann said he had no idea that Officer Greg McRae was going to torch the car containing Glover's body. He testified that after the car containing Glover's body arrived at Habans Elementary School, he checked and saw that Glover was dead. He said he didn't know Glover had been shot by another officer until 2008, after A.C. Thompson's first story about Glover was published in The Nation.

On cross-examination, prosecutors questioned Scheuermann about discrepancies between his and other officers' accounts of what happened. The judge did not allow prosecutors to bring up prior complaints about Scheuermann (which have all been classified as "unsustained" by NOPD investigators) or to question Scheuermann about his shooting of Keenon McCann the day before Glover's death. McCann survived; Scheuermann was cleared of any wrongdoing by an internal NOPD investigation into McCann's shooting.

Read more about yesterday's testimony from our partners at the Times-Picayune.