Cop Acquittal in the Sean Bell Killing Was Inevitable

Even before the first witness was called in the Sean Bell trial, a defense attorney for one of the three officers charged with gunning down Bell flatly said that he thought his client and the other two officers would be acquitted in the killing of Bell. This was not typical attorney bluster. The defense attorney was right.

At first glance, there was good reason to think that he was off base in his prediction and that the cops that fired the volley of shots that killed Bell would be convicted. An anguished New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg publicly questioned the shooting. Two of Bell's companions gave eyewitness testimony that the officers acted like Wild West cowboys and opened up without warning. And most importantly Bell was unarmed and seemingly posed no threat to the officers.

But expectations, witness testimony, seemingly unimpeachable evidence, and the official condemnation of the deadly shooting by city officials obviously weren't enough. There's equally good reason why it almost never is.

When cops go on trial for overuse of deadly force, their victims are generally young blacks and Latinos. The attorneys that defend them are top gun defense attorneys and have had much experience defending police officers accused of misconduct. Police unions pay them and they spare no expense in their defense. The cops rarely serve any pre-trial jail time, and are released on ridiculously low bail.

If the cops are tried by a jury, police defense attorneys seek to get as many middle-class whites on the panel as possible. The presumption is that they are much more likely to believe the testimony of police and prosecution witnesses than black witnesses, defendants, or even the victims.

Prosecutors have a big task in trying to overcome pro-police attitudes and the negative racial stereotypes. Two Penn State University studies on racial perceptions and stereotypes, one in 2003 and a follow-up study in 2008, found that many whites are likely to associate pictures of blacks with violent crimes, and in some cases where crimes were not committed by blacks they misidentified the perpetrator as an African-American. Defense attorneys played hard on that perception and depicted Bell and his companions as thugs and drunkards who posed a threat to the officers.

Defense attorneys for the New York cops didn't have the advantage of a potentially pro-police jury. They requested and got a bench trial. But this wasn't a disadvantage to the defense. In a racially and emotionally charged case such as the Bell shooting, they figured they'd stand a better chance trying to massage and hone their evidence and testimony to a judge.

There is also no ironclad standard of what is or isn't acceptable use of force. It often comes down to a judgment call by the officer. In the Rodney King beating case in 1992 in which four LAPD officers stood trial, defense attorneys turned the tables and painted King as the aggressor and claimed that the level of force used against him was justified.

The four New York City cops tried for gunning down African immigrant, Amadou Diallo in 1999, also claimed that they feared for their lives. The jury believed them and acquitted them.
In Cincinnati, a municipal judge summarily acquitted white Cincinnati police officer, Stephen Roach, of criminal charges in the slaying of 19-year-old Timothy Thomas during a traffic pursuit in 2001. The shooting ignited three days of riots. The judge bought Roach's tale that he feared for his life and fired in self-defense.

In the Bell case, the officer's attorneys used the same tact and argued that the officers feared for their lives when they fired. In his initial call to a supervising police lieutenant one of the charged officers, Gescard Isnora said he thought one of the suspects had a gun, made a suspicious move, and that the car they were in bumped him.

Isnora did not take the stand during the trial and say that. But fellow officer Michael Carey did and testified that the officers shouted warnings before blazing away at the unarmed Bell.

The code of silence is another powerful obstacle to convicting cops charged with crimes. Officers hide behind it and refuse to testify against other officers, or tailor their testimony to put the officer's action in the best possible light.

Prosecutors often are barred from using statements made during internal investigations of officer misconduct in court proceedings on grounds of self-incrimination. This knocks out another potentially crucial prosecution weapon. Federal prosecutors that retried the officers that beat King learned a vital lesson from the abysmal failure of local prosecutors to convict them. They did not rely exclusively on the videotape but on expert testimony on the use of force to prove that the officers went way over the top against King. Yet, they still only managed to convict two of the four officers.

Nailing cops for bad shootings is virtually impossible for even the most diligent prosecutor. The Bell case again proved that to be the case.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His new book is The Ethnic Presidency: How Race Decides the Race to the White House (Middle Passage Press, February 2008).

Comments

[TEEHead]

For those of you that don't understand "50 shots", use of force, and why we do what we do sometimes:

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=637_1173997492 (or google "Dinkheller video")

Note: Deputy Dinkheller had been reprimanded the week before for excessive force.

Deputy Kyle Dinkheller, Laurens County, GA, was almost off duty when he encountered a speeding pickup going 98 mph. He radioed in the infraction, made a U-turn, and pursued the vehicle.

The driver, Andrew Brannan, stopped his vehicle, exited, and started dancing in the middle of the road, swearing at the officer, and shouting "I"m a god-damned Vietnam vet". He ignored commands to step towards the deputy.

When Brannan finally complied, he attacked the deputy. The deputy used his baton and ordered Brannan to `get back". This was repeated, but after a second scuffle, the suspect retrieved a M-I Carbine from under the driver's seat. The first shots were fired nearly 50 seconds after Brannan returned to his vehicle despite the deputy"s commands.

Brannan ignored the commands to put the gun down and Dinkheller fired the first shot. Brannan advanced, firing on the deputy. who returned fire, wounding Brannan in the stomach. Using `suppressive fire", Brannan methodically shot Dinkheller in the arms, legs, and other exposed areas, slowly disabling him. Reloading his weapon Brannan continued firing, finally shooting Dinkheller in the right eye.

Deputy Dinkheller was survived by his expectant wife and 22-month-old daughter. His son was born in September 1998.

[MrWebster]

The fact of the matter is that police can kill anybody they want regardless of circumstances. While minorities do seem to get killed more often, the same applies to whites. Prosecutors went after a cop who shot and killed a young white guy with no criminal record in Central Oregon. They got into a fender bender in the snow. When the young man tried to back off the police car, the cop opened fire and claimed he feared for his life. Guess what, the jury acquited him. The prosecutors were not allowed to give evidence that this guy had a violent history as a cop even once tackling and pulling out his gun on a woman riding a bike. If a cop decides to act as judge, juror, and executioner, the only recourse your family will have is a civil suit.

If police are anyway constrained with whites, it is because of the many legal challenges by minority communities over shootings. Only whites with the legal and monetary means to make life hard for cops have any real immunity.

[timinhi]

Earl--
I am a former longtime (10 yrs) prosecutor. You are absolutely correct in your observations. The same things you say often apply to many defendants who do not happen to be police officers. The system is what it is.

There will always be some people who are dissatisfied with how it works (whether it's white people and law enforcement people howling about O.J. getting off, or minorities upset with what happened to Amadou Diallo when his killers got off), but our flawed system is not likely to change. Once there is an acquittal, there's not a lot (at least criminally) that can be done about it. Cops do not always get off. I prosecuted a couple, and I know of others too, who were convicted.

[mjc]

Don't understand how anyone can be pleased with this verdict, even the cops who delivered the 50 shots on Bell. There HAS to be some sort of training that can prevent such stupidity and panic on the part of law enforcers.

[bettyjean]

Mr. Ofari Hutchinson,

The color of our thoughts, deeds and intentions are what do us in,

when "our" buttons are pushed, it's our "stuff" that comes up.

A. BLUE - positive alpha-wave energy

B. RED negative bad energy.

C. YELLOW - cautionary energy.

If accessed our B. RED unconscious bad energy is capable of

projection, absorption and reflection of negative self-images.

A. BLUE positive alpha-wave energy also is capable of

projection, absorption and reflection of positive self-images.

This A. BLUE positive alpha-wave energy "plate" can be (inserted)

between the B. RED bad energy and the C. YELLOW cautionary energy

and is represented by the following thought/wording:

"We share one universal mind, one humanity and one planet

therefore, what we do to another, we in turn do to ourselves.

And what we do to ourselves, we in turn do to others (this

wording aids in preventing suicide).

Had our circumstances in life been reversed,

then our positions now too, would be reversed.

Let us have only love, compassion and understanding

for one another, for we are all a part of each other.

To be programmed in during a positive alteration in consciousness.

(using meditation etc.).

This insertion/access of an A energy plate between the B bad energy and the

C cautionary energy enables us to project, absorb and reflect positive

self (esteem) images to others at this very crucial time.

We can have Win-Win stress Management with Triggering

Mechanisms.

Elizabeth Mehan Calter

[Eileen1]

There is only one problem ....they are all thugs and Bell's peers could not give credible testiomong ....they were arrogant and contradiced each other. I am pleased with this verdict

[Nommo]

Are you just as glad that Mr. Bell is dead?

[chamberslee]

Of course you are pleased with the verdict. It is just another dead black man. If it were a white man, which rarely occurs, I have a feeling you would have a problem with the verdict. Moreover, the facts that Bell and his friends may (or may not) have been thugs dose not justify killing. But I am sure most whites would disagree. After all, ALL black men are criminals who pose them great danger. All whites have to say is "I feared for my life," and most whites will find them not guilty...only in America.

[MourningDude]

You're right, again, Earl.

All the people screeching "RACISM!! RACISM!!!!" just don't get it.

My white cousin was gunned down by police in Ogden, Utah during a routine traffic stop. They weren't even prosecuted because the department deemed that they acted responsibly.

Al Sharpton didn't show up, and nobody screeched about how it was a racist, sexist, or religious hate crime.

This so-called double standard that so many black people are now yelling about simply doesn't exist in these cases. There's ONE standard, and it's stacked in favor of the cops.

[chamberslee]

You, like most white Americans will never accept the fact that race matters. So a white officer killed a white person and that is your evidence that racism has nothing to do with it. Your analogy is just as ridiculous as the judges' verdict is. Please, try again.

[gevan]

Nevertheless, if I had a police force under my control I wouldn't want such officers who showed such a poor performance with proper target identification. Like the Diallo case before it, this is an instance where the cops "think" there is a gun but when they start shooting they really don't know who is firing what weapon. Furthermore, in this instance, many shots went wild. It is truely appalling that the marksmanship of New York's finest is that pathetic especially when coupled with the fact that they really shouldn't have been firing in the first place. It would seem that they were in a panic mode which points up a basic lack of proper training. It makes one shudder when contemplating the state of our homeland's security.

[OnceProudAmerican]

You ever notice that Rev. Sharpton is always in the middle of every Civil Event?
When there is a racecard to be played- He's always Front and Center. Is'nt it time for him to crawl back under that rock of his?
Maybe he's fishing for a Vice position?

[uheardme]

A "race card"? Sean Bell was murdered dumbass. Shove your race card where the lord split ya.

[chamberslee]

Racist whites could not care less about the death of a black man or the anguish his family and friends are enduring. This is a nation founded on white supremacy, controlled through terrorism (from the government to the little, old white lady on the front porch), and shaped by policies that ensure whites receive a different level of just compared to people of color.

It is what it is...and this verdict is another reminder that we have a long way to go in order to bridge race relations in America.

[uheardme]

Hey, Earl. Maybe your girl, the junior Senator from New York, will comment to calm and bring her constituents together, but I doubt it.

[TJS]

Two thoughts...

Can the Federal government try the cops for violating Bell's civil rights, the way they finally got two of the four LAPD in the Rodney King case?

Can they sue the hell out of the cops in civil court, the way Fred Goldman went after O.J.?

[RickyJ]

I thought the article was superficial. You would find in a more in depth approach:

1. Actual statistics on the outcome of such incidents, not anecdotal mentioning of a few high profile ones.
2. Comparison with situations where military personnel killed unarmed civilians with whom they had direct cotact.
3. Discussion of current rules of engagement and suggestions for improvement in that area.

And as far as the strong intimation of the article that some guilty people were acquitted, welcome to America Earl. We have an adversary system where the best lawyers win. Efficient truth determination has never been a strong suit of the American courtroom. You didn't have many complaints when OJ got away with murder.

[1849]

HuffPost's Pick

Part two

They handcuffed me while I was on the ground. They said I was a suspect. They said I was trying to rob the 7-Eleven. They said they were searching me for weapons. Finding none, they said they were searching for drugs. They found NO drugs! They threw me to ground, handcuffed and searched me like I was criminal in my own neighborhood and in my own country. They had no evidence and therefore no proof. They saw my black face and I fit their description of a criminal in United States. I felt like I was a criminal only because they believed I was a criminal. The only crime I committed was being black.

I was so furious. This is first time in my life, that I felt so low, I wanted to kill someone. I am ashamed of myself for even having the tought. I thought I better keep this feeling to myself because I was at the mercy of these police officers. How could I believe in a country, my country and its' institutions if they treated me like a criminal? I was so furious that I demanded that the men. who tried to place upon my person crimes they could not prove, to get their commanding officer out the scene before I became one the staggering statistic in Los Angeles.

[1849]

HuffPost's Pick

Part one

This is my experience with the police in Los Angeles.

I remember voting in the 1988 presidential election and the 7-Eleven store at the corner of Cadallic and Robertson Blvd. I used to go in and get the usual sundry of convenient items. I went there often enough to engage the clerks in friendly conservation. The store was just around the corner from my polling place. I cast my vote and left. It was the first time I voted in a national, state and local election in California.

I walked back around corner to a bus stop. It seemed like a waited a long time for the bus to arrive. While I was standing at the bus stop near the 7-Eleven, I noticed a police car driving around the block several times. I wasn't afraid. I had no reason to be afraid. The police car passed one more time. The next thing I know my face was planted in the cement. The police stopped, jump out of their cruiser and threw me to the ground.

[chamberslee]

Your experience is similar to mine and many other black and brown people I know. But I do not feel this is something most of white America understands nor does it care to under. Besides, the media projects ALL blacks as criminals, and that is what most whites hold up as evidence.

[Jazz42]

Mr. Hutchinson.
Most of the time I disagree with your post.
I completely agree.