Three NYPD officers have been acquitted of all charges in the 50-shot killing of an unarmed man on his wedding day.

[cumhail]

CNN.com has a banner up saying all three cops have been acquitted on all charges... and this is in a non-jury trial, with only a lone judge presiding. I obviously didn't hear all the facts that the judge did... but with what little they've given us to go on, and with yet another case where NYC courts don't find cops guilty of anything in even the most seemingly egregious cases of excess force... I can't imagine that this would be a good day and night to be strolling around in NYC.

 

[cumhail]

The story's up:

Cops not guilty in groom shooting

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A judge acquitted three New York Police Department detectives of all charges Friday morning in the shooting death of an unarmed man in a 50-bullet barrage, hours before he was to be married.


Detectives Michael Oliver, left, Gescard Isnora and Marc Cooper are accused in the 50-bullet barrage.

1 of 3 Detectives Michael Oliver and Gescard Isnora were found not guilty of charges of manslaughter, assault and reckless endangerment in the death of Sean Bell, 23, and the wounding of two of his friends.

Detective Marc Cooper was acquitted of reckless endangerment.

Justice Arthur Cooperman issued his verdict in the bench trial. There was no jury.

Hundreds of people gathered outside the Queens courthouse in anticipation of the verdict.

The Rev. Al Sharpton called for calm Wednesday. He was accompanied by Bell's fiancee and other supporters on the steps of City Hall.

Bell, 23, was killed just before dawn on his wedding day, November 25, 2006. He and several friends were winding up an all-night bachelor party at the Kalua Club in Queens, a strip club that was under investigation by a NYPD undercover unit looking into complaints of guns, drugs and prostitution.

Undercover detectives were inside the club, and plain-clothes officers were stationed outside.

Witnesses said that about 4 a.m., closing time, as Bell and his friends left the club, an argument broke out. Believing that one of Bell's friends, Joseph Guzman, was going to get a gun from Bell's car, one of the undercover detectives followed the men and called for backup.

What happened next was at the heart of the trial, prosecuted by the assistant district attorney in Queens.

Bell was in a panic to get away from the armed men, his friends testified.

But the detectives thought Bell was trying to run down one of them, according to their lawyers, believed that their lives were in danger and started shooting.

In a frantic 911 call, police can be heard saying, "Shots fired. Undercover units involved."

A total of 50 bullets were fired by five NYPD officers. Only three were charged with crimes.

Oliver, who reloaded his semiautomatic in the middle of the fray, fired 31 times, Isnora fired 11 times, and Cooper, whose leg was brushed by Bell's moving car, fired four times, the NYPD said.

No gun was found near Bell or his friends.

Soon after his death, Sean Bell's fiancee, Nicole Paultre, legally changed her name to Nicole Paultre Bell. She is now raising the couple's two daughters, ages 5 and 1.

"I tell [them] that Daddy's in heaven now," she said. "He's watching over us. He's our guardian angel. He's going to be here to protect us and make sure nothing happens to us."

Detectives Endowment Association President Michael Palladino said forensic and scientific evidence presented during the seven-week trial contradicts the testimony of prosecution witnesses.

But Paultre Bell's father, Lester Paultre, said, "For those naysayers who say the police was doing their job, they should imagine their child in that car being shot by the police for no reason."

Paultre Bell, Guzman and Benefield have filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in federal court that has been stayed pending the outcome of the criminal trial. Guzman was shot 16 times, and four bullets, too dangerous to remove, remain in his body, according to his lawyer, Sanford Rubenstein.

Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York have been monitoring the trial. In the event of an acquittal, it is likely authorities would conduct a review to determine whether there were any civil rights violations. All three victims were African-American.

 

[maziwanka]

man. i wonder what the heck happened. 50 shots against unarmed individuals . . .

 

[Dari]

They were in a poor/black neighborhood. That means shoot first and ask questions later. Anywhere else and the cops would've been more careful. With that said, I think the cops were helped by the testimony by one of Bell's friends, who said that someone was carrying a gun that night.

 

[Genx87]

Boy that War on Sins. Helping innocent people one at a time!

 

[cumhail]

Originally posted by: maziwanka
man. i wonder what the heck happened. 50 shots against unarmed individuals . . .

Not like we haven't seen it happen before:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amadou_Diallo

Though I suppose that was nine less shots... and at least a jury was involved in the acquittal. They just made sure that the trial was moved to Albany, where an acquittal for the cops was all but assured.

 

[GroundedSailor]

Having lived in Europe, Middle east & South Asia and now in US, I've come to the sad realization that the one country that I don't want to deal with the cops in is the US.

IMHO this is a police state where the cops get away with far more than they should.

 

[Dari]

Originally posted by: GroundedSailor
Having lived in Europe, Middle east & South Asia and now in US, I've come to the sad realization that the one country that I don't want to deal with the cops in is the US.

IMHO this is a police state where the cops get away with far more than they should.

That's bullshit. The police in the Middle East get away with far more. It all really depends on how rich you are. Poor people ALWAYs get the short end of the stick no matter where they are. That's just reality.

 

[jonks]

Originally posted by: cumhail

Originally posted by: maziwanka
man. i wonder what the heck happened. 50 shots against unarmed individuals . . .

Not like we haven't seen it happen before:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amadou_Diallo

Though I suppose that was nine less shots... and at least a jury was involved in the acquittal. They just made sure that the trial was moved to Albany, where an acquittal for the cops was all but assured.

Diallo had 5 cops with drawn guns telling him to drop to the ground and he first fled, and when caught started reaching into his pocket for his wallet (DUMB). Cops see crazy people everyday who would love to shoot a cop so when a person starts poking into their pockets when confronted by 5 cops wielding guns, the cops don't feel like taking a bullet first before firing. Sounds fair to me.

In the Bell case, 2 of the cops were black, kindof negates the racist aspect so I hope there won't be much rioting going on.

As to cops never being held accountable, when Justin Volpe sodomoized Abner Louima with a nightstick, he got sent to jail for 30 years with no chance of parole.

 

[Genx87]

I really dont want to deal with the Police ever. Because if I do, something bad is happening or has happened. That said, the Police in Mexico are much worse than the police in the United States. They shake ya down for no reason and demand a bribe or you will be spending time in the local jail.

 

[Dari]

Originally posted by: sirjonk

Originally posted by: cumhail

Originally posted by: maziwanka
man. i wonder what the heck happened. 50 shots against unarmed individuals . . .

Not like we haven't seen it happen before:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amadou_Diallo

Though I suppose that was nine less shots... and at least a jury was involved in the acquittal. They just made sure that the trial was moved to Albany, where an acquittal for the cops was all but assured.

Diallo had 5 cops with drawn guns telling him to drop to the ground and he first fled, and when caught started reaching into his pocket for his wallet (DUMB). Cops see crazy people everyday who would love to shoot a cop so when a person starts poking into their pockets when confronted by 5 cops wielding guns, the cops don't feel like taking a bullet first before firing. Sounds fair to me.

In the Bell case, 2 of the cops were black, kindof negates the racist aspect so I hope there won't be much rioting going on.

As to cops never being held accountable, when Justin Volpe sodomoized Abner Louima
with a nightstick, he got sent to jail.

Who cares if the cops are black. Once they're in that uniform, it's them against the poor, even though they may have grown up poor. Of course, not all cops are like that. They will stereotype their own when in the uniform.

And your Diallo-cop story makes no sense. No doubt the cops added that part to his story. No way to counter it when you're dead.

 

[cumhail]

Originally posted by: sirjonk

Originally posted by: cumhail

Originally posted by: maziwanka
man. i wonder what the heck happened. 50 shots against unarmed individuals . . .

Not like we haven't seen it happen before:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amadou_Diallo

Though I suppose that was nine less shots... and at least a jury was involved in the acquittal. They just made sure that the trial was moved to Albany, where an acquittal for the cops was all but assured.

Diallo had 5 cops with drawn guns telling him to drop to the ground and he first fled, and when caught started reaching into his pocket for his wallet (DUMB). Cops see crazy people everyday who would love to shoot a cop so when a person starts poking into their pockets when confronted by 5 cops wielding guns, the cops don't feel like taking a bullet first before firing. Sounds fair to me.

In the Bell case, 2 of the cops were black, kindof negates the racist aspect so I hope there won't be much rioting going on.

As to cops never being held accountable, when Justin Volpe sodomoized Abner Louima with a nightstick, he got sent to jail for 30 years with no chance of parole.

Yes... and what happened to his co-defendents? The only one who ended up sentenced to anything at all had his original conviction and 15 year sentence overturned and replaced by a 5 year sentence for perjury. This despite the facts that he had been brutally beaten, even before being sodomized, and that when they were done, they dropped him off at the hospital, claiming that his injuries were the result of gay sex.

And you see this as an example of there being a fair system of justice for those who are brutalized by police officers?

 

[NikolaeVarius]

They can Apeeal this.

I just hate how ATOT thinks that these guys were just let off the hook for no reason. They had a fair trial. If anything, I kind of expected the Judge to rule against the Cops because of public pressure.

And to above. WTF. So, ANY testimony by Cops is COMPLETELY INVALID because THEY'RE COPS!!?? What is the brightline between if the cops are telling the truth, and if they're not? They made their case, and its accepted as something that happened.

 

[cumhail]

Originally posted by: Dari

Originally posted by: sirjonk

In the Bell case, 2 of the cops were black, kindof negates the racist aspect so I hope there won't be much rioting going on.

As to cops never being held accountable, when Justin Volpe sodomoized Abner Louima
with a nightstick, he got sent to jail.

Who cares if the cops are black. Once they're in that uniform, it's them against the poor, even though they may have grown up poor. Of course, not all cops are like that. They will stereotype their own when in the uniform.

And your Diallo-cop story makes no sense. No doubt the cops added that part to his story. No way to counter it when you're dead.

I think he's suggesting that the likelihood of riots would be far greater if this were a case of three white cops getting off after having shot an unarmed black man. Whether or not he's right... only time will tell. Personally, I hope he is. For while I understand what leads people to riot, that doesn't make it a good thing.

 

[lupi]

Originally posted by: tenshodo13
They can Apeeal this.

I just hate how ATOT thinks that these guys were just let off the hook for no reason. They had a fair trial. If anything, I kind of expected the Judge to rule against the Cops because of public pressure.

And to above. WTF. So, ANY testimony by Cops is COMPLETELY INVALID because THEY'RE COPS!!?? What is the brightline between if the cops are telling the truth, and if they're not? They made their case, and its accepted as something that happened.

Actually there was no jury.

One guy even manages to reload twice. Given the previous history of NYC cops in particular, and the overall trend in the news, I am abit surprised they got off so easy.

 

[cumhail]

Originally posted by: tenshodo13
They can Apeeal this.

I just hate how ATOT thinks that these guys were just let off the hook for no reason. They had a fair trial. If anything, I kind of expected the Judge to rule against the Cops because of public pressure.

And to above. WTF. So, ANY testimony by Cops is COMPLETELY INVALID because THEY'RE COPS!!?? What is the brightline between if the cops are telling the truth, and if they're not? They made their case, and its accepted as something that happened.

Appeal what? Are you familiar with the concept of double-jeopardy? While they can be tried, in a federal court, for civil rights violations (as has been noted to be likely in the case of an acquittal), there is no "appeal" for the original charges, once they've been acquitted.

As for your other comments, I have no doubt that some people are predisposed to think the cops in such high-profile cases are more likely guilty than not, just as others (like you) seem to lean in the opposite direction. But those perceptions were not borne out of thin air. And at the end of the day, the increased frequency with which we hear of cases of excessive uses of force, one would hope you can acknowledge, is at the very least indicative of a need to be taking a closer look at the issue and at the handling of these cases, as they arise.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Originally posted by: cumhail

Originally posted by: tenshodo13
They can Apeeal this.

I just hate how ATOT thinks that these guys were just let off the hook for no reason. They had a fair trial. If anything, I kind of expected the Judge to rule against the Cops because of public pressure.

And to above. WTF. So, ANY testimony by Cops is COMPLETELY INVALID because THEY'RE COPS!!?? What is the brightline between if the cops are telling the truth, and if they're not? They made their case, and its accepted as something that happened.

Appeal what? Are you familiar with the concept of double-jeopardy? While they can be tried, in a federal court, for civil rights violations (as has been noted to be likely in the case of an acquittal), there is no "appeal" for the original charges, once they've been acquitted.

As for your other comments, I have no doubt that some people are predisposed to think the cops in such high-profile cases are more likely guilty than not, just as others (like you) seem to lean in the opposite direction. But those perceptions were not borne out of thin air. And at the end of the day, the increased frequency with which we hear of cases of excessive uses of force, one would hope you can acknowledge, is at the very least indicative of a need to be taking a closer look at the issue and at the handling of these cases, as they arise.

Thats interesting, because i heard a news report where the Sean Belle Lawyers said that they were going to appeal if the cops don't get convicted

Its debatable if there IS more excessive force, or if its just reported more often. These days, the Media seem to have nothing better to report and so just report on that one police officer who accidentally shot a guy.

While we should strive to get rid of excessive force, saying that its rampant in the Police Force is a lie. Out of the thousands of officers we have, how many do we hear of beating the crap out of people for no reason? 5 every 6 months?

 

[Robor]

If I understand this correctly the driver of the car (who was killed) mistook the undercover detectives as 'armed men'. If this guy really thought his life was in danger I can't say I blame him for trying to GTFO as fast as possible. Not being there I guess it's hard to judge the situation but I don't understand why the detectives continued to pursue them if they were simply getting in the car and leaving?

 

[Arkaign]

No justice at all. You can bet if the dead groom was white, this would have been totally different outcome. Also B.S. that the Judge rules the Cops more 'credible' than other witnesses, when it was incredibly unnecessary for someone to RELOAD a semi-automatic handgun to totally unload another clip into unarmed people.

Fuck them, may they burn in hell, and hopefully they will suffer a horrible and violent fate at a young age.

 

[OrByte]

I dont remember the specifics of the case

is it that they found 50 bullets in the man? or did the cops shoot 50 times?

either way, does that sound reasonable to anyone here?

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Originally posted by: OrByte
I dont remember the specifics of the case

is it that they found 50 bullets in the man? or did the cops shoot 50 times?

either way, does that sound reasonable to anyone here?

They shot 50 times. They feared for their life. They shot him until they felt their lives were no longer in danger.

Originally posted by: Arkaign
No justice at all. You can bet if the dead groom was white, this would have been totally different outcome. Also B.S. that the Judge rules the Cops more 'credible' than other witnesses, when it was incredibly unnecessary for someone to RELOAD a semi-automatic handgun to totally unload another clip into unarmed people.

Fuck them, may they burn in hell, and hopefully they will suffer a horrible and violent fate at a young age.

Oh cure, bring out the racism argument. They didn't know he was unarmed. We still don't know the EXACT details. They really may have though their lives were in danger and acted accordingly.

And you say they should die a horrible death? Why? I think that the cops must be feeling regretful of what they did to a guy, but its no reason to condemn them.

 

[OrByte]

well if they shot AT him 50 times because they feared for their life then with enough sobbing at the judge I can see them getting away with it.

but if they shot the man 50 times, ie 49 bullets more than the ONE it takes to kill a man, then something isnt right.

imho

 

[rpanic]

50 bullets is a blatant waste of taxpayer dollars, I hope they are fired.

 

[oddyager]

Originally posted by: OrByte
well if they shot AT him 50 times because they feared for their life then with enough sobbing at the judge I can see them getting away with it.

but if they shot the man 50 times, ie 49 bullets more than the ONE it takes to kill a man, then something isnt right.

imho

They were shooting at the vehicle which had three or four men in there (I don't remember the specifics). I think in the scenario there (the driver stepped on the gas gunning for one of the undercover detectives) deadly force WAS going to happen but yeah, 50 bullets is excessive.

 

[lupi]

Originally posted by: tenshodo13

Originally posted by: cumhail

Originally posted by: tenshodo13
They can Apeeal this.

I just hate how ATOT thinks that these guys were just let off the hook for no reason. They had a fair trial. If anything, I kind of expected the Judge to rule against the Cops because of public pressure.

And to above. WTF. So, ANY testimony by Cops is COMPLETELY INVALID because THEY'RE COPS!!?? What is the brightline between if the cops are telling the truth, and if they're not? They made their case, and its accepted as something that happened.

Appeal what? Are you familiar with the concept of double-jeopardy? While they can be tried, in a federal court, for civil rights violations (as has been noted to be likely in the case of an acquittal), there is no "appeal" for the original charges, once they've been acquitted.

As for your other comments, I have no doubt that some people are predisposed to think the cops in such high-profile cases are more likely guilty than not, just as others (like you) seem to lean in the opposite direction. But those perceptions were not borne out of thin air. And at the end of the day, the increased frequency with which we hear of cases of excessive uses of force, one would hope you can acknowledge, is at the very least indicative of a need to be taking a closer look at the issue and at the handling of these cases, as they arise.

Thats interesting, because i heard a news report where the Sean Belle Lawyers said that they were going to appeal if the cops don't get convicted

Its debatable if there IS more excessive force, or if its just reported more often. These days, the Media seem to have nothing better to report and so just report on that one police officer who accidentally shot a guy.

While we should strive to get rid of excessive force, saying that its rampant in the Police Force is a lie. Out of the thousands of officers we have, how many do we hear of beating the crap out of people for no reason? 5 every 6 months?

And if not for a third party filming many of those events, how many then would be reported.