NYC-NCBL CONDEMNS SEAN BELL VERDICT AND CALLS FOR ACCOUNTABILITY

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, April 29, 2008



Contact:

Kerry McLean, writekerry@hotmail.com

Florence Morgan, flomorgan@nyc.rr.com





NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF BLACK LAWYERS-NEW YORK CITY CHAPTER CONDEMNS SEAN BELL VERDICT AND CALLS FOR ACCOUNTABILITY



The New York City chapter of the National Conference of Black Lawyers (NCBL-NYC) condemns the acquittal of the three NYPD detectives who killed Sean Bell, 23, and injured his companions Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield. In November 2006, plainclothes NYPD detectives fired 50 shots at Bell, Guzman and Benefield, all of whom were unarmed. In a bench ruling, state Supreme Court judge Arthur J. Cooperman found the three detectives not guilty on all felony and misdemeanor charges. The NCBL-NYC demands: 1) A review of the case by the United States Department of Justice for violations of federal civil rights statutes; and 2) The permanent reinstatement by law of the state-level special prosecutor's office to investigate cases of police brutality, misconduct and corruption.



The Sean Bell murder trial is the most recent high profile case of police brutality in New York City. Police brutality in communities of color in NYC is systemic and has been the experience of people of color in NYC since its founding. Abner Louima, Amadou Diallo and high school student Timothy Stansbury, Jr. are just a few of the more well-known cases.

The justice system has repeatedly failed to hold police officers accountable for brutality and murders in communities of color. Local prosecutors are reluctant to aggressively prosecute officers in the very police departments that they work with and rely on for crucial information. The office of the Queens district attorney, which handled the case, did a poor job prosecuting the case. The prosecution's decision to include witnesses whose testimony seemed to discredit its case puzzled onlookers.

"Because such a clear conflict of interest exists, police violence cases must be handled by a special prosecutor," said Kerry McLean, member of the NYC chapter of the NCBL. "This is imperative in order to protect the integrity of the justice system and to prevent police officers from killing with impunity."

The NCBL-NYC joins with all allies in decrying the not guilty verdict, and calls on everyone that believes in social justice to demand accountability in this case and all cases of police violence.



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