NEWS > 04 December 2006

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NY1 - NY,USA
04 December 2006

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Surviving Victims Of Police Sh

The two surviving victims of last month's police shooting finally got the chance Monday to tell the Queens County district attorney's office their version of what happened on November 25, the night their friend Sean Bell was shot to death.

Attorneys for Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield say their clients made it clear that there was no fourth man in the car with them and Bell.

They also say the officers did not identify themselves or show their badges before firing 50 shots into the vehicle and killing Bell, echoing earlier reports from witnesses.

"We want justice and the witnesses who are here in the hospital, two victims, riddled with bullets, will fully cooperate with prosecutors," said attorney Sanford Rubenstein.

But the heads of the two unions representing the cops dispute their accounts. They also met with Queens District Attorney Richard Brown Monday morning to urge him to pay equal attention to the officers' side of the story.

They also asked for a timetable as to when Brown expects to bring the evidence before a grand jury, which will ultimately decide whether or not the police are indicted on criminal charges.

They want to make sure the officers who opened fire on Bell and his friends are treated fairly. They also say they want to know how long the investigation will take.

"Obviously we want a time frame. He could not give us a time frame because when he completes his investigation he'll present it to the grand jury, and it's based on those jurors on how long they need, who they want to speak to, what information they need. But that's appropriate on his part because we may be in a rush does not mean the investigation should to be rushed," said Patrolmen's Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch.

Lynch and Palladino said they feel confident in the job Brown is doing, and they don't think a special prosecutor is needed to look into the case, though some activists have been asking for one, alleging that the DA is too close to police. The mayor also rejected the proposal.

"The police are entitled to due process and that was our purpose here today. I think we're satisfied at this time that we're going to get that," said Detectives Endowment Association President Michael Palladino.

"We have a process where Dick Brown is supposed to conduct the investigation and that's exactly what should happen," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg, echoing Palladino's statement.

Several of the people attending Bell's bachelor party told their stories to the D.A.'s office yesterday.

According to their lawyer, Charles King, the men said they did not see or hear police identify themselves before the shooting outside the Kalua nightclub that left Bell dead.

King says the men did, however, see police fire one barrage of shots, pause, and then open fire again.

King says all of his clients, including Jean Nelson were at least 25 feet from Bell's car at the time of the shooting and none of the men were close enough to be the so-called fourth man seen running from the car.

King also says accounts that the fourth man was wearing a tan jacket rule out Nelson.

"Jean Nelson, who the police have claimed and leaked was seen running away from the scene theoretically as the mysterious fourth man in a beige or tan jacket� we came in with the jacket he was wearing that evening and it was black as night," he said.

King would not say how many of his clients met with prosecutors yesterday, out of fear they may be harassed by police.

Some groups are calling for a special prosecutor in the case saying it would preserve the integrity of the investigation, but Queens District Attorney Richard Brown says those calls are not productive or justified.

D.A. Brown has promised a fair and unbiased investigation.

Meanwhile, community leaders announced this afternoon that they will hold a rally against police abuse and brutality on Wednesday.

Although the event was planned before last month's fatal police shooting of Sean Bell, organizers say the rally is now more important than ever.

"We have been getting reports from across the city of just total disrespect and abuse by the police department in our communities. So much so that what people called it was that police are 'off the hook,' that they are out of control, that they are in effect the largest organized gang in new York City," said Roger Wareham of the December 12th Movement.

"This is your last chance. You are running out of chances to show our people that the justice system works," said Brooklyn City Councilman Charles Barron. "And I don't care what people say, don't blame me a social forecaster for predicting an explosion if we don't get justice just like you don't blame the weather man for predicting a storm. Our people are fed up."

Similar rallies followed the police shooting of Amadou Diallo in 1999, some of which led to hundreds of arrests.

Wednesday's rally is expected to draw a large crowd to One Police Plaza.

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Article sourced from

NY1 - NY,USA04 December 2006

Surviving Victims Of Police Sh

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NY1 - NY,USA
04 December 2006