Three undercover New York City Police detectives were acquitted of all charges in the 50-shot killing of an unarmed man on his wedding day.
Justice Arthur Cooperman delivered the verdict Friday morning after explaining how he came to the decision.
Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora and Marc Cooper were cleared in the 2006 killing outside of a strip club.
Two of the officers could have faced up to 25 years in prison. The third was charged only with reckless endangerment and would have faced much less prison time.
The Bell family minister asked for calm in the city and asked people to respect the verdict.
(Sean Bell with his fiancée. Police shot and killed Bell early Nov. 25 in an incident under investigation.)
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4/25/08: Sean Bell Shooting Timeline: 2006-Today |
| A judge is expected to hand down his verdict this morning in the trial of three NYPD detectives accused of wrongdoing in the death of Sean Bell. |
2 responses so far ↓
1 Carol // Apr 25, 2008 at 9:05 am
Hearing the verdict in this case just took my breath away. This young man was not doing anything but celebrating his upcoming wedding with friends. I am aware that ALL cops are not mean spirited and gun happy. But RIGHT IS RIGHT AND WRONG IS WORNG. These police should be punished for their actions. When are we coing to realize that we as a people must step up when their is outright injustice being done.
2 steve // May 4, 2008 at 4:36 pm
The issue is not that people have to fear the police, the issue that everyone misses is that Bell was armed-his weapon was the vehicle he was driving at the police. How many of us have lost loved ones from a DUI or any other accident? He was armed and the officers acted in self defense. Two of the 3 officers were non-white. It is not a racial issue. Lets move past this and stop blaming race.
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