After the Indictments
March 19th, 2007
Now that three police detectives have been indicted in the shooting death of Sean Bell and the wounding of two of his friends, experts are cautioning that this is just the first step. “I guess you could say the indictment was a prologue and the announcement is the beginning of the first act ,” Eli Silverman, a professor of police practices at John Jay College, told the Sun. In his written statement, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown cautioned, “I remind you that the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” And Michael Palladino, head of the http://www.gothamgazette.com/iotw/diallo/ Detective Endowment Association, complained, “They say you can indict a ham sandwich, or even a rock.”
While Palladino probably is not often so quick to express sympathy for those indicted on felony charges, he may have a point. A survey of recent cases where police killed people, finds more indictments than convictions.
Here is a rundown of some key cases in the last 10 years:
Amadou Diallo: Four police officer were indicted for firing 41 shots at the unarmed African immigrant as he emerged from his Bronx apartment building on the night of Feb, 4 1999. But the trial moved to Albany after a state appeals court ruled that the “public clamor” over the case had created an “atmosphere in which jurors would be under enormous pressure to reach the verdict demanded by public opinion.” Whether this made a difference or not – and many observers believe it did – all four officers were acquitted. One even wants his job, and his gun, back.
History could repeat itself.. There is already talk that lawyers for the three police indicted in the Bell shooting could try to move the case out of the city, an effort Brown said he would fight. And the Reverend Al Sharpton, who has been advising the Bell family, said any attempt to move the trial would be “insulting” and added, “We will not participate, attend or cooperate” with a trial outside of Queens County.”
Gideon Busch: The mentally disturbed man was killed by police in Borough Park, Brooklyn, on Aug. 30, 1999. Police said he had attacked a sergeant with a hammer and refused to drop the tool. No criminal charges were brought in the case, and the family abandoned its efforts to win a civil trial against the city.
Patrick Dorismond: The security guard was killed by police in March 2000 when he was caught up in a drug sweep. Dorismond reportedly became irate when a police officer approached him for drugs and, in the dispute that followed, Office Richard Vasquez killed him. A Manhattan grand jury declined to indict Vasquez.
Ousmone Zongo: A 43-year-old immigrant from Burkina-Faso, Zongo was shot and killed by Police Officer Bryan Conroy during a May, 2003, raid on a Chelsea warehouse police suspected of harboring various pirate CD and DD operations. A judge – it was not a jury trial – convicted Conroy of criminally negligent homicide and sentenced him to five years’ probation.
Timothy Stansbury: The 19-year-old was taking a short cut across the roof of his Bedford–Stuyvesant apartment building on January 24, 2004, when police officer Richard Neri shot and killed him. Both Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commission Ray Kelly condemned the shooting of the teenager, but the grand jury did not indict Neri, who reportedly has a desk job with the police
By Gail Robinson on March 19, 2007, 3:46 pmIn category: Civil Rights, Crime & Safety, Gotham City | No Comments »



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