Maybe the smartest thing Detectives Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora and Marc Cooper ever did was opt for a bench trial instead of a jury trial.
If you're a cop, who is accused of excessive force, of using 50 shots because you think there is a threat of someone hitting you with a car outside a nightclub early on a Saturday morning, what you want to do is avoid people who you know would convict you of killing an unarmed man.
So you let the judge decide your fate. And guess what? Justice Arthur Cooperman is letting Oliver, Isnora and Cooper fly like the pigeons they are. Personally, I think it's wrong, but after Abner Louima, Amadou Diallo and a host of other less publicized egregious abuses of power, I'm not surprised and neither should you be. ...
But if you're Sean Bell, or any black man who lives in New York, the dumbest thing you can do is be a black man living in New York.
That's because if the wrong cops suspect you, and they feel there is reasonable cause to suspect you of having a weapon -- even if it turns out to be clear that you don't -- you don't get an eight-week trial. You don't get a lawyer to present evidence. You don't get witness and expert testimony, you don't get a media barrage.
No, if you're Bell, or a black man living in New York, or any municipality where rogue cops are allowed to roam freely, then justice for you is a bullet in your back. You don't even get to face your killer as he shoots you.
Again, none of this is to just put all cops on blast. Hell, there are a LOT of cops who are going to be mad about this.
In fact, police should be the ones most angry. Because now, the onus is on them to prove that they are trustworthy. They can no longer be seen as the victims in any case. People will feel that the police are the aggressors and the relationship between the community and the cops will be further soured.
So I won't feel sorry for because I've seen a lot of arrogant people on the NYPD force in action. But I've also seen some very good public servants on the force as well. They will be the ones who suffer this summer.
As for the lonely corner in Jamaica, Queens, which sits about 200 yards from the E train, there will be an uneasy marker for a man whose life was not worth much to three cops who thought shooting a man who was not doing anything wrong was the right thing to do.
More to come.
+ Judge Clears Cops in Groom's Slaying


1. REMEMBER """O.J."""? REMEMBER ALL THE DANCING IN THE STREETS OF THE GHETTOS? BET THOSE SAME FOLKS ARE NOT DANCING TODAY! ONLY DIFFERENCE THE POOR GOLDMAN/BROWN FAMILIES WHO WON A HUGE JUDGEMENT AGAINST THAT O.J. SCUMBAG WILL NEVER SEE A DIME [O.J. SCUMBAG IS STILL LOOKING FOR THE KILLER ON THE GOLF COURSES DAILY]. THIS "GROUP" WILL SUE AND COLLECT FROM THE N.Y.C. POLICE DEPT. IN CIVAL COURT. SO YOU CAN ALL DANCE THEN.
LEROY TOMBA at 11:17AM on Apr 25th 2008