What is wrong with the justice system in the US?

[Smith]

The Original Story:

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/sean_bell/index.html?inline=nyt-per

The Verdict:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/26/nyregion/26BELL.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

This isnt the first time something like this happened in NY. Sad shit man.

[saqib]

i had heard many good things through media about their justice system .. but the story looks diff here

[Skiz]

The guy tried to run over a cop and did indeed struck him, them began ramming their van, hitting it twice. All this after the undercover officer showed a badge and identified themselves as police officers.

In Texas, a vehicle used in that manner is considered a deadly weapon and the police are allowed to use deadly force. It appears NY has a similar law on the books.

The officer account of what occurred inside and outside of the club also matches the statements of multiple witnesses.

What part of this ordeal do you see as injustice?



Several witnesses testified that they heard talk of guns in an argument between Mr. Bell and a stranger, Fabio Coicou, outside Kalua, an argument, the defense claimed, that was fueled by bravado and Mr. Bell’s intoxicated state. Defense lawyers pointed their fingers at Mr. Guzman, who, they said, in shouting for Mr. Bell to drive away when Detective Isnora approached, may have instigated his death.

[Smith]

Unloading a clip, then reloading and firing another one...

[IdolEyes787]

The guy tried to run over a cop and did indeed struck him, them began ramming their van, hitting it twice. All this after the undercover officer showed a badge and identified themselves as police officers.

What part of this ordeal do you see as injustice?


Several witnesses testified that they heard talk of guns in an argument between Mr. Bell and a stranger, Fabio Coicou, outside Kalua, an argument, the defense claimed, that was fueled by bravado and Mr. Bell’s intoxicated state. Defense lawyers pointed their fingers at Mr. Guzman, who, they said, in shouting for Mr. Bell to drive away when Detective Isnora approached, may have instigated his death.
The judge dismissed not only the charges of manslaughter, but also misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment in a shooting that saw bullets tear through the surrounding neighborhood, in one case smashing into a busy transportation hub a football field’s length away. One of the cops—Oliver—fired 31 times, reloading his pistol in order to keep pouring bullets into the unarmed men.Bell’s friends—one of whom, Joseph Guzman, barely survived 19 bullet wounds—testified that they never heard the cops shout “Police!” and had no idea that the man approaching their car waving his gun—Isnora—was a police detective. Their understandable reaction was to try to drive away and save their own lives. Emilcen Angulo bartender at Club Kalua testified that she sold Sean Bell one drink, a Long Island iced tea, and that she remembered him because “he gave me a good tip,” $5.
The police officers may have been acquitted in criminal court where burden of proof applies but in the civil suit that will inevitably follow their fate will likely be quite different.

[Skiz]

Unloading a clip, then reloading and firing another one...

I like to believe that the officer had just cause in doing so. You'd have your hands full if you tried to argue that he was just having some target practice.

I'm not certain where the law draws the line with deadly force or if it draws one at all. I would assume that the officer under the right circumstances has the legal right to continue shooting until he/she feels the subject has been subdued and no longer causes a threat to themselves or the public.

We also don't have the comfort of knowing how many (if any) of the bullets in the initial clip struck the subjects. After all, we do know that several bullets missed and met with building and objects in the surrounding area, so the car may have very well been still attempting to flee the scene. The officers were also shooting at a car which trying to evade them, all the while ramming their van.

The Supreme Court of New York State found them innocent on all charges. With the information that I've gathered from a couple of articles on the matter, I'd have to agree with them.

[Smith]

The UNDERCOVER officers who did the shooting did not identify themselfs as police officers. If I was in a car, and 5 random people pulled guns on me outside I would hit the gas too. Not to mention the car he hit was a unmarked undercover minivan..so its not like he intentionally drove into a cop car.

How can you justify firing 31 shots at a car full of people who aren't firing back? How can you justify shooting someone without any warning? No matter any way you look at it...someone deserves to go to jail. Since when did a run away car dictate 5 cops should shoot at it? I thought it was protocol not to shoot at a moving vehical once..let alone 51 times in total.