New NY State License Plate Revealed—And Required On All Cars
Flashback: Last Brownstone Standing
Cops: Fort Greene Violence Sparked By Chicken Wing Promotion
City Records Big Spike In Commuter Cycling
64 Things Restaurant Patrons Must NEVER Do
Photograph of protesters outside the Sean Bell shooting trial in Queens by Gary He/AP; the protesters are holding signs counting down the 50 shots fired
Under intense scrutiny from the community and media, the trial of three police officers in the fatal shooting of an unarmed man started today. Detectives Michael Oliver and Gescard Isnora face manslaughter charges while Detective Mark Cooper is charged with reckless endangerment in the 2006 death of Sean Bell, who was killed hours before his wedding when his bachelor party crossed paths with an undercover police operation.
The Queens prosecutor Charles Testagrossa described the police sting at the Kalua Lounge as "carelessness verging on incompetence ... that cannot be explained away as a mere accident or mistake. It can only be characterized as criminal." Testagrossa added Isnora never showed his badge and that if Oliver, who fired 31 of 50 shots, had "paused to reassess," he would have realized there was no threat.
Oliver's lawyer James Culleton gave a 24-minute opening, saying, "While clearly a tragedy, no crime was committed," and emphasized his client believed Isnora's life was in danger, thinking Bell's friend Joseph Guzman was armed. Isnora's lawyer Antony Ricco made a 54-minute opening, which included suggesting Bell, who was driving when shot, was out of control and also mentioned Isnora thought Guzman was armed. Ricco said Bell viewed Isnora as a "Negro with a gun" and intended to run over him.
Bell's fiance Nicole Paultre Bell testified, describing how they met and their children. But when asked about the last time she saw him, Paultre Bell broke down, saying it "was in the morgue." She was not cross-examined.
Detectives Endowment Association president Michael Palladino said, "Everyone seems to focus on the amount of shots fired. That's not the only issue. There's a hell of a lot more to the case than the 50 shots...The last 15 months has taken its toll on the detectives, on their families and the law enforcement community as a whole." And the Reverend Al Sharpton told reporters, "We are not here against white cops; we are here against wrong cops. This is about police brutality, it is not about race... It seems to us the victim is always black." Note: Isnora and Cooper are black.
The trial is a bench trial, meaning Judge Arthur Cooperman will decide the defendants' guilt.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
Nice scarf Al. Even if it was kind of warm today to wear a scarf.
If it's warm enough to unbutton your coat it's not scarf weather.
Stay street my man.
Can someone please tell me what the following has to do with anything relating to this trial?
"Bell's fiance Nicole Paultre Bell testified, describing how they met and their children. But when asked about the last time she saw him, Paultre Bell broke down, saying it "was in the morgue." She was not cross-examined."
These cops are good guys and being railroaded by race baiter Al Sharpton. Why can't we all just not pay any attention to that bigoted fat asshole anymore?
God Bless You Rev. Al Sharpton.
Loved you on Howard Stern many many years ago.
Look at my niglets hold up their IQ score.
Look at my niglets hold up their IQ score.
Al Sharpton and Charles Barron bait 'the community' which affects my opinion, and undoubtedly many others' opinions. For me, I sway from trying to remain unbiased and presuming the innocence of the accused, to hoping they get acquitted.
With only public knowledge of the facts, and unavailable to take off from work to attend the trial and see the presentation of evidence, it seems two cops are being railroaded, and at least one of the other two has a viable justification defense.
No matter the result of the criminal trial, what will be Reverend Al's referral fee (under the table payment) for the civil suit, or is that unethical/illegal?
Why would anyone cross examine a "witness" that was not a witness to the incident?
What next? Are they going to put Al Sharpton or Martin Luther King Jr. on the stand?
Sean Bell probably would have been a drug dealer on the street. As I see it it's one less criminal off the street.
Why is Sean Bell a victim? Yeah, he was killed. But he was trying to run from the police.
He was in the middle of committing a felony at the time he was shot. He was actively engaged in criminal activity.
So first and foremost, he was a criminal who was shot and killed by police.
Furthermore, the number of shots fired doesnt matter. All it takes is one shot to kill him, every shot before and after didnt really matter.
SUBWAYblogger: What was Bell's crime?!?! According to reports he was witnessed having an arguement outside of the club and it is at that point that NYPD approached him.
The number of shots fired does matter; it shows a reckless and frightened reaction by the NYPD. Courtesy, Professionalism, Respect. Yeah....
Get your facts straight.
And to everyone else; this issue is not about Sharpton. It's about yet another young, black man being killed by the NYPD.
Exactly what felony was he committing, SUBWAYblogger? I didn't realize "trying to drive away from an unidentified man wielding a gun and running towards the car at 4am in Jamaica, Queens" was a felony.
If Sean Bell was a young bright person who wasn't involved with the law and actually had a education then I can find sympathy with the NYPD shooting.
Now we have "Nicole Bell" trying to milk every last ounce out of her love for Sean Bell or is she it in for the money?
What time in the morning was the marriage scheduled for?
Sean Bell was a drug dealer. He was arrested twice for selling crack to undercover cops if I recall correctly. His two pals who survived are no model citizens either. One,if not both, were arrested not too long after Bell was put down.
I think the cops involved should be acquitted, commended and promoted. Yes, the black cops too.
sean bell's entry on wikipedia says that these guys were not angels.
Its unfortunate that this incident ended that way it did. But the strip club known as the Kalua Lounge was well known for prostitution, drug dealing and illegal gambling. Are decent folks in these neighborhoods just supposed to live with this depravity? We already know why the undercovers were at the location that night, maybe this trial will fill us in on the rest of the story.