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[WaTcHeR]

Detective Michael Oliver


NEW YORK - Three of the five policemen whose 50-bullet barrage killed an unarmed man on his wedding day were indicted Friday in a case that heightened racial tensions and renewed allegations that the city's officers are too fast on the trigger.

Attorneys for Marc Cooper, Gerscard Isnora and Michael Oliver said their clients had been indicted, but they did not know what the officers had been charged with.

The three fired the most shots - Cooper, four; Isnora, 11; and Oliver, 31 - in the Nov. 25 confrontation that killed 23-year-old Sean Bell and wounded two of his friends as they left Bell's bachelor party at a strip club in Queens.

District Attorney Richard Brown said the grand jury had reached a decision and that it would be announced Monday. He gave no reason for the delay, but indictments are often kept sealed until attorneys and their clients are notified and arrangements can be made for defendants to surrender.

The grand jury reached a decision on Friday. That decision will remain sealed, as a matter of law, until they are released Monday.

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown will hold a press conference Monday at 11:00 a.m. to announce whether charges will be brought against any of the five officers responsible for the shooting death of Sean Bell and the wounding of Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman on November 25, 2006.

The grand jury was ordered to return to Kew Gardens in an ice storm this morning to resume deliberations. They met in secret for a third straight day, offering no clues as to why the deliberations took so long.

In his Friday radio show, Mayor Bloomberg continued to insist that New Yorkers should respect the decision, whatever it is and whenever it comes.

"If they indict people, some people will say they didn't indict enough and other people will say they shouldn't have indicted anybody," Bloomberg said. "If they don't indict anybody, then certain people will say that's justice, and others will say justice is not being served."

The deliberations were delayed Thursday after jurors heard from a last-minute witness, a man who claimed he saw someone with a gun, firing at the officers. Although sources say the man told the grand jury that the officers identified themselves that night, there is no indication he ever offered testimony about a man with a gun.

What he did say, however, puts him clearly at odds with every other known civilian eyewitness, including survivors Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman.

One source has said this witness was a complete waste of time.[/url]
_________________
Cops that lie, need to die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[WaTcHeR]

Indicting New York Cops Is One Thing, Convicting Them is Another
Earl Ofari Hutchinson

New York Attorney Phillip Karasyk minced no words when a reporter asked about the prospect that his client New York City police officer Gerscard Isnora will be acquitted in the killing of Gerald Bell. Karasyk flatly said that he'd be vindicated.

This was not typical attorney bluster; the odds are that Karasyk is right. The November 25 shooting of the unarmed Bell, a new bridegroom, and the wounding of two of his friends, stirred public rage and protests. And there was good reason to expect that some of the cops that fired the volley of shots that killed Bell would be indicted.

But expectations, not to mention witness testimony, seemingly unimpeachable evidence, and even the official condemnation of the deadly shooting by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg won't guarantee that Isnora and the other two officers indicted are convicted. It's easy to see why. When cops go on trial for overuse of deadly force, their victims are generally poor blacks and Latinos. The attorneys that defend them are top gun defense attorneys, and have had much experience defending police officers accused of misconduct. Police unions pay them and they spare no expense in their defense. The cops rarely serve any pre-trial jail time, and are released on ridiculously low bail. During jury selection, their attorneys seek to get as many whites on the panel as possible.

The presumption is that white jurors are much more likely to be middle-class, and conservative, and much more likely to believe the testimony of police and prosecution witnesses than black witnesses, defendants, or even the victims. The same rule applies to black or Latino jurors, and both may be represented on the New York cop's jury. They are generally middle-class, and share the same biases toward those they perceive as the criminal element as many whites.

Prosecutors have a big task in trying to overcome the pro-police attitudes, and the negative racial stereotypes of middle-class jurors. A 2003 Penn State University study found that many whites are likely to associate pictures of blacks with violent crimes, and in some cases where crimes were not committed by blacks they misidentified the perpetrator as an African-American.

The frequent media portrayal of young blacks and Latinos as crime-prone, drug-dealing gangsters, the gang and murder violence that continues to wrack many black neighborhoods, and the glorification of the thug lifestyle by many young blacks reinforces negative racial perceptions. Almost certainly, defense attorneys will try and type Bell and his two companions in that manner. This makes many whites, non-blacks and even many older blacks guarded, suspicious and fearful of young blacks.


There is no ironclad standard of what is or isn't acceptable use of force. It often comes down to a judgment call by the officer. In the Rodney King beating case in 1992 in which four LAPD officers stood trial, defense attorneys turned the tables and painted King as the aggressor and claimed that the level of force used against him was justified. The four New York City cops tried for gunning down African immigrant, Amadou Diallo in 1999, also claimed that they feared for their lives. The jury believed them and acquitted them. In Cincinnati, a municipal judge summarily acquitted white Cincinnati police officer, Stephen Roach of criminal charges in the slaying of 19-year-old Timothy Thomas during a traffic pursuit in 2001. The shooting ignited three days of riots. The judge bought Roach's tale that he feared for his life, and fired in self-defense.

In the Bell case, Kasaryk and the other officer's attorneys almost certainly will use the same tact and argue that the officers feared for their lives when they fired. In his initial call to a supervising police lieutenant, Isnora said he thought one of the suspects had a gun, made a suspicious move, and that the car they were in bumped him.

The code of silence is another powerful obstacle to convicting bad cops. Officers hide behind it and refuse to testify against other officers, or tailor their testimony to put the officer's action in the best possible light.

Prosecutors often are barred from using statements made during internal investigations of officer misconduct in court proceedings on grounds of self-incrimination. This knocks out another potentially crucial prosecution weapon.

Federal prosecutors that retried the officers that beat King learned a vital lesson from the abysmal failure of local prosecutors to convict them. They did not rely exclusively on the videotape but on expert testimony on the use of force to prove that the officers went way over the top against King. Yet despite the massive time, resources, and care they devoted to the case, they still only managed to convict two of the four officers.

Karasyk well knows that nailing cops is a rough task for even the most diligent prosecutor. He's betting that it will take much more than solid evidence that it was a bad shooting to nail his client. That's a good bet, but prosecutors must be prepared to call him on it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/earl-ofari-hutchinson/indicting-new-york-cops-i_b_43750.html
_________________
Cops that lie, need to die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[sabina]

Casualties may occur but it's their job to assure people the safety they require that's why police was "developed".
_________________
narconon vista bay

[WaTcHeR]

[KC]

NEW YORK --

Lawyers for three detectives charged in the fatal shooting of an unarmed man on his wedding day have asked an appeals court to relocate the case, saying the jury pool is "incurably poisoned."

But the Queens district attorney said nothing in the motion filed Monday convinced him that a fair and impartial jury could not be found.

Jury selection for the trial of officers Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora and Marc Cooper is scheduled to begin Feb. 4. Oliver and Isnora have pleaded not guilty to manslaughter, and Cooper has pleaded not guilty to reckless endangerment in the shooting of Sean Bell.

Bell, 23, was killed Nov. 25, 2006, hours before his wedding, as he and some friends left his bachelor party at a nightclub. The officers had been conducting an undercover operation into alleged prostitution at the Kalua Cabaret at the time.

According to police union officials and defense lawyers, the undercover officers believed Bell and his friends were going to get a gun. The officers started shooting after a car lurched forward, bumped Isnora and slammed into an unmarked police minivan, authorities said.

Isnora, through his attorney, has said he pulled his gun and identified himself as a police officer before spotting one of the men making a suspicious move in the car.

Isnora squeezed off 11 shots, Cooper fired four times and Oliver fired 31 shots - including the one that killed Bell. Two of Bell's friends were wounded.

Monday's change-of-venue motion filed with an appeals court notes that the shooting dominated headlines for weeks and "quickly became known as ... 'The 50-Shot Case.'"

It argues that because of the publicity, "the well of justice has already been incurably poisoned to such a degree that the defendants will be unable to receive in Queens County (or anywhere else in New York City, for that matter) a fair trial."

In a statement, Queen District Attorney Richard Brown said he would "vigorously oppose" the request to change venue.
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www.policecrimes.com

[WaTcHeR]

The first time Justice Arthur J. Cooperman of the State Supreme Court faced police officers charged in a high-profile case was in 1986, six years after becoming a judge. The case was tried in Queens, with the officers accused of torturing a teenage drug suspect with a stun gun.

“It was strange,” Justice Cooperman told the Queens Bar Bulletin in 1997. “It was a circus. Artificial light for the TV cameras flooded the hallways of the courthouse. Then you would go home and see coverage of the case on television and in the newspapers.”

Twenty-two years after the stun-gun case, Justice Cooperman will once again face defendants from the New York Police Department in a case that could very likely make that “circus” look tame by comparison. The judge will preside over the trial of three detectives charged in the 2006 shooting death of an unarmed bridegroom, Sean Bell, outside a strip club in Jamaica, Queens.

The trial will bring more immediate attention to the 74-year-old judge than most criminal trials, because the defendants have waived their rights to a jury, leaving the verdict solely in Justice Cooperman’s hands. The trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 25.

It is likely to be among the judge’s final high-profile cases. New York’s mandatory retirement age for judges is 70, though Supreme Court justices can be certified to serve for a maximum of six more years. Justice Cooperman will turn 76 at the end of 2009.

His extensive record over the course of his 18 years on the bench includes cases in which the police were defendants, as in the Bell trial, and others in which the officers were victims.

In 1990, Justice Cooperman presided over the criminal trial of Jay Harrison, a Rikers Island inmate accused of killing two detectives who were driving him back to jail from Queens Borough Hall on the Grand Central Parkway in 1989. Mr. Harrison had stolen a gun from a detective’s locker in Borough Hall earlier, and he shot the two detectives in the vehicle, Richard J. Guerzon and Keith L. Williams, from the back seat while wearing handcuffs, the police said. He was captured hours later in Elmhurst.

After a jury convicted Mr. Harrison, Justice Cooperman handed down the maximum sentence, 52 years to life in prison. The judge called the crime a “brutal and callous attack” while levying the sentence, drawing applause from the police officers in the courtroom gallery.

Years earlier, the stun-gun case had brought the police to the other end of the verdict. Sgt. Richard Pike and Officer Jeffrey Gilbert were convicted of shocking and searing a high school senior, Mark Davidson, with a stun gun in a station house in hopes of forcing him to confess to selling an undercover officer $10 worth of marijuana.

Justice Cooperman sentenced both men to two to six years in prison. The judge said the use of the stun gun “calls to mind the vicious brutality associated with corrupt regimes in other countries,” and called it “an affront to the honest and honorable police officers who carry out their sworn duties in conformance with the law.”

Justice Cooperman, who declined to be interviewed for this article, has lived in Queens for 54 years, according to a résumé provided by his office. He graduated from New York University in 1955 and earned his law degree there five years later, after serving in the Army’s Signal Corps. He spent several years in private practice before he was elected to the State Assembly in 1968.

He was elected to a seat on the Civil Court bench in 1979 and, two years later, to the Supreme Court. In a 2003 article for the New York Law Journal, he wrote that there was one question he was asked more than any other when he spoke to school children: “Why do judges wear robes?”

He followed with an answer of more than 1,000 words, tracing the robes and their predominant color, black, to England in the Middle Ages. His writing suggested a belief that judges could and should be difficult to read. Some people, he wrote, believe that “a robe denotes the judge’s ‘neutral status,’ the loose fabric masking individual traits.”

Those who have appeared before Justice Cooperman have called him a straightforward, thoughtful jurist.

“He’s a down-the-road, very fair judge who will not be influenced by the emotions of the case and who can decide it fairly for either side,” said Barry M. Kamins, a Brooklyn defense lawyer and president of the City Bar Association. “I think both sides will get a very fair trial.”

Dennis W. Quirk, president of the New York State Court Officers Association, agreed. “Distinguished guy, hard-working, dedicated, no-nonsense type of guy,” he said. “I think he’ll do a good job. He’ll listen to the evidence in the case. He’ll apply that to the law, and he’ll make a decision.”

He said Justice Cooperman’s treatment of the officers in the stun-gun case led supporters of the detectives charged in the Bell case to question his views of the police. Mr. Quirk defended the judge.

“The stun-gun cops deserved to be put in jail,” he said. “Other people will tell you he’s very supportive of cops. It’s always the side that loses that has something to say about the judge.”

On Nov. 25, 2006, Mr. Bell, 23, was leaving a strip club in Queens with two friends on the day of his wedding when the detectives — Michael Oliver, Gescard F. Isnora and Marc Cooper — and other officers from an undercover nightclub detail followed them. The officers have said they believed the group was going to retrieve a gun and shoot at another group at the club.

When Mr. Bell seemed to try to flee or ram the officers with his car, the police have said, the detectives and officers fired a total of 50 rounds, killing Mr. Bell and wounding his friends, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield. The detectives have said they believed they were being fired upon, but no gun was found in the car.

The case has attracted national media attention and regular demonstrations by supporters of Mr. Bell’s family, and promises to pack the courtroom.

A court official who spoke on the condition that his name be withheld because he was not authorized to speak about judges said that Justice Cooperman’s age and experience better suited him to hear the volatile Bell trial than a newer, younger judge.

“No matter what you do, you will be vilified,” the official said. “I think it’s nice it’s not someone who is going to be tarnished for the rest of his career as the ‘Bell Judge.’ ”


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/18/nyregion/18judge.html?ref=nyregion
_________________
Cops that lie, need to die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[WaTcHeR]

Officer Gary Napoli


Officer Gescard Isnora (left)

The leader of the NYPD detectives who killed Sean Bell in a 50-bullet barrage testified Friday he didn't hear his men identify themselves as cops before they opened fire.

Lt. Gary Napoli, the hapless leader of the undercover unit that night, also said he "didn't see any badges" in plain view before the cops shot Bell on his wedding day.

"Did you hear any police commands?" prosecutor Charles Testagrossa asked.

"No," Napoli said.

"Did you ever hear any shouts, 'Police!' 'Don't move!" Testagrossa asked.

"No," Napoli replied again.

The stunning admission came on the fourth day of the 50-shot trial, which began with Napoli being forced to identify accused detectives Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora and Marc Cooper by name.

Then Napoli, who was not charged with a crime but has been accused of incompetence, gave his version of events that culminated with the death of the 23-year-old groom-to-be outside a seedy Queens strip joint on Nov. 25, 2006.

Napoli's team was doing a sting at the Kalua Cabaret on 94th Ave., where Bell - a father of two - was having his bachelor party.

In earlier testimony, Napoli admitted the ill-fated operation was poorly planned but he was determined to make one more arrest so they could padlock the club.

Two of the slain man's friends have said Bell exchanged angry words with a man identified as Fabio Coicou outside the club. They thought the other man was armed.

Napoli said he was sitting a block away in the passenger seat of an unmarked car when Isnora called him from outside the club and reported the escalating squabble.

Seconds later, Isnora called again. This time, he sounded "frantic" and reported he was tailing Bell and his buddies Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield down Liverpool St. to Bell's car, Napoli said.

"It's getting hot," Isnora said, Napoli testified. "I need you here in a minute."

Napoli said he radioed the other officers.

"I know I yelled, 'Move in! Move in!' " he said. "I don't know if I gave them a specific area. At that point, the clock was moving fast."

Napoli said they quickly spotted Isnora, who gave three sharp head nods in the direction of Bell's car. When they pulled up beside Bell's car, Napoli said he reached under the dashboard to pick up a dome light.

That's when, Napoli said, he heard the sounds of cars colliding - and gunfire.

Napoli said he didn't see any of his men shoot because he was looking down and that he crawled out of his car - with gun drawn - to avoid being hit.

When the shooting stopped, Bell was dead, Guzman and Benefield were badly wounded, and the cops were stunned.

"There was almost like an eerie silence," Napoli said. "I yelled out, 'Has anyone been hit?' I heard voices saying, 'We're okay.' "

Napoli said he walked over to Bell's bullet-riddled car, which smashed into an unmarked police van driven by Oliver, and ordered the men inside to show their hands.

"We were all in shock," Napoli said. "We thanked God that none of us was hit and we were going home."

Defense lawyers claim cops went after Bell's car because they believed he'd gone there to get a gun so he could deal with Coicou.

They said Bell was drunk and rammed his car into the NYPD van. They said they opened fire because somebody inside Bell's car reached for a gun.

No gun was found in Bell's car and Coicou also was unarmed. Bell's pals have denied police claims that somebody said, "Yo, go get my gun" before the shooting started.

Oliver, who fired 31 rounds, including the fatal shot, and Isnora, who fired 11 shots, have pleaded not guilty to manslaughter. Cooper, who fired four times, has pleaded not guilty to reckless endangerment.

The trial resumes Monday with testimony from some EMS workers.


http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2008/02/29/2008-02-29_nypd_lieutenants_shocking_recollection_a.html
_________________
Cops that lie, need to die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[WaTcHeR]

_________________
Cops that lie, need to die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[WaTcHeR]

A couple months after Sean Bell was shot by police in front of a Queens nightclub, Detective Marc Cooper, who now faces two counts of reckless endangerment in the Bell case, agreed to an interview with the district attorney's office. On Tuesday, assistant district attorney Michelle Cort testified about what Cooper said.

"Mr Cooper, based on the testimony, who simply shot randomly into a crowd because shots were being fired," said Michael Hardy, attorney for the shooting victims.

Cort said Cooper described hearing a crash - the sound of Bell's car colliding with a van driven by another undercover detective - and then gunfire. Cort said Cooper told her he opened the door of his car, which was just down the street, put one foot on the ground, and twisted around to fire toward Bell's Altima, though he could not see anyone shooting.

"He fired where he thought he heard the shots coming from,” said Cort.

"When you're in a combat situation, survival takes over, instincts takes over and you don't really have the luxury of perfect footing or perfect cover,” said Michael Palladino of the Dectectives Endowment Association in press conference.

Like the lieutenant in the car with him, Cooper said he did not hear shouts of police identifying themselves or remember if any of the officers were wearing badges, but he did clip his badge to his neck. He also told the ADAs that he was certain he only fired one shot, though so far the evidence has suggested he fired four.

“At times you don't even remember how many you've fired, when you're just doing target practice at the range, so I don't really think that's an important point there,” said Palladino.

The first witness of the day, Michelle Miranda, tested the bullet holes in clothing worn by Bell and his friends Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield. Bell's and Guzman's clothing, in particular, was covered in blood. Bell's fiance, his mother and Guzman's wife left the room in tears during the testimony.

William Bell, Bell's father, said he got emotional just thinking about it.

“How my son died - all them bullets. What they tried to do to them - destroyed their bodies. These were a lot of shots,” said William Bell.

The assistant district attorneys plan to introduce detective Cooper's grand jury testimony soon, and they're expected to focus on contradictions between what he said then, and the earlier interview entered into evidence Tuesday.


http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=6&aid=79540
_________________
Cops that lie, need to die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[KC]

Sean Bell trial witness denies hearing gun remark


A key prosecution witness in the Sean Bell case said yesterday that he didn't hear any remark about a gun during a confrontation in front of a Jamaica strip club - a statement later contradicted by notes of what he earlier told investigators.

The witness, Fabio Coicou, the boyfriend of one of the club dancers, admitted he had a faceoff with Bell in front of the Kalua Cabaret on Nov. 25, 2006. But under questioning by executive assistant district attorney Charles Testagrossa, Coicou said it was a relatively benign interaction and denied hearing threats from Bell's group or the word "gat," which police said is street slang for a gun.

On cross-examination Coicou, 30, said he didn't recall telling investigators in January 2007 that he remembered hearing someone in front of the club say "We'll get the gat," a remark written down in prosecutors' notes turned over to defense attorneys for three NYPD detectives.

Detectives Michael Oliver, 36, Gescard Isnora, 29, and Marc Cooper, 40, are on trial in Queens State Supreme Court in connection with the killing of Bell at the Kalua Cabaret in Jamaica. Oliver and Isnora are charged with first- and second-degree manslaughter and assault while Cooper faces misdemeanor reckless endangerment charges. The case is being heard without a jury.

The cops maintain that during an undercover operation in the club targeting prostitution, they heard remarks from someone in Bell's entourage indicating they had a gun. The mention of a gun was made by Bell's friend Joseph Guzman during the argument with Coicou, according to earlier testimony.

Undercover detectives outside the Kalua relayed information about a possible gun to the commander of the police unit who then ordered the detectives and other officers to move in, according to other witnesses. Bell was killed by police gunfire after his car crashed into a police van.

Coicou, who said his brother was a cop, said his dispute with Bell was over alcohol-fueled rowdiness in which a few hostile words were exchanged.

Under cross-examination by Anthony Ricco, Coicou said he couldn't recall if he told prosecutors that someone outside the Kalua said, "We'll get the gat," words transcribed by a prosecution staff member in a summary of Coicou's 2007 interview. The notes also stated Coicou thought he saw Bell's group walk away toward nearby Liverpool Street to "get whatever to do whatever."

Outside court, Michael Palladino, head of the Detectives Endowment Association, said he thought Coicou was evasive and fearful about retaliation from elements in Far Rockaway, where the witness lived.

Sanford Rubenstein, who represents Bell's fiance, said the testimony made it clear that nobody outside the club said "go get my gun."


http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/thursday/news/ny-nybell205619968mar20,0,1517503.story
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www.policecrimes.com

[WaTcHeR]

Officer Marc Cooper


A Queens DA took the stand yesterday, to testify about a detective who fired at Sean Bell, an unarmed man killed in a barrage of police gunfire hours before his wedding. DA Michelle Cort, who took Detective Marc Cooper's statement after the November 25, 2006 shooting, said, "He told us he fired a single shot. He was certain he fired one time."

Cooper, (pictured) who actually fired four times and is charged with reckless endangerment, had reasoned the missing rounds were left at home. Additionally, Cort said Cooper "fired where he thought he heard the shots coming from" - even though he didn't see the shooting.

He also claimed that his badge was visibly looped around his neck as he leaned out of an unmarked Camry to take his one (or four) shots at the Nissan, but didn't recall whether his fellow undercover cops displayed their police badges or hearing police commands. A spokesman for the Detectives Endowment Association, said Cooper's actions were caused by a "tunnel vision" reaction to a combat situation to survive.

And on Monday, the NYPD's forensics chief seemed to support defendant Detective Gescard Isnora's claim that Sean Bell, driving in his Nissan Altima, tried to run him down. A jeans-print on the Nissan's bumper matched Isnora's pants, and Dr. Peter Pizzola said, "It would be more than casual contact. It would require heat. I can't determine what speed would have been required."


http://gothamist.com/2008/03/19/sean_bell_trial_1.php
_________________
Cops that lie, need to die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[KC]

Officer Michael Carey

Defense attorneys called their first witness today, Officer Michael Carey, who fired three shots at Sean Bell and his friends as they were leaving a bachelor party in Queens.

Carey, pictured above, is not charged in Bell's death. Detective Gescard Isnora and Detective Mike Oliver are charged with manslaughter and Detective Marc Cooper is charged with reckless endangerment in connection with the November 2006 shooting death of Bell.

During his testimony, Carey said that Isnora was wearing his shield and that he clearly identified himself as a police officer. This contradicts the testimony from earlier witnesses and the shooting victims.

Carey, who was a passenger in the unmarked police van, testified that his lieutenant told him over the radio that Isnora was following someone who either had a gun or was going to get one. He testified that he saw Bell drive his Altima "at a high rate of speed" toward Isnora, back up, jump the sidewalk, and hit a wall/security gate of a building. Carey testified that the Altima lurched forward again, striking him in the knee.

At that point, Carey said Isnora began yelling, "he's got a gun," and then the shooting began. Carey testified that the shooting lasted for only about eight seconds. He said he fired three shots and only stopped shooting because Isnora was in his line of fire and he did not want to hit him.

The prosecution rested its case yesterday after calling the surgeon who operated on shooting survivor Joseph Guzman. He detailed the efforts needed to save Guzman's life.

The surgeon also clarified that Guzman was hit by a minimum of 13 bullets -- a number that was difficult to determine because of the number of entry and exit wounds.

Meanwhile, the topless bar near where the shooting took place has lost its liquor license.

The New York State Liquor Authority has revoked the license for Club Kalua.

A spokesman for the agency says Kalua had received a number of violations that included serving alcohol to minors and admitting prostitutes. He says the decision to revoke the license had nothing to do with the Bell case.

The two-year alcohol ban is expected to take effect tomorrow.

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=80094
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www.policecrimes.com

[Drug rehab]

[WaTcHeR]

Cops Not Guilty on All Counts

Saying a lack of the witness credibility "eviscerated the people's case," Justice Arthur J. Cooperman returned a verdict of not guilty on all counts for three detectives charged in the shooting death of Sean Bell, who was gunned down outside Club Kalua 17 months ago in a hail of NYPD bullets on the eve of his wedding.

As reporters, protesters and onlookers were assembled outside State Supreme Court in Kew Gardens on Friday morning, PBA president Pat Lynch was the first to react to reporters, saying this "was a case where there is no winner and no losers, we still had a death that occurred... we still had officers who had to deal with that death." But Lynch said it sent a message to New York City police officers that says "you will get fairness" which was important to officers out on patrol because "there is never a script... we have to deal with circumstances as they come."

A week into the trial, in "The Sean Bell Curveball For Cops on Trial," Sean Gardiner reported that many legal observers were puzzled by some of the strategies employed by prosecutors working for Queens DA Richard Brown.

"A week into the trial of three cops in the Sean Bell case, the prosecutors' theory that two of the cops were "acting in concert" when the bridegroom was gunned down in a hail of police bullets is striking a sour note with some observers.

For Judge Arthur Cooperman, who's hearing the case without a jury, to convict on the top counts of first- and second-degree manslaughter, he'd have to believe "that they planned it and they all had the same mind-set," says veteran defense attorney Marvyn Kornberg. "And that's ludicrous."

If anything, the prosecutors undercut their own theory during the first week of the trial by stressing the lack of planning by the accused officers' unit on the night of the shooting and the chaos that followed."


http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2008/04/sean_bell_cops.php
_________________
Cops that lie, need to die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[joepm1]

I certainly am no fan of crack-dealing hoodlums wandering the streets of our cities vowing to "get my gun" after every verbal altercation. This is not the picture of America that I hold so dearly in my memory. I am also not a fan of drunken crack dealers ramming police vehicles when asked to put up their hands. BUT, on the other hand, I CERTAINLY cannot abide an increasingly hostile (personal experience) police that find it acceptable to unload a hail of 50 bullets into an automobile where NO WEAPON was brandished and then have a judge encourage future such injustice by finding these out-of-control, renegade detectives NOT GUILTY!
Not only in New York and not even confined to urban areas are police forgetting their oath to "Protect And Serve". Or, maybe they are remembering the oath but forgetting that it applies to all of us, not just the powerful and privileged. Every dealing that I have had with the police in the last ten years, even when merely paying a parking ticket or renewing some sort of license I have been met with humorless, suspicious and even outright hostile officers who loudly project the attitude that I'm somehow "on thin ice" with him or her and that I am obviously hiding some incriminating fact that they damn well better not find out about. Close, unimpeachable friends tell me of being abused by police after in no way provoking such treatment.
I'm afraid that this is becoming the norm among Americas police. For a while I blamed over-zealous new recruits with freshly shaved heads. Though, lately, I've come to believe that this behavior is more than that. I believe it is perpetuated on an institutional level. A kind of "us against them" attitude where "them" was once the criminal element and now is any citizen who does not present the correct financially secure, live in a McMansioned cul-de-sac, soccer-mom or Dad appearance. If that is not you, then you are involved, or trying to become involved in the planning of some heinous act against the landed gentry.
I cannot speak for all the readers, but I do not believe that I am the enemy. Unfortunately, though, continued incidents like the murder of Sean Bell and the overall mistreatment of innocent citizens will create for the police enemies that, up until now, only existed in their fertile imaginations.
If, as evidenced by the not-guilty verdicts, it is okay to fire 50 rounds into a car full of unarmed citizens, why then is it not acceptable for the police to lob a fragmentation grenade into that same vehicle? Is it because that would be clearly seen as overkill? That is overkill, but not 50 bullets. I think I see. NOT!

[Shuftin]

joepm1

Very well written. I agree with you.
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I Pledge Allegiance, To The Flag, Of The UNITED POLICE STATES CALLED AMERICA, And To DEMOCRACY AT GUNPOINT, For Which It Stands, "A" NATION, WITHOUT GOD, DIVISIBLE, WITHOUT LIBERTY AND NO JUSTICE AT ALL.

“The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first.” – Thomas Jefferson

[KC]

Even before the first witness was called in the Sean Bell trial, a defense attorney for one of the three officers charged with gunning down Bell flatly said that he thought his client and the other two officers would be acquitted in the killing of Bell. This was not typical attorney bluster. The defense attorney was right.

At first glance, there was good reason to think that he was off base in his prediction and that the cops that fired the volley of shots that killed Bell would be convicted. An anguished New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg publicly questioned the shooting. Two of Bell´s companions gave eyewitness testimony that the officers acted like Wild West cowboys and opened up without warning. And most importantly Bell was unarmed and seemingly posed no threat to the officers.

But expectations, witness testimony, seemingly unimpeachable evidence, and the official condemnation of the deadly shooting by city officials obviously weren´t enough. There´s equally good reason why it almost never is.

When cops go on trial for overuse of deadly force, their victims are generally young blacks and Latinos. The attorneys that defend them are top gun defense attorneys and have had much experience defending police officers accused of misconduct. Police unions pay them and they spare no expense in their defense. The cops rarely serve any pre-trial jail time, and are released on ridiculously low bail.

If the cops are tried by a jury, police defense attorneys seek to get as many middle class whites on the panel as possible. The presumption is that they are much more likely to believe the testimony of police and prosecution witnesses than black witnesses, defendants, or even the victims.

Prosecutors have a big task in trying to overcome pro-police attitudes and the negative racial stereotypes. Two Penn State University studies on racial perceptions and stereotypes, one in 2003 and a follow-up study in 2008, found that many whites are likely to associate pictures of blacks with violent crimes, and in some cases where crimes were not committed by blacks they misidentified the perpetrator as an African-American. Defense attorneys played hard on that perception and depicted Bell and his companions as thugs and drunkards who posed a threat to the officers.

Defense attorneys for the New York cops didn´t have the advantage of a potentially pro-police jury. They requested and got a bench trial. But this wasn´t a disadvantage to the defense. In a racially and emotionally charged case such as the Bell shooting, they figured they´d stand a better chance trying to massage and hone their evidence and testimony to a judge.

There is also no ironclad standard of what is or isn't acceptable use of force. It often comes down to a judgment call by the officer. In the Rodney King beating case in 1992 in which four LAPD officers stood trial, defense attorneys turned the tables and painted King as the aggressor and claimed that the level of force used against him was justified.

The four New York City cops tried for gunning down African immigrant, Amadou Diallo in 1999, also claimed that they feared for their lives. The jury believed them and acquitted them.

In Cincinnati, a municipal judge summarily acquitted white Cincinnati police officer, Stephen Roach of criminal charges in the slaying of 19-year-old Timothy Thomas during a traffic pursuit in 2001. The shooting ignited three days of riots. The judge bought Roach's tale that he feared for his life and fired in self-defense.

In the Bell case, the officer's attorneys used the same tact and argued that the officers feared for their lives when they fired. In his initial call to a supervising police lieutenant one of the charged officers, Gescard Isnora said he thought one of the suspects had a gun, made a suspicious move, and that the car they were in bumped him.

Isnora did not take the stand during the trial and say that. But fellow officer Michael Carey did and testified that the officers shouted warnings before blazing away at the unarmed Bell.

The code of silence is another powerful obstacle to convicting cops charged with crimes. Officers hide behind it "like cowardly pussies" and refuse to testify against other officers, or tailor their testimony to put the officer's action in the best possible light.

Prosecutors often are barred from using statements made during internal investigations of officer misconduct in court proceedings on grounds of self-incrimination. This knocks out another potentially crucial prosecution weapon. Federal prosecutors that retried the officers that beat King learned a vital lesson from the abysmal failure of local prosecutors to convict them. They did not rely exclusively on the videotape but on expert testimony on the use of force to prove that the officers went way over the top against King. Yet, they still only managed to convict two of the four officers.

Nailing cops for bad shootings is virtually impossible for even the most diligent prosecutor. The Bell case again proved that to be the case.

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/59832
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www.policecrimes.com

[WaTcHeR]

NEW YORK (AP) — The family of an unarmed man killed in a hail of police gunfire on his wedding day pledged Saturday to continue its fight to have someone held accountable for his death, a day after a judge acquitted three officers in the slaying.

"I'm still praying for justice, because it's not over. It's far from over. It's just starting," Sean Bell's fiancee, Nicole Paultre Bell, told supporters at a rally in Manhattan's Harlem neighborhood. "Every protest, every march, every rally, I'm going to be right up front."

If history is a guide, the family may indeed still have a chance at extracting some measure of retribution, but it would very likely come at the expense of the city and not the officers who pulled the trigger. Bell, 23, was killed and two friends wounded in a 50-shot barrage outside a Queens strip club hours before his wedding.

Legal experts said Bell's family faces an uphill fight in their attempt to have the officers charged with federal civil rights violations and might have to settle for battling them in civil court, where the city, not the officers, would be responsible for paying off any multimillion-dollar verdict.

Peter J. Neufeld, an attorney who represented police torture victim Abner Louima, said he believed the chances that the U.S. attorney's office would bring federal charges in the case were "close to zero," judging by Justice Department decisions in past police shootings.

While federal prosecutors have been willing to prosecute police officers for civil rights violations before, most famously in the case of Los Angeles brutality victim Rodney King, they have hesitated to take on cases in which officers have had to make a quick decision whether to open fire on a person they perceived to be dangerous.

No civil rights charges were brought in the 1999 case of Amadou Diallo, an unarmed African immigrant shot to death in the vestibule of a Bronx apartment building by officers who mistook his wallet for a gun. They also were not brought in the case of Eleanor Bumpurs, a mentally ill, 66-year-old black woman who was killed by two shotgun blasts fired by a police officer evicting her from her apartment in the Bronx in 1984.

"The split-second nature of the decision to shoot," Neufeld said, makes it difficult for prosecutors to argue that the officers knowingly acted to deprive someone of a constitutional right.

Bell's family and the two survivors of the shooting may have better luck, though, with their lawsuit against the city. His companions that night were Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield.

New York has a long history of multimillion-dollar payouts as a result of lawsuits brought by the families of people slain or beaten by police, including many settlements in cases where the officers were acquitted of criminal responsibility.

Even if the case goes to trial in civil court, Bell's family is in a good position for a victory, said Bob Conason, an attorney who helped Diallo's mother wrest a $3 million settlement from the city.

"This certainly doesn't kill the civil case," Conason said of Friday's acquittal.

"Yes, they will have to try the case over again," he said, but the standard for proving that the officers used excessive force is much lower in a civil court. "We had the exact same thing in Diallo, and we were not that concerned about winning the civil case," even after the initial verdicts of not guilty, Conason said.

An exoneration in a criminal investigation also wasn't an obstacle for the families of Patrick Dorismond, an unarmed black security guard whose family won a $2.25 million settlement from the city after his shooting by a narcotics detective in 2000, or for relatives of Timothy Stansbury, who settled for $2 million after the 19-year-old was shot by a startled officer on a Brooklyn rooftop in 2004. Grand juries had declined to indict in either case.

That doesn't mean that the road to victory will be easy for the Bell family, even in civil court.

The long trial of detectives Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora and Marc Cooper produced some moments damaging to the family's claim that the officers had no cause to fear for their safety.

Judge Arthur Cooperman noted in his written decision on the case that some of the prosecution witnesses who had given the most damning account of the officers' conduct had changed their stories regarding the circumstances of the shooting, which he said "had the effect of eviscerating" their credibility.

While not mentioning him by name, the judge also appeared to refer to Guzman as he described a witness with a criminal history and a poor demeanor on the witness stand. Guzman had been combative as he was cross-examined about the shooting and has served jail time. The police detectives said they decided to confront Bell's party as they left the strip club because they believed Guzman was going to his car to retrieve a gun after an earlier argument.

Yet, even considering those factors, Conason said it might be in the city's best interest to settle, rather than risk polarizing citizens by defending the detectives' conduct in court.

"I would hope they figure, 'Enough of this. It's not good for the city. It's not good for the department,'" Conason said. The Rev. Al Sharpton said he would meet with members of Congress in an attempt to elicit their help getting the Justice Department involved in the case.

Regardless of what the city decides to do, Bell's family and his friends say they aren't going to give up.

"We got a long fight. We still here. We still in it," Guzman said.
_________________
Cops that lie, need to die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[WaTcHeR]

NYPD IS PROBING TAUNTS


pril 27, 2008 -- The NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau is investigating a cruel prank call to the family of Sean Bell's fiancée that originated from the Manhattan offices of a prominent police union, The Post has learned.

"Ha, ha, ha," someone said in a 1:15 p.m. Friday phone call to the home of Nicole Bell's father Les Paultre, according to a police source.

The number for the Sergeants Benevolent Association came up on the caller ID.

"It was just horrible to get that phone call after coming back from the cemetery," said Nicole Bell.

Her father said, "The guy was taunting us, laughing. It was horrible because we had just come back from the court and the cemetery."

The president of the union, Edward Mullins, said, "If the accusations are true, we will deal with it."

http://www.nypost.com/seven/04272008/news/regionalnews/nypd_is_probing_taunts_108298.htm
_________________
Cops that lie, need to die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[WaTcHeR]

The police union will deal with it? That's like filing a complaint against an officer through internal affairs, ain't nothing going to happen. They mine as well let the worthless pieces of shit at the FBI look into, because they ain't going to do anything either.
_________________
Cops that lie, need to die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson

[WaTcHeR]

'They Killed Sean All Over Again’ - Judge's Ruling Sparks National Outrage!!!

WASHINGTON - Outrage. That’s perhaps the best word to describe the mood of the family of the late Sean Bell of New York, grassroots activists and civil rights representatives around the country this week.

“On April 25, 2008, they killed Sean all over again. That’s what it felt like to us.”

Those were the emotionally charged words expressed by Nicole Paultre Bell as she spoke at a press conference immediately following last Friday’s acquittal of the three police officers who killed Bell, her fiancé. He died in a hail of 50 bullets Nov. 26, 2006, the couple’s wedding day.

“But, I’m still praying for justice,” she said in the televised press conference. “Because it’s not over yet. It’s far from over.”

She was correct.

The next day, she stood alongside New York activist Al Sharpton and led a march and rally protesting the ruling. Then on Sunday, dozens of civil rights leaders gathered to call for public officials to take action against police misuse of force and brutality – an age old problem in the Black community – which is once again center stage.

This time, the protest is focused on the ruling by Queens State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Cooperman, which cleared the three undercover detectives - Gescard F. Isnora, Michael Oliver and Marc Cooper - on manslaughter and additional charges. The shooting happened near a Queens nightclub, where Bell had just left his bachelor party.

He and two friends - Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield - were found to be unarmed although police claimed they thought someone had moved to pick up a gun. Police said the officers feared for their lives.

Guzman and Benefield, both passengers in the vehicle, were seriously wounded. The officers, who were conducting a prostitution sting, said Bell had tried to drive over a detective when they began shooting.

Those in the courtroom last Friday left outraged after the judge said he simply did not find the testimony of the witnesses as being credible, mainly because of their demeanors on the stand. The controversy, yet another in a string of police brutality cases in recent years, appears to be growing.

“The acquittal of New York police officers in the unprovoked murder of unarmed Sean Bell is yet another example of a pattern and practice of excessive force used by police across the nation on Black people,” said Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League and chairman of the Black Leadership Forum (BLF), which has a membership of 36 organizations around the country.

Morial was speaking at a press conference at the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network headquarters on Sunday, where BLF members, Sharpton and Bell called on Justice Department and Congress to establish laws that with stiff penalties for police brutality.

“The decision in the Sean Bell case was not a miscarriage of justice, but rather an abortion of justice,” Sharpton said.

The BLF members at Sunday’s press conference said they are poised for action. They said they would send a joint letter to the Justice Department this week calling for a full investigation and requesting a meeting with Attorney General Michael Mukasey.

Lawmakers are looking hard at the case.

U. S. Rep. John Conyers Jr., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and a congressional delegation visited the Bell family on Monday to discuss a possible civil rights violations of Bell. Conyers also went to the spot where the shooting occurred.

A statement issued by the New York delegation of the Congressional Black Caucus and Chairwoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick vowed to remain vigilant on the issue.

''We do not accept that this is the end of this case,” it states. “We have joined with the families and their attorneys in filing a compliant with the U.S. Department of Justice requesting an investigation of violations of the civil rights of Sean Bell, Joseph Guzman, and Trent Benefield.”

The Justice Department has announced that its Civil Rights Division, the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's New York Field Division will independently review circumstances surrounding the killing.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference President Charles Steele, also a BLF member, says he will take the pressure a step further.

“After we get the Justice Department to address this tragedy, we are going to ask New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly to meet with us about the SCLC’s non-violence conflict resolution program to train officers about non violent conflict resolution in order to prevent the deaths of other Black Americans. This program has worked well in Atlanta, where we are training some 1,700 police officers, and in international markets, where they are seeking peaceful resolutions to end violence. This program has instilled a trust and belief that violence can be eradicated all over the world.”

It hasn’t happened across America. The list of questionable police killings and misuse of force in recent years include:
• Kyle Coppin, 18, an unarmed teen carrying a hairbrush who was shot 10 times Nov. 12, 2007, and then handcuffed by New York City Police officers;

• DeOnte Rawlings, 14, shot in the head in October of 2007 by one of two off duty Washington, D.C. police officers who killed the youth after discovering him on a mini bike that was stolen from one of the officers’ homes. The officers claim DeOnte shot at them, but no gun was found at the scene.

• DeAunta “Tae Tae” Farrow, a 12-year-old West Memphis boy fatally shot by a West Memphis police officer on June 22, 2007. Police said the child, walking with a young cousin, was spotted carrying a toy gun that the officer mistook as real. DeAunta was shot twice by police when they said he did not drop the toy. Some witnesses said the child was only carrying pop and chips.

• Martin Lee Anderson, 14, of Tallahassee, Fla., a sickle cell anemia patient who died in a juvenile boot-camp Jan. 6, 2006, complaining that he could not breath as he was roughed up by camp guards, who failed to heed his pleas. The guards were later found not-guilty in his death.

A 10-foot long banner carried by protestors at the “Enough is Enough Stop Hate Crimes and Police Brutality”, sponsored by the Hip-Hop Caucus in Washington on Nov. 17, 2007 carried the names of more than 1,700 names of people killed by police in recent years.

Sunday’s press conference also included Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.); Melanie Campbell of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, Rev. Lennox Yearwood of the Hip Hop Caucus; Darlene Young of Blacks in Government and Gary Flowers, who is BLF's executive director and CEO.

Bell says she will do what she must in order to remain committed to justice for the father of her two children. “At every meeting, at every march, at every rally, I’m going to be right up front,” she says.

The CBC statement encourages supporters to join her: ''We must all remain committed to creating a justice system that is fair to all and building police-community relations that respect the lives and well-being of all.''

http://www.seattlemedium.com/News/article/article.asp?NewsID=88164&sID=3&ItemSource=L
_________________
Cops that lie, need to die!

(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear. Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson