March 17, Detectives Are Indicted in 50-Shot Killing in Queens

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1 March 17, Detectives Are Indicted in 50-Shot Killing in Queens By AL BAKER A grand jury voted yesterday to indict three city police detectives two black men and a white man in the killing of an unarmed 23-year-old black man who died in a burst of 50 police bullets outside a Queens strip club hours before he was to be wed last year, defense lawyers and police union leaders said last night. The jury charged two of the detectives Gescard F. Isnora, an undercover officer who fired the first shot, and Michael Oliver, who fired 31 shots with manslaughter, two people with direct knowledge of the case said. The third detective, Marc Cooper, who fired four shots, faces a lesser charge of reckless endangerment, those two people said. Detectives Isnora and Cooper are black; Detective Oliver is white. They were among five police officers who fired into a gray Nissan Altima carrying the bridegroom, Sean Bell, and two friends during a chaotic confrontation in Jamaica early on the morning of Nov. 25. Neither Mr. Bell nor his friends, both of whom were wounded, were armed, although the police officers apparently believed that they were. The grand jury reached its decision after three days of deliberations and nearly two months of hearing evidence in an emotionally charged case whose stark outlines five officers firing 50 bullets at three unarmed men who had been out celebrating prompted an outpouring of anger in some minority communities, and widespread comparisons to the death of Amadou Diallo, an unarmed African street peddler who was felled by 19 of 41 police officers bullets fired at him in The grand jurors, who dispersed into the wintry afternoon yesterday, indicted the three officers on less-serious charges than the second-degree murder charges filed against the four police officers who shot Mr. Diallo. All four were acquitted. It was unclear whether Richard A. Brown, the Queens district attorney, sought the indictment of the other two officers who fired at Mr. Bell, Detective Paul Headley, 35, who fired one shot, and Officer Michael Carey, 26, who fired three shots. All five of the officers testified voluntarily before the grand jury without immunity from prosecution.

2 Mr. Brown scheduled a news conference on Monday morning. Lawyers for the indicted detectives said they had been told to have the men surrender on Monday the next day that State Supreme Court in Queens is in session. Mr. Brown s office, which would not confirm the indictments, said the grand jury s decision had to remain sealed until at least one officer was formally charged in court. The person with direct knowledge of the case who said Detectives Isnora and Oliver faced manslaughter charges did not know if they were first- or second-degree counts. Second-degree manslaughter is defined as recklessly causing the death of another person. First-degree manslaughter is defined as causing the death of a person while intending to cause serious physical injury to that person or causing the death of a third person under those circumstances. The three officers may also face additional lesser charges. Some leaders in the black community expressed muted optimism as news of the indictments spread late yesterday, while others felt the indictments did not go far enough. In Jamaica, some detected a sense of relief that at least some of the officers would face charges. As long as I know that somebody got something, I can live with that, said Bishop Lester Williams, who was to officiate at Mr. Bell s wedding on the day he died. I have some degree of relief. If there had been no indictments, he said, you have groups out there that would not have been calm. The youth of this city would have responded. Lawyers for the indicted officers criticized the grand jury s action. Philip E. Karasyk, who represents Detective Isnora, said, Obviously, my client is upset, and he s looking forward to having his day in court, and we re all confident he will be vindicated. Paul P. Martin, a lawyer for Detective Cooper, 39, said: I am disappointed with the grand jury s decision, but this is just the first stage of a long process, and I am confident that once all the facts are considered by a jury of Detective Cooper s peers that he will be exonerated of all charges. James J. Culleton, the lawyer for Detective Oliver, said the indictment was not unexpected a grand jury presentation is one-sided, "I firmly believe that he will be found not guilty," he said of Detective Oliver, 35, who, with Detective Isnora, 28, were

3 considered the most vulnerable to criminal charges. Detective Oliver fired far and away the most bullets, emptying one magazine, reloading and emptying a second, and Detective Isnora opened fire first, touching off the 50-shot barrage. Detective Isnora fired 11 shots, emptying his gun. Michael J. Palladino, the president of the Detectives Endowment Association, confirmed the indictments but said he did not know the charges and would not know them until Monday, when they were unsealed. I know the grand jury worked very long and very hard on this particular case, Mr. Palladino said at a late-afternoon press conference, surrounded by officials of his association. I respect their decision. However I firmly disagree with the decision to indict these officers. Mr. Palladino predicted that the jury s vote would have a chilling effect on police officers in the city and nationwide. The message that s being sent now is that even though you re acting in good faith, in pursuit of your lawful duties, there is no room, no margin for error, he said. Stephen C. Worth, a lawyer for Officer Michael Carey, described the moment he learned his client had not been indicted: Mr. Worth said he got a call from Charles Testagrossa, the prosecutor who presented evidence to the grand jury, who told me there was no true bill as to my guy. Obviously, he said, we are gratified by the grand jury s decision as to Mike, and I have always believed that he acted professionally on the night of this incident. Police Department procedures call for the suspension of officers who are charged with a crime, and the three detectives will be ordered to surrender their shields; all five officers are already on paid leave without their weapons. Those who are suspended will be unpaid. If indictments of police officers are unusual, convictions are even more so. Many saw a jury s decision to acquit the officers who opened fire on Mr. Diallo after a two-month trial as a firm rejection of the powerful charges against them. In recent years in New York City, Bryan Conroy, a police officer who shot a peddler in a Chelsea warehouse had faced second-degree manslaughter charges, but was convicted of the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide by a judge, who sentenced him to probation. The detectives indicted in the Bell case were in a larger group seeking prostitution arrests outside the Club Kalua, a

4 topless bar in Jamaica that had been plagued by narcotics and prostitution activity, under-age drinking and guns. Detective Isnora had trailed Mr. Bell s party, which was broken into two groups of four men, believing that Joseph Guzman, one of Mr. Bell s companions, had a gun and was about to use it, according to a person familiar with the detective s account. The detective approached Mr. Bell s car. But Mr. Bell drove forward, clipping him, and then hit a police minivan, backed up, nearly hitting the detective again and slammed into the minivan a second time, the police have said. Detective Isnora, with his shield around his neck, said he opened fire, according to the person familiar with his account. This led to the fusillade of shots, with some of the officers apparently believing that their colleagues muzzle flashes were those of assailants. Mr. Bell was killed as he sat in the driver s seat. Trent Benefield, 23, who was in the passenger seat, was struck three times, in the leg and buttock, and Mr. Guzman, 31, who was in a back seat, had at least 11 bullet wounds along his right side, from his neck to his feet. Like the officers, the wounded men told their stories before the grand jury. Protests that followed the shooting were mostly peaceful. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg convened a meeting of black religious leaders and elected officials at City Hall. He emerged from it calling the circumstances inexplicable and unacceptable, and said, It sounds to me like excessive force was used. Mr. Bloomberg s quick reaction was viewed as a salve to the situation and a turnabout from the approach of his predecessor, Rudolph W. Giuliani, who did not reach out to black leaders in the immediate aftermath of the fatal shooting of Mr. Diallo. The panel of grand jurors began its work on Jan. 22 and met as often as three times a week in an auditorium-style room in an office building in Kew Gardens. The officers testified in the reverse order of the number of rounds they fired: Detective Headley and Officer Carey testified on March 5; Detectives Cooper and Isnora, testified on March 7; and Friday last week, Detective Oliver testified in the zenith of the process. Deliberations seemed to move slowly and in fits and starts. After Mr. Testagrossa read the charge the instructions on

5 the law that the panel had to consider as it weighed the evidence the panelists were left alone to deliberate. Reporting was contributed by Cara Buckley, Diane Cardwell, Jim Dwyer, Manny Fernandez, Colin Moynihan and William K. Rashbaum.