Cops Go On Trial In Killing Of Unarmed Man

(AP)  The death of an unarmed man caught in a barrage of 50 police bullets on his wedding day can't be explained "as a mere accident or mistake," a prosecutor said Monday at the opening of the trial of three undercover police officers.

The hail of gunshots outside a strip club killed Sean Bell, who had been at a bachelor party on the night before his wedding, and wounded two of his friends. The shooting has sparked protests and debate over excessive force and police conduct in New York City.

The lawyer for one of the defendants told the judge in his opening statement that he would introduce evidence showing that Bell was drunk and "out of control" during the early morning confrontation.

The defendants waived their right to a jury trial, so State Supreme Court Justice Arthur J. Cooperman is hearing the case by himself.

Bell's fiance, Nicole Paultre-Bell, is expected to be the first witness at the trial, and she has said she plans to be in court every day.

Assistant District Attorney Charles Testagrossa said in his opening statement that one of the three undercover officers failed to display his badge in a clearly visible manner and wait for backup before confronting the three men, and gave contradictory orders to Bell and his friends.

Testagrossa was referring to Detective Gescard Isnora, who fired 11 of the shots during the Nov. 25, 2006, incident.

Isnora and Detective Michael Oliver have pleaded not guilty to manslaughter; Detective Marc Cooper has pleaded not guilty to reckless endangerment. Oliver fired 31 shots, including the one that killed Bell, and Cooper fired four times.

Testagrossa said that once the evidence is heard, "It will be clear that what happened cannot be explained away as a mere accident or mistake."

The prosecutor also said Oliver would have found there was no threat if he had "paused to reassess" while firing, but defense lawyer James Culleton estimated that it took as little as nine seconds for Oliver to fire the 31 rounds from his semiautomatic pistol - even with reloading - giving him no time to reassess.

Culleton said Oliver saw Bell's car pulling away and heard Isnora yell "He's got a gun! He's got a gun!"

He said Oliver will testify that he saw Joseph Guzman, one of Bell's companions, start lifting his arms. He said Oliver was convinced that if he hesitated "He'd be looking down the barrel of a gun and he'd be a dead man."

Investigators found no gun at the scene.

Isnora's attorney, Anthony Ricco, 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 Guzman tell someone "Go get my gat," slang for gun, Ricco said.

Rico said Bell, at Guzman's urging, tried to strike Isnora with his car.

"When there is a confluence of alcohol and ignorance, there's always a tragedy," Ricco said.

Oliver and Isnora face up to 25 years in prison if convicted; Cooper faces up to a year on the lesser endangerment count.

[jegibbons]

Wasn''t this the Dude''s wedding day?
Sounds to me like these cops spared this poor man a fate worse than death.

[tomanyt]

The look on Al''s face is priceless. He looks like he needs a laxative.

[tomanyt]

MyOpinion1...Racist??? Did you actually read the quote made by musyk4me or did you just decide it was racist because he used the word Indian???? Your not related to Al Sharpton are you????

[tomanyt]

Looks like the biggest racist of all, Al Sharpton, has arrived to stir the racial pot. This should be interesting.

[paganmama]

Your comment about Indians WAS racist because you said , and I quote, "Oh, you must either be an Indian or don%u2019t know history very well since Caucasians came over on a boat, too!!" end quote. So, all Indians don''''t know history very well? You need to read your own posts because your comment was VERY racist towards Native Americans. . ."
Posted by MyOpinion1 at 04:05 PM : Feb 25, 2008
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MyOpinion1-You obviously need to take a course in reading comprehension, because your completely wrong about the meaning of the sentence. Any educated person who paid attention in History class, will know that what Musky4me was saying is if you are not Indian/Native American, then your ancestor came here from somewhere else on a boat (mostly voluntarily, I might add). . .You go back and read the sentence again.
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Musky4me---Please don''t waste your time try to have an intellectual conversation with someone who is so blatanty under qualified. You''ll only cause yourself stress.

[frankbowers]

It is said over and over alcohol and guns do not mix. when will the folks realize when drunk or drinking you have little to offer as an offense. The officers did the right thing and al sharpton should have engaged these young men the day prior and told them about alcohol, young black men and not to use such and then argue as it would and could most likely cause their death. Where was al the day before probably getting drunk himself he is as much a rev. as the devilis, and wants to get his name in the paper again as standing up for the poor black men, and is just as a-s-s hole as for as I am concerned and the bottom line is the officers need to be released an then found innocent of all charges they have a job to do and they did it well. The best of good byes to all from Austin, Tx and Frank Bowers

[musyk4me]

So because he was ONE White man killing innocent people (because you think that he is the only White person who has shot anyone) did it make what he did okay? Obviously in your mind, you feel that the persons who died at that college deserved it because the shooter was White. If you want to start going over crime statistics, let me know. I guarantee you that I will find more than ONE White person who has committed murder, is involved in a gang, is on drugs, is on welfare, has multiple children by different fathers, has been arrested for child abandonment. The list goes on and on. So what do you think you are perpetuating with your comments? Again, doing wrong is not about race..PERIOD. It is about who we are and the decisions we make.

[sandsofchlai]

Nice pic of Al. Where''s his Black Muslim Hat???

[musyk4me]

Excuse me, MyOpinion1? How was my comment racist? Because I called them Indians instead of Native American? So if I called you White instead of Caucasian, would that be racist, too? I can just imagine what you would call me. But get it straight you ignorant fool, I am not on welfare. I have an excellent job and I don%u2019t think my husband would appreciate your comments. It goes to show how stupid you are to make a statement like that since you actually have the nerve to assume that Black people are the only ones who are on welfare and have children by different fathers. So what were they up to? What Black crime were they committing? Because they went to a strip club for a bachelor party? Right, because White people don%u2019t go to strip clubs at all? So because they %u201Crammed%u201D a police car, they deserve to be dead? Because the police assumed they were going for a gun, it justifies the number of shots they fired? So let me ask you a question, if the young man that died was White, would it have still been okay? So, again, I say that crime is not about race. Oh, I forgot, in your feeble and inadequate mind, the only people that commit crime are Black. You are the joke.

[prinzowhales]

So, a car "lurched" and "slammed"...it allegedly struck a plainclothes officer and slammed into an unmarked van...This is no defense for shooting the driver...any more than it would be for me to get out and shoot a driver who rear ends me on a busy street.

The NYPD behaves like thugs towards citizens-- from the inexcusable treatment of protestors at the Republican convention in NY to the treatment of the Haitian who was raped with a broom handle. And, this kind of behaviour is encouraged from above.