Three
of the five New York Police Department officers accused of murdering a groom to
be the night before his wedding were indicted Friday (March 16) by a grand jury.
Although
officers Marc Cooper, Gerscard Isnora and Michael Oliver were indicted for the
murder of 23-year-old Sean Bell, the Associated Press reports that the
men don’t know what offenses they are charged with. The
remaining two officers in the shooting, Michael Carey and Paul Headley, were not
charged, according to a person familiar with the case, who spoke on the condition
of anonymity because the jury’s decision was not made public. The
indictments mark the latest in a string of events that have occurred in the aftermath
of the Nov. 25, 2006 incident that killed Bell and wounded his two friends Joseph
Guzman, 31, and Trent Benefield, 23.According
to the AP, union representatives and lawyers for the officers said their
clients, who were conducting an undercover investigation at the strip club, became
convinced Bell and his friends were going to retrieve a gun from a car parked,
after overhearing them argue with another patron. The
incident turned fatal after officers fired 50 rounds at Bell, as well as Guzman
and Benefield, who were wounded. No gun was found. Protests
and criticism of the NYPD have followed in response to the department’s handling
of the case."Since
Nov. 25th, we have battled together. Today is a major step in that battle, whether
it will be a step forward, time will tell. But one thing that we can say, if you
stay together and you fight, you can do what is necessary to protect children,"
the Rev. Al Sharpton said at a news conference. While
some celebrate the indictments, Isnora’s attorney Philip Karasyk , told the
AP that his 28-year-old client was "very upset." "But he
is confident that once he has his day in court he will be vindicated." With
the grand jury’s decision revealed, observers are awaiting reaction to the
indictments as news of the grand jury’s decision spreads. The
NYPD, anticipating more protests, announced Wednesday (March 14) that they will
deploy more than 4,000 street and undercover officers to various areas of the
city. In addition, the mayor has met with black leaders to lessen tensions that
might result from the decision."Whatever
the grand jury says … I think you will see the people of this city behaving
in an exemplary manner," Mayor Michael Bloomberg shared with the AP.
"They can be disappointed, they can express themselves — that’s freedom
of speech, I don’t have a problem with that. But nobody is going to go out and
make our streets unsafe."One
factor in the case that may have influenced the grand jury was the testimony of
a last minute witness on Thursday (March 15) who came forward on his own to say
that someone other than the police fired shots and fled. The
credibility of the witness has come under fire by Bell family lawyer Peter St.
George Davis, who said the NYPD had known about the witness since the beginning
of the case and had spoken to him months ago. Despite
the witness’ credibility, his testimony could convince grand jurors that
the officers were justified in open firing. The
grand jurors were instructed to consider several charges: second-degree murder,
manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide. The
group’s decisions will be made known during an official announcement on Monday,
according to the Queens district attorney’s office.
