no surprises here!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/26/nyregion/26BELL.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

Quote :

"April 26, 2008 3 Detectives Acquitted in Bell Shooting By MICHAEL WILSON Three detectives were found not guilty Friday morning on all charges in the shooting death of Sean Bell, who died in a hail of 50 police bullets outside a club in Jamaica, Queens. Justice Arthur J. Cooperman, who delivered the verdict in State Supreme Court, said many of the prosecution’s witnesses, including Mr. Bell’s friends and the two wounded victims, were simply not believable. “At times, the testimony of those witnesses just didn’t make sense,” he said. While his decision prompted several supporters of Mr. Bell to storm out of the courtroom, and there were a few small scuffles outside the courthouse, by late morning there no suggestions of any broader unrest around the city. Mr. Bell’s family members made no comment as they left, and they immediately drove to visit his grave at the Nassau Knolls Cemetery and Memorial Park in Port Washington. The verdict comes 17 months to the day since the Nov. 25, 2006, shooting of Mr. Bell, 23, and his friends, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, outside the Club Kalua in Jamaica, Queens, hours before Mr. Bell was to be married. It was delivered in a packed courtroom and was heard by, among others, the slain man’s parents and his fiancée. Mr. Bell’s family sat silently as Justice Cooperman spoke from the bench. Behind them, a woman was heard to ask, “Did he just say, ‘Not guilty?’ ” The three detectives — Gescard F. Isnora, Michael Oliver and Marc Cooper — were escorted out a side doorway as court adjourned. The acquittals do not necessarily mean the officers’ legal battles are over. Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said the three men could still face disciplinary action from the Police Department, and that he had been asked to wait on any internal measures until the United States attorney’s office determines whether or not it would pursue federal charges against them. The seven-week trial, which ended April 14, was heard by Justice Cooperman after the defendants waived their right to a jury, a strategy some lawyers called risky at the time. But it clearly paid off. Before rendering his verdict, Justice Cooperman ran through a narrative of the chilly November evening when Mr. Bell died, and concluded “the police response with respect to each defendant was not found to be criminal.” “The people have not proved beyond a reasonable doubt” that each defendant was not justified in shooting, the judge said, quickly adding that the men were not guilty of all of the eight counts, five felonies and three misdemeanors against them. Roughly 30 court officers stood by, around the courtroom and in the aisles. At one point as he read, Justice Cooperman paused to insist that a crying baby be taken from the courtroom. Immediately a young woman who appeared to be among the Bell contingent got up and left with a baby. “There are no winners in a trial like this,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said later. “An innocent man lost his life, a bride lost her groom, two daughters lost their father, and a mother and a father lost their son.” The mayor continued: “Judge Cooperman’s responsibility, however, was to decide the case based on the evidence presented in the courtroom. America is a nation of laws, and though not everyone will agree with the verdicts and opinions issued by the courts, we accept their authority.” He added: “There will be opportunities for peaceful dissent and potentially for further legal recourse — those are the rights we enjoy in a democratic nation. We don’t expect violence or law-breaking, nor is there any place for it.” A subdued Queens district attorney, Richard A. Brown, whose office prosecuted the case, said at a news conference: “Judge Cooperman discharged his responsibilities fairly and consciously under the law. I accept his verdict, and I urge all fair-minded individuals in this city to do the same.” Commissioner Kelly, speaking in Brooklyn, would not comment on the verdict itself. But he did say that while there were no reports of unrest in response to the acquittals, the Police Department was ready should it occur. “We have prepared, we have done some drills and some practice with appropriate units and personnel if there is any violence, but again, we don’t anticipate violence,” Mr. Kelly said. “There have been no problems. Obviously there will be some people who are disappointed with the verdict. We understand that.” Detectives Isnora and Oliver had faced the most charges: first- and second-degree manslaughter, with a possible sentence of 25 years in prison; felony assault, first and second degree; and a misdemeanor, reckless endangerment, with a possible one-year sentence. Detective Oliver also faced a second count of first-degree assault. Detective Cooper was charged only with two counts of reckless endangerment. During the 26 days of testimony, the prosecution sought to show, with an array of 50 witnesses, that the shooting was the act of a frightened group of disorganized police officers who began their shift that night hoping to arrest a prostitute or two and, in suspecting Mr. Bell and his friends of possessing a gun, quickly got in over their heads. “We ask police to risk their lives to protect ours,” said an assistant district attorney, Charles A. Testagrossa, in his closing arguments. “Not to risk our lives to protect their own.” The defense, through weeks of often heated cross-examinations, their own witnesses and the words of the detectives themselves, portrayed the shooting as the tragic end to a nonetheless justified confrontation, with Detective Isnora having what it called solid reasons to believe he was the only thing standing between Mr. Bell’s car and a drive-by shooting around the corner. Several witnesses testified that they heard talk of guns in an argument between Mr. Bell and a stranger, Fabio Coicou, outside Kalua, an argument, the defense claimed, that was fueled by bravado and Mr. Bell’s intoxicated state. Defense lawyers pointed their fingers at Mr. Guzman, who, they said, in shouting for Mr. Bell to drive away when Detective Isnora approached, may have instigated his death. Detective Isnora told grand jurors last year that he clipped his badge to his collar and drew his gun, shouting, “Police! Don’t move!” as he approached Mr. Bell’s Nissan Altima. Other witnesses, mostly friends of Mr. Bell, said they never heard shouts of “Police!” Mr. Guzman and Mr. Benefield testified that they had no idea that Detective Isnora was a police officer when he walked up with his gun drawn. "

killed while being black at the club

4/25/2008 12:38:14 PM

Quote :

"with an array of 50 witnesses"

some gangster gets murdered and no one can see shit, but a case against cops brings out 50 witnesses...

[Edited on April 25, 2008 at 12:41 PM. Reason : STOP SNITCHIN]

4/25/2008 12:40:56 PM

looks like one of the cops was sean may

4/25/2008 12:41:26 PM

he thought he was packing a cheeseburger

thats a life or death situation for sean may

4/25/2008 12:42:48 PM

yeah i guess jesse jackson and al sharpton can't scream "ZOMG racism, black profiling" when two of the cops WERE black. pwnt

4/25/2008 12:45:13 PM

Quote :

" killed while being black at the club"

by a couple of black cops apparently.

4/25/2008 12:45:40 PM

i racial profile the fuck outta white people all the time

4/25/2008 12:47:43 PM

fuck whitey

4/25/2008 12:48:34 PM

Quote :

"hours before Mr. Bell was to be married. "

I don't give a fuck if they are black - they're piece of shit cops. I can't believe they got away with it. Lock that scum up.

4/25/2008 12:53:04 PM

I think those gangsters who murded Eve Carson should be charged with a hate crime.

4/25/2008 12:53:24 PM

sell crack in jamaica queens in somebody elses turf, and you're probably gonna get killed by either rival dealers or cops

simple as that

this has absolutely zero to do with race

4/25/2008 12:59:57 PM

It seems like they went a little nuts with the shooting. 50 shots between 5 cops, one cop did like 20 shots, another 11. That's some effort. One of the guys that survived was shot 16 times (still has 4 bullets in him).

I don't think it was racially motivated, but I do think it was police going way too far.

4/25/2008 1:00:57 PM

I'll agree to that. I am just tired of the media and people of the al sharpton type always hopping on the racially motivated bandwagon when this shit happens and all the cops are white. I find it fitting that two of the cops were black that way i did not have to hear about the NAACP protesting and other hype when shit like this happens b.c after all cops are human thus capable of making mistakes.

4/25/2008 1:10:54 PM

Emmitt Smith, Sean May, and some matador

4/25/2008 2:15:03 PM

¡OLÉ!

4/25/2008 3:33:07 PM

More like, "Killed while being stupid at the club".

4/25/2008 3:34:39 PM

Quote :

"Quote : "hours before Mr. Bell was to be married." I don't give a fuck if they are black - they're piece of shit cops. I can't believe they got away with it. Lock that scum up."

They're piece of shit cops because he was about to get married? Fuck off with your knee jerk reaction.

4/25/2008 3:56:27 PM

You're a fucking idiot

I just quoted that in case anyone didn't read it - I didn't say they were piece of shit cops because he was about to get married did I? Talk about a knee-jerk reaction! I post, and your knee-jerk reaction is to get retarded on your keyboard.

4/25/2008 4:00:31 PM

If they read the article then they read that. You quoted something and then made a statement. It's not my fault that you made yourself look like a twit, so calm down.

4/25/2008 4:04:00 PM

obviously the cops are scum because they murdered the dude and shot up all those guys - not because he was getting married. Use your little brain mr josh

4/25/2008 4:43:44 PM

Where did I say that it was because he was getting married, brainiac?

4/25/2008 4:45:17 PM

Quote :

"They're piece of shit cops because he was about to get married? Fuck off with your knee jerk reaction. "

dude, you're dumb

I'm just saying even questioning that I meant that is dumb

dumb dumb dumb

GET OFF THE INTERNET YOU NERD LOSER

4/25/2008 4:58:37 PM

Quote :

"Quote : "hours before Mr. Bell was to be married." I don't give a fuck if they are black - they're piece of shit cops. I can't believe they got away with it. Lock that scum up."

"If they read the article then they read that. You quoted something and then made a statement. It's not my fault that you made yourself look like a twit, so calm down."

4/25/2008 5:01:56 PM

Quote :

"the cops are scum because they murdered the dude and shot up all those guys"

the cops are scum because they shot up drug dealers?

4/25/2008 7:31:35 PM

Quote :

"I think those gangsters who murded Eve Carson should be charged with a hate crime."

4/25/2008 7:36:00 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/04/25/sunny.bell/index.html

Quote :

".... He listened to the evidence. He learned that Club Kalua, the strip club that Sean Bell and his companions were at that night, had been at the center of neighborhood complaints, drug activity and prostitution arrests, which is why undercover officers were there in the first place. He heard the consistent grand jury testimony of all three defendant police officers. He heard the testimony of Detective Hispolito Sanchez, an undercover officer inside the club who heard Bell's companion, Joseph Guzman say "Yo, get my gun" and heard Sean Bell threaten to beat up a man near an SUV. And he heard the testimony of Guzman, who denied, contrary to the testimony of other witnesses, that he uttered the words "Go get my gun." Cooperman also learned that Guzman had spent five years in prison for robbery and drug convictions for selling crack and was suing for $50 million in civil court. It was clear that Guzman was the linchpin of this case. If you believe him, that the officers shot at Bell and his friends for no reason at all, the officers are guilty. If you don't believe him, then his statement -- "Go get my gun" -- sent the night into mayhem, causing the officers to believe that the men were armed and justifying the officers' actions that night. Guzman was combative on the stand, irreverent. During his cross-examination by attorney Anthony L. Ricco, who represented Isnora, he shot back: "You know what needs to happen? This needs to happen to your family." In explaining his decision, Cooperman said prosecutors had not proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt because of a combination of factors. Chief among them: inconsistent statements by prosecution witnesses, their demeanor on the stand, their interest in the outcome of the case and their motives to lie. "These factors," the judge said, "had the effect of eviscerating the credibility of those prosecution witnesses." Translation: The government could not prove its case against the officers because the judge didn't believe Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman. They are suing the police department for $50 million. They blew the case for the prosecution. This is not over. There is a civil case pending, and the standard of proof is much lower. The feds are now looking at it. And we will be watching and deciding what and whom to believe."

4/25/2008 10:50:31 PM

Quote :

""What we saw in court today was not a miscarriage of justice," the Rev. Al Sharpton said on his radio program. "Justice didn't miscarry," he said. "This was an abortion of justice. Justice was aborted." Sharpton, who has been advising Bell's family, had called for calm Wednesday. Bell, 23, died in November 2006 in a 50-bullet barrage -- 31 fired by Oliver -- hours before he was to be married. Two of his companions were wounded in the gunfire outside a Queens nightclub. Alexander Jason, an expert witness for the defense, produced a video demonstrating how quickly Oliver could have fired off 31 rounds, including a pause to reload. iReport.com: Watch the video The three officers made brief statements more than four hours after the verdict. "I want to say sorry to Bell family for the tragedy," Cooper said. Isnora thanked the judge "for his fair and accurate decision today." Oliver praised Cooperman "for a fair and just decision." That's not how one community leader viewed it. "This case was not about justice," declared Leroy Gadsden, chair of the police/community relations committee of the Jamaica Branch NAACP. "This case was about the police having a right to be above the law. If the law was in effect here, if the judge had followed the law truly, these officers would have been found guilty. "This court, unfortunately, is bankrupt when it comes to justice for people of color." Patrick Lynch, president of the New York Police Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, said "there's no winners; there's no losers" in the case. "We still have a death that occurred. We still have police officers that have to live with the fact that there was a death involved in their case," Lynch said. But, he added, the verdict assured police officers that they will be treated fairly in New York's courts. Many people outside the courthouse saw it differently. "You can't be proud of wearing that hat. You can't be proud of wearing that badge," a black woman shouted at a black police officer. "You must stop working for the masters! Stand down! Stop working for the masters!" "

Of course Al Sharpton had to get a word in, and the NAACP tried to make it about race.

4/26/2008 5:31:40 AM

police conduct in the heat of the moment is judged by a reasonable standard....ie was it reasonable at the moment. thats all i have to say about that

4/26/2008 8:23:52 AM

50+ shots sounds pretty reasonable right?

err...wait

one dude even reloaded for good measure!

[Edited on April 26, 2008 at 11:19 AM. Reason : .]

4/26/2008 11:19:03 AM

Thank God the courts got this one right.

4/26/2008 11:28:25 AM

i don' think race has anything to do with this. 50 shots is fuckin excessive force plain and simple. not saying the guys in the car were angels but anyone who's been to any type of club knows how loud they are and for an officer to say he clearly heard anything is bullshit. assuming he could hear anything could he not have heard.
" MAN, that was fun"
"get more ones"
"oh snap we gotta run"
i trust my senses but not enough to bet 3 men's lives.
being a cop is like being in sector7 from transformers " do whatever i want and get away with it badge"

[Edited on April 26, 2008 at 12:04 PM. Reason : .]

4/26/2008 11:37:52 AM

Quote :

"i don' think race has anything to do with this. 50 shots if fuck excessive force plain and simple. not saying the guys in the car were"

but if all three cops were white; we'd have al sharpton and jesse jackson coming out of the woodwork "ZOMG it was b.c he was black"

4/26/2008 12:01:15 PM

Did you just compare a law enforcement to a movie about giant robots?

Yea ok.

4/26/2008 12:02:45 PM

^this can be compared to pretty much any movie where cops riddle a car full of bullets , put innocent lives in danger and see no repercussions, giant robots or not.

4/26/2008 12:09:27 PM

the two black cops didnt shoot as much, the italian made up 31 of the 50 shots.

4/26/2008 12:14:14 PM

The problem with counting bullets is that it's asking the wrong question. The question that was being answered here was: Were the officers justified in shooting when the first shot was fired? Were the officers justified in shooting when the last shot was fired? If the answer is yes to both of those questions, then the number of shots fired is irrelevant as deadly force is deadly force no matter if it's 1 bullet or 50, when you pull that trigger, you're shooting to kill.

4/26/2008 1:35:24 PM

I don't understand how it's racisim when 2 of the cops were black

[Edited on April 26, 2008 at 1:42 PM. Reason : .]

4/26/2008 1:41:28 PM

Quote :

""Justice didn't miscarry," he said. "This was an abortion of justice. Justice was aborted." "

Quote :

"Sharpton, who has been advising Bell's family, had called for calm Wednesday."

lol, sure al

4/26/2008 3:36:45 PM

Quote :

"the two black cops didnt shoot as much, the italian made up 31 of the 50 shots."

I guess Italians can't shoot worth a shit, then.

4/26/2008 4:47:30 PM

Quote :

"I don't understand how it's racisim when 2 of the cops were black "

Go figure. Probably for the same reason when an african american gangster shoots a white person it was b.c "socioeconomic" pressures pushed him to a life of violence. Yet when a white person shoots a black person it is a hate crime. Besides any black man that joins the 5-0 is being "white". Snitches end up in Ditches

4/26/2008 5:07:21 PM

Quote :

"The problem with counting bullets is that it's asking the wrong question. The question that was being answered here was: Were the officers justified in shooting when the first shot was fired? Were the officers justified in shooting when the last shot was fired? If the answer is yes to both of those questions, then the number of shots fired is irrelevant as deadly force is deadly force no matter if it's 1 bullet or 50, when you pull that trigger, you're shooting to kill."

this is the exact point. if they were acquitted then it means that a judge found that they were REASONABLE in using deadly force in that situation. i say reasonable because that is the standard that this is judged by since it is unfair to Monday morning quarterback when you were not in the heat of the moment. the question is, was it reasonable at the moment. i cant say yes or no, but apparently a judge in a court of law says that it was. as for the number the number of shots being fired, by three officers shooting at the same time in what they thought was a deadly force encounter, is irrelevant. No one actually counts shots when your adrenaline is kicking and you are in a gun fight. you can squeeze off rounds very quickly in the heat of battle. too many times people think the number of shots is excessive and it is not. the real question you should be arguing about is whether it was reasonable to shoot in the first place, which apparently a judge says it was. quit harping on the number of shots because it does not matter or prove anything.

4/26/2008 6:12:57 PM

I thought every human died when hit with the first bullet?

better yet, how many of those 50 shots reached their intended target, it's a well known fact taht under stress LEO's aren't exactly marksmen, not many people are really

4/26/2008 6:42:43 PM

I know that 50 people testified, but were there any eye witnesses to the actual shooting aside from the cops and the two guys in the car?

4/26/2008 7:03:05 PM

^ Yes.

Quote :

"Before announcing the verdict, the judge made a statement indicating that the police officers' version of events was more credible than that of the victims. 'The people have not proved beyond a reasonable doubt that each defendant was not justified' in shooting the victims, Cooperman said. About the version of events offered by the victims and other prosecution witnesses, he said, 'At times the testimony just didn't make sense' [emphasis added]."

Quote :

"The trial of the officers resulted in seven weeks of often-conflicting testimonies about the death of Bell [emphasis added], 23, who was killed in a 50-bullet barrage outside the Kalua Cabaret in Jamaica in the early morning of Nov. 25, 2006."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-sean-bell-080425-ht,1,5816771.story

Bottom line: The police testified that they believed the suspect/victim was reaching for a gun. The prosecution simply could not prove otherwise--and the cops were more just credible than the prosecution witnesses. State criminal case closed.

[Edited on April 26, 2008 at 10:47 PM. Reason : .]

4/26/2008 10:46:48 PM

To be fair, I would expect the story of the cops to mostly line up where as the stories of the bystanders would be rather disjointed. Take 10 people, show them an event and you'll get 10 different stories.

Quote :

" No one actually counts shots when your adrenaline is kicking and you are in a gun fight. you can squeeze off rounds very quickly in the heat of battle."

You don't even need to be in the heat of battle, even when target shooting, unless you're actively counting your shots, it's real easy to get so wrapped up in hitting your target you still pull the trigger after your last shot.

4/26/2008 10:59:09 PM

Quote :

"the real question you should be arguing about is whether it was reasonable to shoot in the first place, which apparently a judge says it was"

Exactly right.

Once the police decided it was time to kill Bell, the number of shots was irrelevent. It might behoove people to dampen down the "Gangsta" style and attitude while out in public.

I have a hard time getting upset with a cop who is trying, in a split, second to discern that thin line between someone behaving like a gangster and actually being a gangster.

4/27/2008 12:20:26 AM

Quote :

"quit harping on the number of shots because it does not matter or prove anything."

quit fucking talking you worthless piece of shit

4/27/2008 10:11:17 AM

Quote :

"The police testified that they believed the suspect/victim was reaching for a gun."

so did they end up finding a gun?

also, does anyone know the number of bullets that hit the men? This reminds me of that car chase on 440 that ended in like 300 shots fired but only 2 hitting him.

4/27/2008 11:28:37 AM

It's funny that people stand by the justice system so blindly in a case like this, but reject it so strongly in a case like the OJ Simpson trial. It's a pretty hilarious double standard, that goes both ways.

4/27/2008 11:45:11 AM

What? You're seriously comparing this trial to the OJ trial? SRSLY? C'mon, I don't even know where to start with that one.

3 cops who get scared and shoot up a car full of ex-cons who ram their police van after a dispute at a club

vs

A guy who slashed his wife and another guy to death in cold blood


Yeah, very comparable

[Edited on April 27, 2008 at 2:35 PM. Reason : 2]

4/27/2008 2:32:15 PM