Guns don’t kill people—people kill people
Very Bad
Three detectives were found not guilty Friday on all charges in the shooting death of Sean Bell, who died in a hail of 50 police bullets outside a club in Jamaica, Queens, in November 2006. The verdict prompted calls for calm from the mayor, angry promises of protests by those speaking for the Bell family and expressions of relief by the detectives. …
Justice Cooperman delivered the verdict in State Supreme Court at 9 a.m. Describing the evidence, he said it was reasonable for the detectives to fear that someone in the crowd that night carried a gun. He added that 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,” the judge said.
Detective Isnora told grand jurors last year that he clipped his badge to his collar and drew his gun, shouting, “Police! Don’t move!” as he approached Mr. Bell’s Nissan Altima.
Other witnesses, mostly friends of Mr. Bell, said they never heard shouts of “Police!” Mr. Guzman and Mr. Benefield testified that they had no idea that Detective Isnora was a police officer when he walked up with his gun drawn.
The verdict was rendered based on a belief that one set of witnesses was more believable than the other. But in a plea of “not guilty”, where a chief piece of evidence is the corpse riddled with bullets, how could either side be considered entirely reliable. Self-interests and grief surely colored both sets of testimonies.
It would be hard to fault the judge for any specific verdict in this weighty case, but for his verdict to rest in the assertion that he found one argument more believable is the weakest possible judication. Justice Cooperman abdicated his role, and pinned responsibility for the verdict on the witnesses for the prosecution’s perceived lack of character. “Innocent until proven guilty” should always be the governing principle on the bench, but no judgement should be based on the mistaken equation of innocent and honest.