Bell Case: A Glass Ceiling for Justice

These are the blog postings I hate to write. My disdain comes because I know it will qualify something I hated hearing. But I must accept the outcome of the Sean Bell verdict, even if ultimately it is unfair to those affected.

No matter what i write, it will be unfair to a father, unfair to his fiance Nicole Paultre Bell, his children, his parents and Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman, his friends. It is unfair to everyone seeking justice for a death that was not supposed to happen.

It is so unfair, it makes you want to scream, like the nun, pictured above. It was hard for so many people to accept the outcome when the not guilty verdict came down inside a courthouse in Queens, New York.

It is unfair, but what is the truth? The three policemen acquitted for killing Bell went free because there was no way to find them guilty.

Looking back in retrospect, if you monitored the whole trial, and took into account the evidence presented, and the testimony of the witnesses, it became obvious that Queens District Attorney Richard Brown was not going to get a conviction.

His office brought a weak case to Judge Arthur Cooperman with poorly prepared witnesses who contradicted one another, evidence that was easily rendered moot by defense testimony, and ignoring facts like evidence being removed from the scene of the shooting, not to mention the D.A.'s traditionally strong relationship with the New York Police Department.

Prosecutors had to prove that Detectives Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora and Marc Cooper actually went after Bell, Benefield and Guzman with intent to harm or kill them. It was not a trial of their incompetence, lack of preparedness or failure to protect citizens, and cops are rarely convicted on the former and normally get a slap on the hands for the latter.
Were the NYPD Acquittals Inevitable? - TIME
So the ugly truth is Judge Cooperman could not convict the three cops because there was nothing to convict them with. The burden is on the state to prove that beyond a reasonable doubt they intended to kill Sean Bell. The only thing that was proven was that they killed him in a police operation, but their story is that it was because they thought they were in danger. Nobody proved them wrong, so they walked, which is what the U.S. Constitution dictates.

Even the judge himself said that the crappy case that Brown's office brought was not enough to convict:

These factors played a significant part in the people's ability to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt and had the effect of eviscerating the credibility of those prosecution witnesses. And, at times, the testimony just didn't make sense.

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In an interview I did for TIME.com, I talked to two advocates for justice in the case and both told me that the Queens D.A. should never have prosecuted this trial, but rather a New York State Special Prosecutor should have been appointed, thereby eliminating the conflict of interests between the D.A. and the NYPD.

And I absolutely agree. Why would you trust a prosecutor who works diligently each day with the cops to lock up one of their own? That's like passing a basketball to the forward on the opposite team and expecting him to dunk for you.

There has been call for that in the New York State Legislature, and rumor has it that new governor David Paterson may listen. It's not something to hold your breath on, but it is the best option for a community weary of having its sons murdered by the officers assigned to protect them. The three detectives themselves may be acquitted, but they are not exonerated. They will likely face departmental discipline and possibly a federal trial.

None of this gives any comfort to those who have been affected -- and I sincerely hope this family finds a way to heal, one day. Their fiance/son/brother/friend is lying in his grave, wearing the tuxedo he was supposed to be married in. And from the attitude of the justice system, the NYPD, and every racist or biased pundit out there, that's just fine with them.

The only light in any of this is that Cooper did apologize for what happened, and Paultre Bell accepted his apology. That kind of forgiveness takes strength most of us don't have.