COMMUNITY ‘SATISFIED’ React to Bell shooting case indictments

A community that patiently waited for a grand jury to sort through the witnesses and evidence in the fatal shooting of Sean Bell on his wedding day in a barrage of 50 bullets was moderately satisfied with the indictments of three of the five cops involved.
Despite widespread belief in the community that each of the five officers involved deserved to be indicted, the news that three detectives had been charged with crimes was received with relief.
District Attorney Richard A. Brown unsealed indictments against Detectives Michael Oliver, 35, Gescard Isnora, 28, and Marc Cooper, 39, on Monday, March 19 that included charges of first- and second-degree manslaughter, assault and reckless endangerment for their roles in the death of Bell, 23, on a Jamaica street following his bachelor party. The men are accused of firing 31, 11 and four shots respectively.
All charges against Detective Paul Headley, 35, and Officer Michael Carey, 26, who fired their guns one and three times respectively, were dropped.
Bishop Lester Williams, who is the Pastor of the Community Church of Christ in Jamaica and was to have officiated at Bell’s wedding with fiancee Nicole Paultre, said that when the community first heard the grand jury had reached its decision on Friday, March 16, people feared the worst.
Although Williams was relieved at the news, he could not help but feel some disappointment.
“I just personally felt that all of the officers that fired deserved some culpability for the shooting,” he said.
Mike Lovejoy, who was sitting on his couch inside his auto repair shop on Merrick Boulevard watching coverage of the indictments Monday afternoon, said three out of five possible indictments were insufficient.
“It should have been all five. They all let out shots,” he said. “You do the crime, you got to do the time,” he said.
Sylvester Colon, 16, and Phillip Whitley, 16, both sophomores at Hillcrest High School who have been following the Bell case, said they were fairly satisfied with the number and nature of indictments.
Nonetheless, many doubted the indictments would ultimately lead to convictions.
“Honestly, I think [the detectives] had to get the indictments because of the community and the outcry of the family. So it will go to trial and waste the taxpayers’ money,” said Camille Harris, 31, a registered nurse. “I don’t think the police are going to go to jail.”
“For my thinking it’s going to be a political trial,” said Sega Ndiaye, a 38-year-old Jamaica Avenue street vendor who said he believed that the three detectives will be exonerated in their upcoming trials.
For others, regardless of the trial outcomes, nothing will bring Bell back.
“I pass by here [the site of the shooting] every day, and I get overwhelmed. I can’t even imagine what the family is going through,” said Cherry Cobb, a Flushing resident.
“I didn’t know him, but my heart goes out to the Sean Bell family,” said Charles Thibodeaux, from South Jamaica.
Oliver and Isnora were indicted on first- and second-degree manslaughter charges and Cooper on charges of reckless endangerment. First-degree manslaughter is defined as the intentional but non-malicious killing of another person. Second-degree manslaughter is an accidental and non-malicious killing. If convicted, Oliver and Isnora face up to 25 years and Cooper up to one year in prison.
“Our investigation into the death of Sean Bell and the wounding of Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman on November 25, 2006 on Liverpool Street in South Jamaica was as thorough and complete as I’ve ever participated in,” Brown said of the more than 100 witnesses who were interviewed and over 500 separate exhibits reviewed by his office.
Bell was shot and killed as he left the Kalua Cabaret on 94th Street with friends Guzman and Benefield at about 4 a.m. The three were leaving Bell’s bachelor party about 12 hours before he was to wed Paultre, his high school sweetheart. The men were in his silver Nissan Altima.
Oliver, who fired 31 of the 50 shots aimed at the car, was charged with two counts of first-degree assault for wounding Benefield and Guzman. He was also charged with two counts of second-degree reckless endangerment for firing his gun multiple times at the scene on Liverpool Street while others were present and for discharging a bullet that shot through the window of a neighboring residence.
Isnora, the undercover detective who fired the first shot and set off the subsequent shooting blitz, was charged with one count of first-degree assault for injuring Guzman and the lesser charge of second-degree assault for wounding Benefield. Like Oliver, he received a charge of second-degree reckless endangerment for placing others on Liverpool Street at serious risk of injury.
Cooper was charged with two counts of second-degree reckless endangerment for firing his gun four times at the scene. One count was for risking injury to those people on Liverpool Street that morning. The second charge was for a shot that passed through a window of an occupied AirTrain station.
“After hearing the case presented by the Queens DA, the grand jury has spoken. Although some people will be disappointed in the grand jury’s decision, we have to respect the result of our justice system,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg in a statement.
Standing across the road from the 103rd Precinct on 168th Street where a 50-day vigil in remembrance of Bell took place during January and February, Julian Turner, 58, considered the grand jury’s indictments “more or less a slap on the wrist.”
“They should have been charged with murder,” said Alexis Perkins, 31, who was dissatisfied that only three of the five officers were indicted. “I think everybody should have gotten the consequences just like everybody else.”
Oliver, Isnora and Cooper turned themselves in to the Queens Criminal Court in Kew Gardens at about 7 a.m. on Monday where they spent most of the day at Central Booking. At their arraignment before Justice Randall T. Eng that afternoon, all three pleaded not guilty to the charges pending against them.
Eng set bail for Oliver and Isnora at $250,000 bond or $100,000 cash, which both posted. He released Cooper, a married father of three, on his own recognizance. Their next court appearance is scheduled for April 11.
According to a statement made by Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, the three indicted men have been suspended without pay. Headley and Carey, who were not charged, have been placed on modified assignment. Lieutenant Gary Napoli, who commanded the team on the morning of the shooting and did not fire his gun, has also been placed on modified assignment.
The Police Department will now begin an internal investigation of the officers who were not indicted to determine if any disciplinary action is warranted. The process will include formal interviews with the officers and examination of the incident by its Firearms Discharge Review Board, Kelly said.