Detectives Michael Oliver, left, Gescard Isnora and Marc Cooper
were accused in the 50-bullet barrage.
Posted on 04/25/2008 6:22:46 AM PDT by Dallas
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
A judge has acquitted three NYPD detectives of all charges in the shooting death of 23-year-old Sean Bell on Friday. Bell was gunned down in a hail of 50 bullets outside a Queens strip club on what would have been his wedding day in November 2006.
The highly anticipated verdict, which many see as holding far-reaching social ramifications for New York City and its police force, comes after seven weeks worth of testimony without a jury.
Detectives Gescard Isnora and Michael Oliver, faced up to 25 years behind bars for manslaughter charges, while Det. Marc Cooper faced a year in jail on reckless endangerment charges.
The detectives, who were responding to complaints about prostitution at the club, have claimed they fired their guns only after Isnora identified himself as a police officer and Bell's car nearly ran him over.
Oliver fired 31 shots in the incident, Isnora fired 11, and Cooper fired four times.
Defense attorneys had said there was evidence that Bell was drunk and "out of control" when he left the club. Witnesses overheard Bell exchange curses with another patron, and heard one of the passengers in the car, Joseph Guzman, who was also shot, say to someone, "Go get my gat," slang for gun. They had also argued Bell had tried to run over Isnora with his car.
Investigators found no gun at the scene.
Prosecutors argued that Oliver would have found there was no threat if he had "paused to reassess" while firing the 31 shots. They said that Cooper fired wildly, with one of his shots even hitting an elevated airport train station. And they alleged that Isnora failed to display his badge in a clearly visible manner and wait for backup, and gave contradictory orders to Bell and his friends.
Bell was supposed to be married at Community Baptist Church in Jamaica the same day of the shooting. On Thursday night, that hallowed ground became the site of a spiritual rally of sorts as an entire city waited for a verdict that had been anticipated for months.
Inspirational words were uttered by the Rev. Al Sharpton for the community and Sean's family.
"We have no hate. We have no malice. We seek no revenge. We put in God's hands. And in God's own time this city will deal with justice," Sharpton said.
Bell's fiancé and mother have been overwhelmed by the unwavering support they've received since his death.
"I want to start by thanking you all (for) sticking by my family – my other mother and my other father and me. And supporting us because God knows we need it," Nicole Paultre Bell said.
Outside the courtroom, the NYPD had preparing for any post-verdict scenario or protests.
"We certainly have no reason to expect violence," NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said Thursday. "There's been many demonstrations, memorials, marches since the incident took place. We've done things that the public would expect us to do to prepare for any contingency."
Added Bishop Lester Williams: "How can you celebrate officers who are supposed to take care of you and are now going to jail, if that is the case? And then how can you celebrate if they don't go to jail. The loss that that family will [have to] endure [will last] forever, so there is no victory. We have to sit down and make sure this does not happen again."
Stay with wcbstv.com and CBS 2 for continuing coverage of this developing story.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
How can there be no jury?
I’m sure most here agree with the ruling but many cops are no better than gang members running around with guns and hassling/shooting people. 50 shots.
I’m talking about blacks rioting. This isn’t 1968 — its 2008. And I’m not a newbie. I’m a “returnee” who took a self-imposed break during the Republican primary infighting. Was a lurker since impeachment and a member since 9/11. I work in the city and I just don’t see it happening. I’m hoping things stay calm and we all get home safely tonight. If it were to happen it might be more likely to occur in places like Newark or Camden. Since 9/11 NYC has had the best security in the world.
Oh boy, here come the riots!!!
It’s springtime. That’s the start of riot season. I say that because the weather’s warm, people are out in the street, and kids are bored of school.
I’ve got the complete layman’s version of this crime at the link below to my Blog. Click in if for nothing else to read how the fine, fine Mayor Bloomberg handled his police force. Guaranteed you’ll be mad.
http://patfish.blogspot.com/2006/12/true-crime-that-ny-bridegroom-shooting.html
And below, information on the prosecutors....again, lily-livered pansies refuse to stand up for what’s right.
http://patfish.blogspot.com/2007/03/true-crime-georgia-boy-found-did-his.html
Except the jury folks. That’s You and I folks. The jury got it right.
The 2000 Democratic National Convention protest activity made headlines, including the Lakers riot.
as well as the recent anarchist and anti-globalization riots of the last decade such as the Seattle protests of the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 and the 2005 Toledo Riot in Toledo, Ohio.
"This isn’t 1968 — its 2008.
And your point is???
If this scene riots it will only be the warm-up for Denver, CO this summer!
That is the exact level of knowledge that most cop haters possess.
I just read where two of the cops were black...there’s always a catch.
A crowd reacts to the verdict in the Sean Bell shooting case outside the Queens County Criminal Courts Building in New York April 25, 2008. Three New York City police officers were found innocent of all charges on Friday in the shooting death of an unarmed black man killed in a hail of 50 bullets on his wedding day.
Nicole Paultre-Bell (R), fiancee of shooting victim Sean Bell, arrives with Rev. Al Sharpton (L) at the Queens County Criminal Courts Building in New York April 25, 2008. The verdict in a police brutality trial that has outraged New York's black community will come on Friday for three detectives over the killing of an unarmed black man in a hail of bullets on his wedding day.
Maybe this will be taken care of.
Big Blue Wall - 2 (1 with the shooting, 1 with this verdict)
Unarmed citizens - 0
I’m sure it’s very calm. This case got a lot of media attention, but it didn’t have the same level of hostility as others in the past — probably because one of the three accused officers is black.
“I’m talking about blacks rioting. This isn’t 1968 — its 2008. And I’m not a newbie. I’m a “returnee” who took a self-imposed break during the Republican primary infighting.”
Don’t you love it when as soon as you disagree with someone, they run to your profile to see when you signed up? As if seniority was the key to winning the argument. It’s just stupid.
I’m not sure I agree with the ruling, but, then I am not privy to the evidence presented in the case or the testimony pertaining to it.
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