Anger Over Cops' Acquittal In Groom Slay
Emotions Run High After 3 Detectives Cleared Of Charges In 50-Shot Killing Of Unarmed Man
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Acquittals In Sean Bell Case
Three NYC police officers were cleared of all charges in the controversial shooting case of Sean Bell. As Drew Levinson reports from Queens, Bell's supporters are not pleased with the decision.
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A scuffle breaks out after the announcement of the verdict in the Sean Bell case outside of the Queens County Criminal Courts Building Friday, April 25, 2008 in the Queens borough of New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
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Detective Marc Cooper, left, Gerscard Isnora, center and Detective Michael Oliver, right, arrive at the Queens County Criminal Courts Building Friday, April 25, 2008 in the Queens borough of New York. (AP)
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Sean Bell with his fiancee, Nicole. (AP/Family Photo via The Daily News)
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Protesters react to the verdict in the Sean Bell case outside of the Queens County Criminal Courts Building Friday, April 25, 2008 in the Queens borough of New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
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The Rev. Al Sharpton, has demanded that the officers - two of whom are black - be held accountable for Sean Bell's death. (CBS)
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Court Watch
CBSNews.com Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen's new blog on the big issues and analyzes important cases of the day.
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NYC Cops Acquitted
Three detectives walk free in 50-shot killing of unarmed groom-to-be on his wedding day.
Scores of police officers surrounded the courthouse to guard against potential chaos, and as news of the verdict spread, many in the crowd began weeping. Others were enraged, swearing and screaming "KKK!"
"Murderers! Murderers!" many in the crowd shouted as the officers exited the building, reports WCBS-2 in New York. Some of the spectators jostled with police outside the court house.
Inside the courtroom, spectators gasped. Sean Bell's fiancee immediately walked out of the room; his mother cried.
Bell, a 23-year-old black man, was killed in a hail of gunfire outside a seedy strip club in Queens on Nov. 25, 2006 as he was leaving his bachelor party with two friends. The case ignited the emotions of people across the city and led to widespread protests among those who felt the officers used unnecessary force.
Officers Michael Oliver, 36, and Gescard Isnora, 29, stood trial for manslaughter while Officer Marc Cooper, 40, was charged with reckless endangerment. Two other shooters weren't charged. Oliver squeezed off 31 shots; Isnora fired 11 rounds; and Cooper shot four times.
The case brought back painful memories of other NYPD shootings, such as the 1999 shooting of Amadou Diallo - an African immigrant who was gunned down in a hail of 41 bullets by police officers who mistook his wallet for a gun. The acquittal of the officers in that case created a storm of protest, with hundreds arrested after taking to the streets in demonstration.
Though emotions ran high, there were no immediate problems outside the courthouse Friday, where many wore buttons with Bell's picture or held signs saying "Justice for Sean Bell." Some people approached police after the verdict was read, but they were held back and the jostling died down quickly.
This was an abortion of justice.
Rev. Al SharptonThe officers, complaining that pretrial publicity had unfairly painted them as cold-blooded killers, opted to have the judge decide the case rather than a jury.
The judge, Justice Arthur Cooperman, indicated when he delivered the verdict that the officers' version of events was more credible than the victims' version. "The people have not proved beyond a reasonable doubt that each defendant was not justified" in firing, he said.
Hours later, the officers appeared at a news conference.
"I'd like to say sorry to the Bell family for the tragedy," Cooper said, thanking God, his lawyers and the police officers who supported him.
The U.S. attorney's office said after the verdict that it had been monitoring the state's prosecution and would conduct an independent review of the case. The Rev. Al Sharpton, who represents Bell's family, called for a federal investigation.
"This verdict is one round down, but the fight is far from over," Sharpton said on his radio show. "What we saw in court today was not a miscarriage of justice. Justice didn't miscarry. This was an abortion of justice."
Michael Palladino, president of the Detectives Endowment Association, responded angrily to Sharpton's suggestion that the verdicts were unfair.
"That's despicable for him to say that because we have the greatest criminal justice system on earth," he said.
The nearly two-month trial was marked by deeply divergent accounts of the night.
The defense 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.
Both sides were consistent on one point: The utter chaos surrounding the last moments of Bell's life.
"It happened so quick," Isnora said in grand jury testimony. "It was like the last thing I ever wanted to do."
Bell's companions - Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman - offered dramatic testimony. Both were wounded in the shooting; Guzman still has four bullets lodged in his body.
Referring to Isnora, Guzman said, "This dude is shooting like he's crazy, like he's out of his mind."
The victims and shooters were set on a fateful collision course by a pair of innocuous decisions: Bell's to have a last-minute bachelor party at Kalua Cabaret, and the undercover detectives' to investigate reports of prostitution at the club.
As the club closed around 4 a.m., Sanchez and Isnora claimed they overheard Bell and his friends first flirt with women, then taunt a stranger who responded by putting his right hand in his pocket as if he had a gun. Guzman, they testified, said, "Yo, go get my gun" - something Bell's friends denied.
Isnora said he decided to arm himself, call for backup - "It's getting hot," he told his supervisor - and tail Bell, Guzman and Benefield as they went around the corner and got into Bell's car. He claimed that after warning the men to halt, Bell pulled away, bumped him and rammed an unmarked police van that converged on the scene with Oliver at the wheel. The detective also alleged that Guzman made a sudden move as if he were reaching for a gun.
Guzman said Isnora "appeared out of nowhere" with a gun drawn and shot him in the shoulder - the first of 16 shots to enter his body.
"That's all there was - gunfire," he said. "There wasn't nothing else."
With tires screeching, glass breaking and bullets flying, the officers claimed that they believed they were the ones under fire. Oliver responded by emptying his semiautomatic pistol, reloading, and emptying it again, as the supervisor sought cover.
The truth emerged when the smoke cleared: There was no weapon inside Bell's blood-splattered car.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.



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See all 671 CommentsPosted by pzabbie at 09:03 AM : Apr 25, 2008
That much info from a wedding picture, huh? IF the victim had been a "white male" with the same snarl on his wedding picture would you feel the same way?
Posted by Bigot3 at 08:50 AM : Apr 25, 2008.
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To me, that is the most repulsive statement any true American can utter, but it is indicative of the prevalent %u201C%u201Ddefeatist%u201D%u201D attitude that too many Americans today are inflicted with.
That is the same as saying %u201C%u201Cyes, your Majesty%u201D%u201D, or %u201C%u201Dyes, Your Highness%u201D%u201D
I am a proud American and I don%u2019t %u201Cbelong%u201D to anyone. Not for one second.
You may take my life but you CANNOT take away my freedom. That is exactly what Patrick Henry meant over two centuries ago, when he said: %u201C%u201Dgive me liberty, or give me death%u201D%u201D
I think that a trial by Jury should have been mandatory in this case.
Judge%u2019s are career law-enforcement officers and are not above prejudice.
But even more serious than that is the fact that if the judge should rule against the cops he/she will face career-damaging or even career-ending consequences.
That is why police officers seldom, if ever, are held responsible, for even the most obvious criminal acts, when being judged/investigated by law-enforcement officers or city officials
Posted by WDRussell1 at 09:42 AM : Apr 25, 2008
Nice twist, a little warped.
Posted by zoe2006
Not warped, just a Self Absorbed Democrat turning any story back to what they can spit hate about.
Posted by zoe2006
Of course no Democrat was there to see the evidence presented at trial. But Democrats don''t need evidence, just Hate. When our troops go into combat, if a terrorist claims, "innocent people were killed by the evil Americans", Democrats will be right there to Denouce the troops, without knowing the evidence, just like they do here.
Look at all the taser incidents, not to mention the deaths caused by them.
Our taxpayer financed so called ''protection'' force are out of control.
I bet the jury was trying to figure out how to convict one of them and acquit two of them.
Posted by jamesm12341
Read the story - no jury, just one judge.
Posted by guyfrompa45
Actually I wrote that last post before I matched names and faces.
if one does not wish to find trouble then one must be away from all sorts of possible trouble in order to keep themselves out of jail, or in this case alive. poor judgement on this young man on where he choose to spend his time.
The man was unarmed and the cops claimed he had a gun. They were guilty. period.
Look at all the taser incidents, not to mention the deaths caused by them.
Our taxpayer financed so called ''''protection'''' force are out of control
Paint them with one broad stroke of a brush.
What angers me most are the stories of illegal aliens that are repeat offenders, comitting murders, before they are finaly out of harms way of the public.
there is no such thing as ''''being in the wrong place at the wrong time'''' when it come to ANY illegal activities, drugs, alcohol, prostotution, or even taunting the police.
if one does not wish to find trouble then one must be away from all sorts of possible trouble in order to keep themselves out of jail, or in this case alive. poor judgement on this young man on where he choose to spend his time.
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Posted by bdrlnt4rl
The poor judgement was on the cops. They staked out the wrong place. All they got for their effort was a dead , unarmed man. A corpse with no drugs, no gun, no criminal record. The corpse had no idea the cops were running an undercover operation. How could he?
NO ONE SHOULD DIE FOR ANY CRIME THEY DID NOT COMMIT. What the *** is wrong with you?
Posted by Bigot3
Most strip clubs are in dark crime ridden areas (Even the cops said they were investigating prostitution). Now, think about this and I dont mean it in a racist way-but if 2 blackmen & one hispanic looking gentleman approached you with guns drawn and told you to halt or freeze would you really stop even if they identified themselves as cops? Or, would you try and get into a lighted area first? Myself if I see blue lights behind me at night and I am on the interstate I put my flashers on and slow down and drive to the nearest lighted populated area. There were multiple mistakes made that night including the bump into the van but 50 shots is excessive by any means..
Did anyone look at the wedding picture? Bell is not even smiling in his Wedding picture!!??
I have been married almost 30yrs & in half the photo''s my husband was not smiling. So what is your point, that because a black man is not smiling he must be an angry black man. Get real. This young man was killed. Will we ever know the real truth as to what happened on that dark street?
I would certainly expect to be shot if I did that.
Did anyone look at the wedding picture? Bell is not even smiling in his Wedding picture!!??
IT IS NOT HIS WEDDING PICTURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Posted by Lynne_M1
You don''t know anything about the Constitution do you?
New police policy - do not bother with identifying your self as a law enforcement officer and shootings are fun!
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