a**t
发帖数: 3833 | 1 As the verdict was read, Liang dropped his head -- his hands around the back
of his neck -- as one of his attorneys comforted him.
The highly unusual conviction of a police officer for the shooting death of
a civilian means the rookie cop is automatically fired from the force.
Kimberly Ballinger, the partner of the victim, Akai Gurley, 28, dabbed tears
and later pumped her fist in the air.
"He was a son. He was a brother," Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth
Thompson said after the verdict. "I told his mother, I'm sorry. There are no
winners. This is a tragedy all over."
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In a news release, Thompson added the decision was not a verdict against all
officers of the NYPD, but one who ignored his official training.
The jury's verdict came after 17 hours of deliberations. Sentencing will be
April 14.
The seven men and five women of the jury reached their decision on their
second full day of deliberations after requesting white boards and the NYPD'
s firearm and tactics guide.
On Thursday evening, about an hour before the verdict, the jury asked
Justice Danny Chun to read them the charges and legal definitions, the
second time this week.
The case went to the jury Tuesday, with the panel deliberating for an hour.
Chun Wednesday denied a defense request for a mistrial, saying Liang's legal
team fell "way, way short" in arguing that the prosecution in closing
arguments implied the officer intentionally shot Gurley.
Jurors asked that the testimony of Liang and other witnesses be read back.
And they asked the judge to reread the charges and replay a 911 call, which
brought some of Gurley's relatives to tears.
The jury also asked to handle Liang's firearm, a request the judge allowed
with the assistance of an officer.
During closing arguments, the officer's lawyer called the fatal shooting
tragic, but not a crime, stressing that Liang followed procedures. Police
determined that Gurley was "a total innocent."
"What happened here is a tragedy," defense attorney Rae Koshetz said. "It's
a terrible tragedy, but it's not a crime."
Prosecutor Joe Alexis argued that Liang showed poor judgment, again and
again, and that the shooting wasn't an accident beyond the officer's control
. He asked jurors to hold Liang accountable.
The trial has garnered attention beyond New York because of the national
controversy over allegations that police are too quick to use lethal force,
sometimes against unarmed people. Outrage over police shootings or excessive
force has spurred protest movements in major cities such as Chicago,
Baltimore and New York.
In the most well-known cases -- the fatal shootings of Michael Brown in
Ferguson, Missouri, and Walter Scott in North Charleston, South Carolina,
and the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody in Baltimore -- the
victims were unarmed black men.
'An accidental discharge'
Gurley was shot in the chest in Brooklyn and died at a hospital in November
2014.
The next day, police Commissioner William Bratton told reporters the 28-year
-old was "a total innocent" who fell victim to "a very unfortunate tragedy .
.. involving an accidental discharge."
On Tuesday, the defense told jurors that Liang handled his firearm as
trained, and that the video of the crime scene shows that having his weapon
drawn in the darkness of the stairwell was the correct course of action.
Liang gave tearful testimony on the stand Monday, just before both sides
rested in the case. He lost his composure when asked to recount what
happened in the stairwell on that night.
"I was panicking. I was in shock, in disbelief that someone was actually hit
," he said. | w*********o
发帖数: 3030 | 2 You added the title. Why do you want to frame this as Liang against blacks? | a**t
发帖数: 3833 | 3 black lives matter. all lives matter.
blacks?
【在 w*********o 的大作中提到】
: You added the title. Why do you want to frame this as Liang against blacks?
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