3 Detectives to Be Indicted by Grand Jury in Bell Case

[Mamazen]

New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/16/ny...-grand.html?hp

March 16, 2007
3 Detectives to Be Indicted by Grand Jury in Bell Case
By AL BAKER and WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM

A Queens grand jury voted to indict three city police detectives — two black men and a white man — in the killing of Sean Bell, an unarmed 23-year-old black man who died in a hail of 50 bullets in November, a defense lawyer in the case said.

The looming question is what charges the detectives will face.

The detectives who will face charges, Michael Oliver, Gescard F. Isnora and Marc Cooper, were three of five officers who fired bullets into Mr. Bell’s car on Nov. 25 outside a strip club in Jamaica, Queens, hours before Mr. Bell was to be married.

Detective Oliver, 35, fired 31 of the 5o bullets in the shooting and Detective Isnora, 28, opened fire first and shot 11 bullets in total.

The Queens district attorney, Richard A. Brown, indicated this afternoon that the grand jury had reached a decision but said the decision was under seal until Monday, when he scheduled a news conference for 11 a.m.

Philip E. Karasyk, a lawyer for Detective Isnora, said, “Obviously, my client is upset, and he’s looking forward to having his day in court, and we’re all confident he will be vindicated.�

A lawyer for Detective Cooper, 39, one of the five officers involved in the shooting, said he believed his client had been indicted. The lawyer, Paul P. Martin, said his client has to “surrender for a formal arraignment,� but he declined to say when that would occur.

“I am disappointed with the grand jury’s decision but this is just the first stage of a long process and I am confident that once all the facts are considered by a jury of Detective Cooper’s peers, that he will be exonerated of all charges,� Mr. Martin said. Detective Cooper fired four of the shots in the shooting, Mr. Martin said.

When asked what the charges were, he said, “I wish I knew.�

Detective Cooper was appointed to the force on July 5, 1989, and until Nov. 25 had never fired his weapon, a Glock Model 19, in the line of duty, according to police records. In fact, none of the officers involved in the shooting had fired their weapons in the line of duty.

Detective Cooper last went to the department’s firearms range for training on March 30, 2006. Detective Cooper, who is one of the three black officers who fired their weapons, was in plainclothes wearing a bullet-resistant vest, according to police records.

A person involved in the case said the three detectives who will face criminal charges will have to turn themselves in for arraignment at the Queens Criminal Courthouse on Monday. Stephen P.. Worth, a lawyer for the only police officer involved, Officer Michael Carey, said his client had not been indicted.

“I got a call from the district attorney, Charles Testagrossa, and he told me there was no true bill as to my guy,� Mr. Worth said. “Obviously, we are gratified by the grand jury’s decision as to Mike and I have always believed that he acted professionally on the night of this incident.

A lawyer for the fifth detective involved in the shooting, Paul Headley, who fired one bullet, did not immediately return a phone call for comment.

Michael J. Palladino, the president of the Detectives’ Endowment Association, scheduled a news conference for 4:30 p.m. at the union’s headquarters on Thomas Street in Lower Manhattan.

The panel could have voted to indict some or all of the officers on a range of charges or decline to indict any of them.

Even as the grand jury was conducting its business today, a lawyer for Mr. Bell’s family questioned the credibility of a witness who testified on Thursday and renewed his appeal for a special prosecutor in the case.

The grand jury interrupted its deliberations on Thursday for less than an hour to hear from the witness, a law enforcement official said. By Thursday evening, the jurors had ended their second day of deliberations the same way they ended the first: without voting on whether to hand up indictments in the case.

“This has turned into a mini trial,� Peter St. George Davis, an attorney for the Bell family, said in a news conference this afternoon. “We believe that the grand jury process has taken too long at this point. We believe that they’ve heard from too many witnesses. Again, this is not a trial. This should have been over.

“And indeed if a police officer had been slain these individuals would have been indicted within a week.�

The vote of the 23 grand jurors has met as often as three times a week since Jan. 22 as it has heard evidence in the shooting, which also wounded two of Mr. Bell’s friends.

The law enforcement official confirmed Thursday that the witness was the person who — according to a lawyer involved in the case and a police union official — stepped forward at the last minute and claimed to have seen a man fire a gun at officers on the night of the shooting.

That account revived the possibility of a so-called fourth man — a mysterious figure who, in some witnesses’ accounts, might have been nearby in the moments before the shooting, and who was later sought by detectives.

Mr. Bell and several friends had just finished celebrating his bachelor party at a strip club in Jamaica when the shooting occurred, about 12 hours before his scheduled wedding. Two of the friends, Trent Benefield, 23, and Joseph Guzman, 31, were wounded. Mr. Benefield, who is also black, and Mr. Guzman, who is Hispanic, testified before the grand jury last week.

William K. Rashbaum, Timothy Williams and Carla Baranauckas contributed reporting.

[Roarin1]

N.Y.C. was poised to Explode!
(Thereby sending those same reverberations throughout the entire country.)

Cuz Brothers is still pizzed Everywhere.

They Better had'a come up with THIS action.

Enough is Enough is Enough.

Though this STILL don't pacify most cuz, what has the u.s. just-us system
ever done for US?

Oh. Check this out...'what will they ever do for US?'

It still ain't over.


ROARIN........

[Tehuti-4]

Who in the HELL calls 70 witnesses to testify before a damn grand-jury??????? All you need for an indictment in a grand-jury is evidence of a crime. In this cause an autopsy report showing Brother was murdered. There is no such thing as "justifiable homicide" in a grand-jury only a trial can determine whether a murder was self-defense or criminal. These criminals produced ALL of their witnesses before the trial - ie the defense knows exactly how to prepare and what every witness will say!!

You have to be very suspect about so called "leaders" who understand this yet are content to get up in front of tv cameras postering and going along with this sham. I feel for that brothers family who appear to put their trust in this type of leadership.

[Tehuti-4]

How can only three have been indicted? How is the case being made that only those who fired the most shots have committed a crime? Isn't the intent the same whether you fired one shot or 30? You still fired your weapon at people who were unarmed and not threatening your life or anyone else's.

Again smells like a set up.

[Mamazen]

Originally Posted by Tehuti-4

How can only three have been indicted? How is the case being made that only those who fired the most shots have committed a crime? Isn't the intent the same whether you fired one shot or 30? You still fired your weapon at people who were unarmed and not threatening your life or anyone else's.

Again smells like a set up.

It's a set up- Big time.


What gets me is that they are being brought up on manslaughter... not murder.



http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/A...ooting.html?hp


March 19, 2007
Officers Surrender in Groom’s Death
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 9:23 a.m. ET

NEW YORK (AP) -- Three police officers surrendered Monday to face charges in the shooting that killed a groom on his wedding day.

The policemen, accused of firing most of the 50 shots at three young men in a car outside a nightclub, were being fingerprinted and processed Monday morning before their arraignment.

Michael Oliver, who fired 31 times, and Gescard Isnora, who fired 11 bullets, face felony manslaughter charges, according to a person close to the investigation, who spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the results were secret. Marc Cooper, who fired four shots, faces a misdemeanor endangerment charge, the person said.

Grand jurors declined to indict on the more serious counts of second-degree murder, and attempted murder, or the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide. Two other officers involved in the shooting were not indicted.

''We are a long way from a conviction,'' said defense attorney Philip Karasyk, who represents Isnora.

Prosecutors have declined to discuss the grand jury's work until the findings are officially released.

The Nov. 25 shooting killed Sean Bell and severely injured two of his bachelor party guests.

Police have said the officers were involved in an undercover investigation at the nightclub when they overheard a conversation that convinced them the men were going to their car to retrieve a gun. They have said that Bell's car hit the unmarked police vehicle and that the officers believed someone in Bell's car was reaching for a gun when they opened fire. No gun was found.

While relatives of the victims waited for the Queens district attorney to unseal the indictment Monday, some were angry about reports of a lavish weekend party involving one of the indicted men.

Oliver ran up a $4,200 bill at a restaurant with supporters feasting on $180 pasta with truffles and $575 bottles of wine, the Daily News reported Monday.

''I don't really know what he was celebrating,'' said Denise Ford, whose son Trent Benefield was shot and seriously wounded the night Bell was killed. A third friend, Joseph Guzman, also was wounded in the shooting.