Photograph of protesters outside the Sean Bell shooting trial in Queens by Gary He/AP; the protesters are holding signs counting down the 50 shots fired
Under intense scrutiny from the community and media, the trial of three police officers in the fatal shooting of an unarmed man started today. Detectives Michael Oliver and Gescard Isnora face manslaughter charges while Detective Mark Cooper is charged with reckless endangerment in the 2006 death of Sean Bell, who was killed hours before his wedding when his bachelor party crossed paths with an undercover police operation.
The Queens prosecutor Charles Testagrossa described the police sting at the Kalua Lounge as "carelessness verging on incompetence ... that cannot be explained away as a mere accident or mistake. It can only be characterized as criminal." Testagrossa added Isnora never showed his badge and that if Oliver, who fired 31 of 50 shots, had "paused to reassess," he would have realized there was no threat.
Oliver's lawyer James Culleton gave a 24-minute opening, saying, "While clearly a tragedy, no crime was committed," and emphasized his client believed Isnora's life was in danger, thinking Bell's friend Joseph Guzman was armed. Isnora's lawyer Antony Ricco made a 54-minute opening, which included suggesting Bell, who was driving when shot, was out of control and also mentioned Isnora thought Guzman was armed. Ricco said Bell viewed Isnora as a "Negro with a gun" and intended to run over him.
Bell's fiance Nicole Paultre Bell testified, describing how they met and their children. But when asked about the last time she saw him, Paultre Bell broke down, saying it "was in the morgue." She was not cross-examined.
Detectives Endowment Association president Michael Palladino said, "Everyone seems to focus on the amount of shots fired. That's not the only issue. There's a hell of a lot more to the case than the 50 shots...The last 15 months has taken its toll on the detectives, on their families and the law enforcement community as a whole." And the Reverend Al Sharpton told reporters, "We are not here against white cops; we are here against wrong cops. This is about police brutality, it is not about race... It seems to us the victim is always black." Note: Isnora and Cooper are black.
The trial is a bench trial, meaning Judge Arthur Cooperman will decide the defendants' guilt.
