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Sean Bell Trial Begins In Queens Today
February 25th, 2008Three N.Y. cops are charged with killing an unarmed Black man on his wedding day
The trial kicks off today for three New York City Police officers who shot to death 23-year-old Sean Bell, the African-American who died in a blizzard of bullets outside a Queens strip club just hours before he was to be married. Bell was unarmed on Nov. 25, 2005, when five plainclothes detectives fired 50 bullets at him and two friends, Trent Benefield, 24, and Joseph Guzman, 32, who were wounded but have recovered. On trial, which is being held in the state Supreme Court in Kew Gardens, are detectives Michael Oliver, 36; Gescard Isnora, 29; and Marc Cooper, 40, who must convince a judge that they believed someone in Bell’s car was armed and also that they were in danger of being rammed by Bell’s Nissan Altima. Oliver and Isnora are facing the most serious charges – first- and second-degree manslaughter – with a potential 25-year sentence. The officers’ fate will be decided by Queens State Supreme Court Judge Arthur Cooperman; they opted for a judge rather than jury, believing that they could not get an unbiased jury of their peers in the borough where the shooting occurred. “We are looking for the judge to do justice,” said attorney Sanford Rubenstein, who along with Michael Hardy is representing Bell’s family and the other two victims. Bell’s fiancée, Nicole Paultre Bell, who legally took his name following his death, is expected to be the leadoff witness. Do you expect justice in the Sean Bell case?
It’s sound’s like a setup to me. I smell a bunch of rotten cops. Will justice be serve…..maybe? You never know.It was a clever act; switching physical slavery to mental. You never know,that’s my opinion.
I pray that justice is done for Bell family, to many black men doing no harm are swept up by the ignorant injustice of this country’s judiciary system. They should get 50 years for each bullet each, it takes a responsible person to uphold the law. These officer’s obviously were resolute in using force and aggression. Instead of resolve & mercy the actions of fools. Even now peppering things to make light of a mistake, lying to avoid punishment. When the correct verdict is handed down only Sean Bells’ life should be remembered for the enjoyment it has brought to those around him.
Its to bad we still living like this.That was a young man who had his entire life to live for and its sad it was taken away from him so short. The detectives in this case are wrong and i hope that they get EVERYTHING that they have coming. If this was a white boy killed by three black men they would have been gotten death by now. The times in this country has not changed! its still a white mans world. My prayers go out to hus entire family
I’m not certain if Sean Bell will get a fair trail or not..It should be cut and dry. But given recent actions in other similar cases the white man will somehow escape punishment.
I think that judgement will be served. The judge knows he should do the right thing, and doesn’t want a riot on his hands.
Things will change only when WE CHANGE IT ! You can’t leave moral judgement and moral behavior in the hands of people …or life forms if you will that are immoral by nature !!
LETS PRAY FOR THIS FAMILY THAT JUSTICE IS ISSUED FOR THE DEATH OF THIS YOUNG BLACK MAN…COPS HAVE BEEN KILLING US FOR YEARS AND GETTING AWAY WITH IT…BUT IF JUSTICE IS NOT ISSUED….GOD KNOWS ALL AND WILL BE THE FINAL JUDGEMENT….
My prayers go out to Sean and his family and, also the other 2 youngmen that were shot. This is typical racism! Even though the officers weren’t white they still were racially profiling Mr. Bell and the other 2 victims. What happened to firing off a warning shot first? Oh I forgot it’s shoot first ask questions later and find out oops I f**kd up!
We,balcks,have seen this movie a thousand times over.
ACT 1: A group of black men who seem very menacing.
ACT 2: They have to be up to some kind of criminal activity.
ACT 3: I`ll approach them to question them.
ACT 4: On first movement I`ll proceed to open fire.
ACT 5: I`ll proceed towards them with my weapon already drawn.
ACT 6: After approaching them they make a sudden move.
ACT 7: I open fire because I feel threathen.
ACT 8: Black man/men killed on the streets.
ACT 9: Victim/victims unarmed.
ACT 10: Officers suspended with pay.
ACT 11: Investigation pending.
ACT 12: A trial for the defendants.
ACT 13: A verdict has been reached.
ACT 14: Verdict: Not guility on all counts;ruled justifiable homicide.
ACT 15: Officers resume their normal duties.
ACT 16: Business as usual.
50 shots? Were they shooting at an ‘escaped-from-the-zoo’ lion? What’s this thing about the difference between white and black? Sean Bell,like Chamillionaire said,Rest In Peace not in Pieces.See,we cannot control what happens,the Judge may decide to pervert justice,in the view of this,I say once again,God,let your will be done in this case! Those cops should be sent to the chair.
THE TRUTH IS THESE COPS WILL NOT GET ANY TIME FOR THE CRIME THEY HAVE DONE. JUST LOOK AT THE RODNEY KING PROBLEM THEY HAVE THEM ON TAPE AND THEY DID NOT GO TO JAIL. THIS IS THE MOST LIKELY THING WILL HAPPEN HERE TOO.
Did Sean have children?…. is there a trust fund for them? has the city offered to pay all expences? Will the family sue the city and its officials?… (not that money is the answer… but these are things that need to be considered…)
I cant even imagine what the fiancee and family are going thru… the frustration, confusion, loss..anger..
its sad that we are still dealing with the Black/White issues in this day and age…
God is always in control and we pray for the mental & emotional strength of everyone involved… and to the officers.. only they and God know their hearts… ‘the battle is not ours.. its the Lords’…..
I pray that justice will prevail for this fine young man and his family. If not…I think there will be trouble. We are tired of hearing this same story. “They thought they were in danger.” I think tasers should be used most times rather than guns. Why do they have to shoot off so many rounds? That was an execution. It really saddens me. The world needs to change and change now! Vote people.
This is just another sad case where the black is seen to have no peace in this corrupted world. Why must it be that way all the time? Blacks are not the only people who do wrong, Violence doesn’t come with color it comes with personality. Those detectives should be send for life in prison. God would found justice for us black people. But we need to stop being violent and untrustwordy. Thats our problem but this situation shouldn’t be an excuse for that because there is good and positive in every race. Celebrating black history month…Make a change for us as one…learn about our people who has made change and has sacrifice their lives for what we now have today…Black power do exist
To think that people actually think that they could get away with this, and we as BLACK PEOPLE, are that nieve to let this whole thing just get swept up under the rug, and NOT EXPECT JUSTICE IS DEMEANING! I must agree with everyone’s comments. I PRAY every night for the Bell family. I even PRAY for the croked cops that we all know of. There’s one thing that we all must know and understand, this all happened for A REASON. This could be an eye opener to all of us. Let us, as BLACK PEOPLE let the man know that WE KNOW what the REAL DEAL IS! And we expect a FAIR, UNBIASED RULING!
They should throw the book at these heartless, racist cops! This was a senseless, calculated murder by those who wear a uniform that are supposed to protect us!
What a tragedy! I pray that justice will be served and a lesson learned!
The scary thing is that 2 of the 3 cops were black and hispanic, so I wouldn’t call this racism, I would call it poor training at the police academy. Rest in Peace Sean Bell, and bless your children, wife and parents
This is a tragedy. Five officers shot and killed an inncoent man. They should have death Penalty to see how that feels.I was planning to become a lawyer someday.
Smartie: becoming a lawyer entails alot of hard work and education. I don’t know how old you are, but please work on your grammar. This is key. Good luck on your endeavors.
SlitEyeLawStudent gets sugar daddied by an over the hill Public Defender. All he has to do is lather himself with baby oil then pounce up and down on a trampoline all day to get PAID IN FULL! He’s a good little pet!
WHOOOOOSAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!