As SOHH previously reported, tensions have been high in anticipation of the grand jury findings. Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown held a news conference at 11 a.m. this morning to announce the indictments. Three out of the five officers involved with the shooting were charged in the eight count indictment.
Detective Michael Oliver, who fired 31 times and decorated undercover Detective Gescard Isnora, who fired 11 bullets, were charged with first-degree manslaughter and second-degree manslaughter. Detective Marc Cooper, who fired four shots, faces a misdemeanor endangerment charge, Brown said.
If Oliver and Isnora are convicted of first degree manslaughter, a violent felony, they will face required jail time and a maximum sentence of 25 years. Cooper may serve up to a year in prison.
"This grand jury acted in the most responsible and conscientious fashion," Brown told reporters. "This was a case that was, I'm sure, not easy for them to resolve."
According to Associated Press reports, Oliver, Isnora and Cooper surrendered to NYPD's Bureau of Internal Affairs at around 7 a.m. this morning. They were then taken to the Queens court complex for fingerprinting and processing.
Sean Bell was killed in November on the morning he planned to marry Nicole Paultre. After leaving his bachelor party at a Jamaica, Queens stripclub five plainclothes officers fired a hail of bullets at Bell and his friends, Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman, as they attempted to leave the club by car. The case has sparked a firestorm of controversy, reviving accusations that the NYPD are too quick to fire on suspects, particularly black ones. Detective Oliver is white, while Detectives Isnora and Cooper are black.
Source: sohh.com
