DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Courtesy of the New York Daily News
A state appeals court refused to move the Sean Bell police shooting trial from Queens Wednesday – setting the stage for jury selection to start Feb. 4.
Without explanation, judges from the state’s Appellate Division released a one-page letter rejecting a change of venue for indicted NYPD Detectives Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora and Marc Cooper.
The panel left open the option for the defendants to renew their request to move the trial – “if necessary” – after they try to select a jury in Queens Supreme Court.
About 4,500 potential jurors have been summoned for the case, prosecutors said.
“We’re disappointed in the appellate court’s ruling because the evidence is powerful and our argument had merit,” said Detectives Endowment Association President Michael Palladino, whose union represents the detectives.
“Right now, the court has spoken, so we’re going to prepare for a trial in Queens.”
Palladino added the ruling was not evidence of innocence or guilt.
The decision came the same day that Bell’s parents held their monthly prayer vigil for justice outside the 103rd Precinct stationhouse in Queens.
“[It’s] some good news, for a change,” said Bell’s father, William, as he headed to the evening rally.
The ruling temporarily silences defense arguments that the Queens jury pool was “incurably poisoned” by media coverage of the 50-shot police barrage on Nov. 25, 2006, that left Bell, 23, dead on his wedding day and two of his pals wounded. Cops say they believed the men were armed.
The move also quieted critics like the Rev. Al Sharpton, who called the venue-change request a “Diallo trick” – a reference to unarmed African immigrant Amadou Diallo, who was shot 41 times by NYPD officers in the Bronx in 1999.
The NYPD officers in that case were acquitted by an Albany jury after a different appeals court granted them a change of venue.
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown hailed the Bell case decision.
“Today’s decision reflects that which we said all along, that a fair and impartial jury can be selected from among the 2.3 million residents of Queens County,” Brown said.
The ruling raises a new debate: whether the defendants will try to select a jury or opt for a bench trial, in which Justice Arthur Cooperman would issue the verdict.
Cooper likely will opt for a jury trial, said his lawyer, Paul Martin. The other defendants are still deciding, Palladino said.
