News and Politics | April 25, 2008 | 7 comments

What year is it? Detectives acquitted for shooting black man night before his wedding

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The detectives were found not guilty on all felony and misdemeanor charges in the November 2006 death of Sean Bell, who died in a hail of 50 police bullets outside a club in Queens.

The NYT's is doing a an hourly blog gauging the respsonse of New Yorkers. Al Sharpton is calling for peaceful protests.



Justice Arthur J. Cooperman, who delivered the verdict in State Supreme Court, said many of the prosecution’s witnesses, including Mr. Bell’s friends and the two wounded victims, were simply not believable. “At times, the testimony of those witnesses just didn’t make sense,” he said.

While his decision prompted several supporters of Mr. Bell to storm out of the courtroom, and there were a few small scuffles outside the courthouse, by late morning there no suggestions of any broader unrest around the city. Mr. Bell’s family members made no comment as they left, and they immediately drove to visit his grave at the Nassau Knolls Cemetery and Memorial Park in Port Washington.

The verdict comes 17 months to the day since the Nov. 25, 2006, shooting of Mr. Bell, 23, and his friends, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, outside the Club Kalua in Jamaica, Queens, hours before Mr. Bell was to be married.
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7 comments // What year is it? Detectives acquitted for shooting black man night before his wedding

  • schemashatter
  • natdagod
    • 0
      natdagod  
    • should i feel protected? all black men are not criminals. a cop got shoot here in philly pa and the cops was beatin the shit out of every black man that fit o didnt fit the discription. so should i feel bad for the cop who was shot or mad that cops don't live with the ethics of the law.

    • 4 years ago
  • 4free
  • amirct3
    • 0
      amirct3  
    • And people woder why African Americans feel that we dont get equal justice in this country. 41 shots killed Diallo, Jena 6, and Sean Bell are just a few of the known unjustices. Look at Wesley if he was white he would pay a fine and be fine.

    • 4 years ago
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