No Justice: 3 NYPD Detectives acquitted in 50-shot killing of Unarmed Black Man

"An ugly pattern is emerging in New York. This was a massacre, this was not a shootout. And the U.S. attorney general must give America the assurance that we all have equal protection under the law. This is a travesty of justice today, but it is a pattern that deserves attention." the Rev. Jesse Jackson, speaking from Chicago.

AP Three detectives were acquitted of all charges Friday in the 50-shot killing of an unarmed groom-to-be on his wedding day, a case that put the NYPD at the center of another dispute involving allegations of excessive firepower.

Justice Arthur Cooperman delivered the verdict in a Queens courtroom packed with spectators, including victim Sean Bell's fiancee and parents, as at least 200 people gathered outside the building.

Shouts of "No! No! No!" and swearing erupted outside the courthouse immediately after the judge read his verdict, followed by cries of "Not guilty!," from within a huge crowd of people gathered outside the Queens courthouse. Some women were heard weeping loudly. Later, shouts of "Murderer! Murderer!" were heard. Bell, a 23-year-old black man, was killed in a hail of gunfire outside a seedy strip club in Queens on Nov. 25, 2006 — his wedding day — as he was leaving his bachelor party with two friends.

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Sean Bell Was Innocent

Sean Bell was innocent. Almost everyone seemed to understand that, going into the excruciating seven-week Queens trial of three cops who gunned Bell down the night before his wedding, November 25, 2006. But going in, there also was a lot of talk about how, once the trial started, the police’s defense lawyers might try to rough up Bell a bit, posthumously. It wasn't hard to guess that they would try to bring in his sketchy police record, or at least mention how anyone hanging out at 4 a.m. at the Club Kalua strip joint in Jamaica could be presumed to be up to no good. “They’re not going to say he’s a choir boy,” one veteran prosecutor of police cases told me before the trial started. “I think what they will do is try to disparage Club Kalua, a notorious drug spot. What good upstanding citizen would be there to begin with? It explains that cops are there to try to do the right thing.” Sure enough, the police’s defense lawyers played the Club Kalua card from the start. “Who is attracted to such a place?" defense attorney Anthony Ricco asked imperiously. That (along with the fact that Ricco and two of the three cop defendants were also black) was a convenient way of getting around having to play the race card: The police were in danger, you see — how could they have been profiling?

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Justice Department to Probe Bell Case

In the aftermath, the Justice Department has said it will conduct a probe to see if any civil rights violations occurred and Rev. Al Shaprton has promised hit-and-run demonstrations, such as sit ins and civil disobedience arrests, at unnamed locations across the city starting tomorrow.

In the run up to Cooperman giving his verdict, the courtroom was ringed with 17 court officers, who remained standing in front of the pews, while another 11 jammed the aisle separating supporters of Bell, filling the pews on the right side, and the backers of the cops, seated to the left. Before the judge entered the audience was asked to refrain from making any outbursts and remain sitting after the verdict until Cooperman had exited the court.

Entering shortly after 9 a.m., the 74-year-old judge began laying out his reasoning when the toddler daughter of Trent Benefield, who was shot while in the car with Bell that night, began yelling out what sounded like, “Mama.” Cooperman abruptly stopped and glared at the child’s mother who was holding her.

“I’m not going to continue unless the child is removed,” Cooperman said, causing the child’s mother to slink out of the courtroom with the daughter.

Shortly after, the judge finished up his reasoning and announced he was acquitting the officers on all charges. Ignoring the pre-verdict instructions, Nicole Paultre Bell, Bell's fiancee and widow, stood up immediately and walked out of the courtroom. Rows of Bell supporters followed her. “Unadulterated bullshit,” one man said on his way out. In a second row pew, Bell's father, dressed all in white, buried his face while shaking his head as Bell’s mother broke into tears while being consoled by a family member next to him.

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The family of a Black Man Killed by Jackson Police is Suing for $12 Million.

The family of a man killed by police is suing the city of Jackson for $12 million. Roy Bradley was shot and killed in September 2007 by a Jackson Police Department officer. Police said that shortly after a traffic stop, there was an altercation that ultimately led to the officer shooting Bradley.

The shooting occurred after the officer, named in the suit as L.V. Gater, took Bradley out of handcuffs to sign a form, police officials said at the time. That's when Bradley allegedly struck Gater and grappled with him for his service weapon, police said.

Former Police Chief Shirlene Anderson backed up the officer, saying there was no wrongdoing by him. But the lawsuit states Gater shot Bradley four times in the chest and abdomen and contends the officer violated Bradley's right of equal protection under the law and his due process rights.

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Review Board says Delano Sheriff Shooting of 16 Year Old Latino Boy Justified

A Sheriff's Shooting Review Board weighed in on the officer involved shooting death of a Delano teenager. Justified is the word from the Shooting Review Board Thursday night. Manuel Ayon, 16, was shot and killed just feet away from his Delano home. Sheriffs officials said Ayon was driving a stolen car and led deputies on an hour long police chase.

It ended when officials said Ayon crashed and then backed into a Sheriffs deputy. The deputy fired at Ayon and missed. Gunshots rang out a second time after Ayon took off and stopped again. Officials said a deputy saw Ayon reach for something on the floor of the car and that's when the second deputy fired, killing the teenager. No weapon was ever found in the car.

The Shooting Review Board said both deputy Doug Jauch and Deputy Ubaldo Weiss were acting within department guidelines. Ayon's family said he was running from deputies because he had served time before and was scared. Throughout the investigation they claimed he did not have a gun. The deputies involved in the shooting were both cleared to go back to work. [MORE]

Family of Latino man Killed by LAPD stun gun can sue for wrongful death

Relatives of a Boyle Heights man who died after being shot by Los Angeles police with a stun gun can take their wrongful death lawsuit against the city to trial, a judge ruled in court papers obtained Thursday.

The lawsuit stems from the Sept. 4, 2006, death of 32-year-old Jesus Mejia. Mejia's wife, two children and mother sued the city and Police Chief William Bratton Oct. 9 alleging Mejia was shocked at least twice with a stun gun, despite being in handcuffs and restrained against a wall.

According to police, officers assigned to the Hollenbeck Station went to Mejia's home in the 3300 block of Whittier Boulevard about 1 a.m. on Sept. 4, 2006, on reports of a disturbance. Arriving officers found Mejia in a what police described as an agitated, combative state. Judging from the man's excessive perspiration, glazed eyes and seemingly heightened physical strength, officers deduced that Mejia was under the influence of drugs, police said.

When Mejia refused to follow orders from the officers, Officer Victor Arellano fired a stun gun at Mejia as fellow officers subdued him with their body weight, police said.

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Black Man Dead after being Tased by Memphis Police

(West Memphis, AR -- 4/24/2008)  Police stopped Dewayne Chatt for loitering.  When they were about to make the arrest the 38 year old ran into the Dodge's store across the street and locked himself in the managers office.  Police ran after him and had to use a taser on him three times before finally getting him into custody.

Chatt's family says excessive force caused dewayne's death.  They believe the store's surveillance recordings will tell the whole story. Meanwhile both the West Memphis Police and sheriff's departments have launched an investigation into how Chatt died.  They are reviewing the video and waiting on the medical examiners report to determine what caused his death.

Chatt's arrest meanwhile is not his first.  He has been locked up 12 times on everything from felony drug charges to his most recent stint for disorderly conduct.  Chatt was released just yesterday on that charge, hours before he would return to jail where he died.

"They in disarray. Everybody is shocked by this unlawful and unjustified homicide," said Michael Chatt. [MORE]

50 Shots: New York braces for verdict in Sean Bell trial - Unarmed Black Man Shot to Death by NYPD

When police killed an unarmed African immigrant in a hail of 41 bullets in 1999, outrage filled the streets of New York.

About 1,200 people were arrested, including elected officials and celebrities, during a month of daily protests. Thousands more marched after four white officers were acquitted in Amadou Diallo's death.

Nine years later, three officers will learn their fate Friday in a case over another heavy police barrage: 50 shots aimed at an unarmed black man outside a nightclub on the morning of his wedding. The city is bracing for more protests if the officers are acquitted.

This time, however, the mood is muted. The New York Police Department has downplayed reports that 1,000 officers will be deployed outside the courthouse in Queens and near the spot where Sean Bell was killed in 2006.

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Ohio governor wants Troopers Fired for Wearing KKK Outfit on Duty

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Governor Strickland has asked the state highway patrol to fire two troopers who engaged in a prank involving a costume that resembled a Ku Klux Klan outfit. Strickland says the behavior by the troopers from the Sandusky post could not be tolerated.

A patrol report says trooper Craig Franklin is pictured in a Jan. 20 cell phone photo wearing a white cone on his head, a white paper mask and a white cloth. Trooper Eric Wlodarsky forwarded the cell phone photo.

The state's public safety director recommended firing. But a union contract provision had allowed the troopers to stay on the job if they maintained a clean record for two years, and the union says it will take legal action if the state tries to go around the contract. Wlodarsky told an investigator there was no malicious intent behind the picture, while Franklin apologized and said he was embarrassed. [MORE]

Private autopsy shows Latino Man died from blow to the head in Altercation with Orange County Deputies

An Orange County jail inmate who fell into a coma and died after being restrained by deputies had received at least one fatal blow to the head, according to the preliminary results of a private autopsy. A pathologist hired by the family of Jason Jesus Gomez, 35, of Anaheim, has tentatively concluded that he was killed by blunt force trauma to the head, and not by the electrical charge from a stun gun, said the family's attorney, Stephen Bernard.

"The bottom line is he was beaten to death," said Bernard. Gomez's death was the latest problem to hit a Sheriff's Department battered by the indictment of its sheriff and a grand jury report that found rampant misconduct and inmate abuse at Theo Lacy jail in Orange.

Prosecutors conducting an official investigation into Gomez's death as well as Orange County sheriff's officials declined comment Monday. Results of the county autopsy are pending. The family last week filed a wrongful death claim against the county, the first step toward a lawsuit. But sister-in-law Christina Clark said they are seeking retribution, not money. "There's no amount of money that will satisfy us. The family is not going to settle. We want punishment," Clark said.

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