Flashermac Posted April 25, 2008 Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 NEW YORK -- Three police detectives have been found not guilty of all charges in the shooting death of Sean Bell. Officers Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora and Marc Cooper were acquitted of all charges 17 months after Bell died in a hail of 50 police bullets. The unarmed man was shot coming out of a strip club just hours before he was to be married on Nov. 25, 2006. Oliver and Isnora, faced charges of manslaughter, assault and reckless endangerment. Cooper faced charges of reckless endangerment. Bell's fiancee, Nicole Paultre Bell, accompanied by the Rev. Al Sharpton, who has led many of the protests, arrived at the courthouse Friday morning with a crowd of supporters. They threaded their way past a phalanx of police and news cameras into a courthouse ringed by metal barricades and police officers. A crowd of about 200 people gathered outside the building. Some wore buttons with Bell's picture or held signs saying "Justice for Sean Bell." Paultre Bell, who legally took her intended's name after his death, wore a black suit, with a button bearing Bell's face on her jacket. During the seven-week trial, which featured often conflicting testimony, defense attorneys painted the victims as drunken thugs who the officers believed were armed and dangerous. Prosecutors sought to convince the judge that the victims had been minding their own business, and that the officers were inept, trigger-happy aggressors. "This F-Troop of a unit caused the death of an innocent man and caused the injury of two others," said Assistant District Attorney Charles Testagrossa, referring to the classic TV sit-com. "This was a slipshod operation, with no real planning." Bell's fiancee, parents and their supporters have demanded that the police be held accountable. Sharpton said he has sought to temper outrage over the shooting of three unarmed black men and let the trial take its course. Two of the three officers are black. "We gave the city an opportunity to show that we would be a new city of fairness," he told reporters at City Hall earlier this week. Even with an acquittal, authorities have predicted calm will prevail. "We certainly don't expect violence," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Thursday. The defendants, who were investigating reports of prostitution at the Kalua Cabaret, say they became alarmed when they heard Bell and his friends trade insults around the 4 a.m. closing time with another patron who appeared to be armed. In grand jury testimony, Isnora claimed that he overheard one of Bell's companions, Joseph Guzman, say, "Yo, go get my gun." Isnora responded by trailing Bell, Guzman and Trent Benefield to Bell's car. He insisted that he ordered the men to halt, and that he and other officers began shooting only after Bell bumped him with his car and slammed into an unmarked police van while trying to flee. Guzman and Benefield both played down the dispute outside the club. They also testified that they were unaware police were watching them, and that the gunfire erupted without warning. Justice NY Style Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted April 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 I'll be surprised if there isn't violence: << 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. [color:red]Oliver fired 31 shots in the incident, Isnora fired 11, and Cooper fired four times.[/color] 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. More Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted April 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 Obviously, the cops were in plain clothes - and not recognised as police. But what the hell were they armed with? One cop fired 31 shots? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogueyam Posted April 25, 2008 Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 I'll be surprised if there isn't violence: Maybe not this time. Two of the three cops are black so that interferes with Al Sharpton's usual riot incitement M.O. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted April 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 Hope so. Hard to say what really happened, though it does sound like a bit of overkill. Still, cops have to decide quickly and then hope they've guessed right. This time they didn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogueyam Posted April 25, 2008 Report Share Posted April 25, 2008 Hope so. Hard to say what really happened, though it does sound like a bit of overkill. Still, cops have to decide quickly and then hope they've guessed right. This time they didn't. A lot of this case rests on the details which are impossible to know even for those who were there. It seems like a no-win situation. Even taking the officers at their word, still it's late at night in a crappy area. If someone claims to be an undercover cop is it so unreasonable to doubt this claim and attempt to flee them? Are law abiding citizens required to stop for anyone who shouts the word "police!" or are we entitled to use our judgement as to whether this self-identification is true? If a citizen attempts to flee an undercover cop is that cop entitled to treat that citizen as if he is knowingly evading the police? No good answers here so far as I can see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted April 26, 2008 Report Share Posted April 26, 2008 Hell of a lot of bullets ..overkill is right... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh_Hoy Posted April 26, 2008 Report Share Posted April 26, 2008 Obviously, the cops were in plain clothes - and not recognised as police. But what the hell were they armed with? One cop fired 31 shots? I believe that they were probably armed with a Glock model 19, which I believe is standard for NYPD and some federal agencies. Standard magazine is 15 rounds, but can also carry 17, 19, and 33 rounds. I think I read that Officer Oliver reloaded, so probably carrying 17 or 19 round mags. HH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogueyam Posted April 26, 2008 Report Share Posted April 26, 2008 People often focus on the number of shots but I believe that is misplaced. Once they start firing the officers have made the decision to kill or incapacitate the driver of the vehicle. What does it matter how many shots were fired? So long as the shots were going where they were supposed to what's the problem? I read elsewhere that there was one stray shot and the others all hit the vehicle. So the number of "excess" shots is no greater than one so far as I can see. Now, this is an entirely separate matter from whether they should have been firing at all. The judge ruled on that point and I don't know enough to agree or disagree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted April 26, 2008 Report Share Posted April 26, 2008 True enough ..well said :thumbup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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