Sean Bell vigil on 2nd anniversary of shooting

NEW YORK (AP) ― About 100 people gathered before dawn Tuesday for a candlelight vigil and prayer service on the second anniversary of the fatal police shooting of an unarmed man on his wedding day that sparked outrage in the black community. The Rev. Al Sharpton and Sean Bell's fiancee, Nicole Paultre Bell, led the memorial on the street in Queens where the 23-year-old black man was killed outside a strip club on Nov. 25, 2006 after leaving his bachelor's party.

At precisely 4:10 a.m. -- the time of the shooting -- the mourners rang a large bell 50 times to mark the number of bullets fired at the Bell and two of his friends, who were seriously injured. After laying wreaths and flowers, the group marched half a mile to a church, where Sharpton held a prayer service. "The idea is to commemorate the second anniversary and to continue to push for a federal case," Sharpton said later.

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No Appeal for Weehawken Officer who Beat Black Teen to Death

The state Supreme Court has ruled that it will not hear an appeal of the sentence of former Weehawken Police Officer Alejandro Jaramillo, who was convicted in the beating death of a Union City teenager, authorities said. Former Weehawken Police Officer Alejandro Jaramillo was convicted on May 1, 2006 of assaulting Jose Luis Ives Jr. in front of the boy's Union City home in July 2003 while off-duty. In July 2006 he was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

In August a state appellate court upheld the sentence following Jaramillo's appeal in which he claimed the trial judge made mistakes when giving instructions to the jury. He also argued his sentence was excessive. The appeals court rejected those arguments. Witnesses said Jaramillo, who was off-duty at the time, punched Ives several times after a dispute involving Jaramillo's car. The boy suffered a fractured skull and died several days later. Jaramillo was sentenced to eight years in prison on the assault count, plus seven more years for filing false reports on the incident. The jury acquitted him of manslaughter.

The state Supreme Court said it would not take up the case in court papers filed on Nov. 19. [MORE]

Complaint filed over Long Island police policies

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (AP) — Hispanic advocates claimed Tuesday that the Long Island police department that investigated the killing of an Ecuadorean immigrant fails to adequately investigate crimes committed by whites against Latinos. In a complaint to the U.S. Justice Department, the national advocacy group Latino Justice contended that the Suffolk County Police Department discourages Latinos from reporting crimes.

Police and county officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but they have repeatedly said since the Nov. 8 killing of Marcelo Lucero that crime victims are not asked about their residency status.
Seven Long Island teenagers have pleaded not guilty to charges including gang assault after police say they surrounded Lucero and another man near a train station. The men were targeted by the group because they were Hispanic, police said, and were only the latest victims in what authorities believe was a marauding spree by the teenagers. Lucero's companion fled and called for help, but the 37-year-old laborer was killed when he was stabbed once in the chest. The 17-year-old accused of inflicting the fatal blow is being held without bail, charged with murder as a hate crime.

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