LiberalNation
03-17-2007, 01:48 PM
Takes them long enough with these type cases. If it hadn't been cops they'd have been on trial a long time ago. Seems like the cops did wrong here, will see how it turns out.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070317/ts_nm/newyork_shooting_dc;_ylt=ArJUL3z5FA6TKKxRKf04.fZ34 T0D
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Three New York police officers will be indicted on Monday on criminal charges for firing 50 shots at three unarmed black men, killing one on his wedding day, the head of a detectives' union said on Friday.
The case has generated outrage among blacks in New York and prompted a series of protests.
Michael Palladino, president of the Detectives' Endowment Association, told a news conference three New York Police Department officers would be indicted in the fatal shooting of Sean Bell hours before his wedding on November 25.
Palladino said he had not been informed of the content of the indictments or whether the officers will now face trial for murder, as some in the black community have called for.
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said he will announce the results of the sealed grand jury investigation at a news conference on 11 a.m. on Monday.
Such investigations are secret. Brown said in a statement the results would remain sealed until Monday.
A grand jury indictment means the panel has found there is enough evidence for a trial.
Bell was leaving a bachelor party at a strip club with two friends hours before he was to marry the mother of his two children when five police officers fired 50 bullets at his car in the belief that one of the men had gone to fetch a gun to settle a dispute at the club.
"These indictments will have a chilling effect," Palladino said, adding he believed the officers committed no crime.
"They took the action they took in good faith and pursuant to their lawful duties," he said. "I firmly disagree with the decision to indict these officers."
Palladino stressed that the standard to indict was much lower than it was to convict someone: "They say you can indict a ham sandwich, or even a rock."
Police have put 1,700 officers on alert in anticipation of the grand jury decision, mindful that activists have pledged a fierce reaction if the officers are cleared of wrongdoing.
"No one has the right even with badge and uniform to become the judge, jury and executioner," Rev. Al Sharpton said earlier at a news conference with the family of Bell, 23, by his side.
Sharpton, who has been acting as a spokesman for the family, said sources told him some of the charges the officers would be indicted on will be serious but he did not elaborate.
"We are not looking for revenge. We are looking for it to not happen again," he said.
The two survivors -- Joseph Guzman, 31, and Trent Benefield, 23 -- say police did not show their badges before opening fire and they believed they were being robbed.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070317/ts_nm/newyork_shooting_dc;_ylt=ArJUL3z5FA6TKKxRKf04.fZ34 T0D
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Three New York police officers will be indicted on Monday on criminal charges for firing 50 shots at three unarmed black men, killing one on his wedding day, the head of a detectives' union said on Friday.
The case has generated outrage among blacks in New York and prompted a series of protests.
Michael Palladino, president of the Detectives' Endowment Association, told a news conference three New York Police Department officers would be indicted in the fatal shooting of Sean Bell hours before his wedding on November 25.
Palladino said he had not been informed of the content of the indictments or whether the officers will now face trial for murder, as some in the black community have called for.
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said he will announce the results of the sealed grand jury investigation at a news conference on 11 a.m. on Monday.
Such investigations are secret. Brown said in a statement the results would remain sealed until Monday.
A grand jury indictment means the panel has found there is enough evidence for a trial.
Bell was leaving a bachelor party at a strip club with two friends hours before he was to marry the mother of his two children when five police officers fired 50 bullets at his car in the belief that one of the men had gone to fetch a gun to settle a dispute at the club.
"These indictments will have a chilling effect," Palladino said, adding he believed the officers committed no crime.
"They took the action they took in good faith and pursuant to their lawful duties," he said. "I firmly disagree with the decision to indict these officers."
Palladino stressed that the standard to indict was much lower than it was to convict someone: "They say you can indict a ham sandwich, or even a rock."
Police have put 1,700 officers on alert in anticipation of the grand jury decision, mindful that activists have pledged a fierce reaction if the officers are cleared of wrongdoing.
"No one has the right even with badge and uniform to become the judge, jury and executioner," Rev. Al Sharpton said earlier at a news conference with the family of Bell, 23, by his side.
Sharpton, who has been acting as a spokesman for the family, said sources told him some of the charges the officers would be indicted on will be serious but he did not elaborate.
"We are not looking for revenge. We are looking for it to not happen again," he said.
The two survivors -- Joseph Guzman, 31, and Trent Benefield, 23 -- say police did not show their badges before opening fire and they believed they were being robbed.