National

How Cases Involving 2 NYC Cops and 2 Unarmed Men Measure Up

Published

10 years ago

February 12, 2015

Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson speaks during a news conference in New York, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2015. Peter Liang, a rookie police officer, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to manslaughter, official misconduct and other charges in the shooting death of a man in a pitch black stairwell of a Brooklyn public housing complex. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

COLLEEN LONG, Associated Press
TOM HAYS, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — The indictment of New York Police Department Officer Peter Liang Wednesday on charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the stairwell shooting of Akai Gurley comes two months after a grand jury declined to charge Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the chokehold death of Eric Garner. Both were unarmed black men who died at the hands of police, and the officers became the subject of criminal investigations.

“But the similarities stop there,” criminal law professor James Cohen said. Garner’s death touched off massive protests and calls for police reform. The encounter was captured on video and widely viewed online. The officer testified before the grand jury.

Gurley’s death occurred during a chance encounter on a pitch black stairwell in a Brooklyn housing project. Liang fired a single shot and his finger never should have been on the trigger, prosecutors said, but no one believes he intentionally wanted to kill Gurley. Liang didn’t testify in his defense.

Here’s a look at the two cases:

THE CIRCUMSTANCES:

Akai Gurley, 28, was having his hair braided by his girlfriend at her apartment in the Louis Pink Houses in Brooklyn on Nov. 20. He had just given up waiting for the elevator so he could leave when he stepped into a darkened stairwell to walk to the lobby. Meanwhile, Officer Peter Liang and his partner were patrolling the stairwells of the public housing complex. Liang, 27, had his gun drawn, his finger on the trigger, prosecutors said. As he pushed open the door with his shoulder, he fired one shot that ricocheted, striking Gurley on the floor above. Gurley made it down two flights before collapsing and later died. Liang is Chinese-American. His lawyer says the shooting was an accident.

Eric Garner, 43, was standing outside a Staten Island convenience store and was suspected of selling loose cigarettes on July 17. Officer Daniel Pantaleo and others accused tried to arrest him but he resisted. In an incident captured on video and widely viewed, the officer tries to take the heavyset Garner down, wrapping an arm around his neck. He cried “I can’t breathe,” lost consciousness and later died. The officer said he was using a legal takedown maneuver but critics said it was a chokehold, banned under NYPD policy. Pantaleo is white.

THE BOROUGHS:

Staten Island, where Garner died, is by far the least populated of the city’s five boroughs, with about 472,000 residents, the most conservative and least racially diverse, dominated by homeowners rather than renters, and home to many current and retired police officers. According to the 2010 census, it’s the only borough where non-Hispanic whites make up a majority — 64 percent. It had the lowest percentage of blacks at 9.5 percent. The borough leans Republican.

Brooklyn, where Gurley was killed, has 2.5 million people, and houses some of the wealthiest and poorest in the city. According to census figures, the borough is 36 percent non-Hispanic white, and 35 percent black. The median household income is $49,000. It contains areas with some of the highest crime rates in the city, and also the highest level of police involvement.

THE DISTRICT ATTORNEYS:

Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson won a contentious race in 2013, displacing the longtime incumbent, and his tenure so far has been marked by a series of exonerations. The bulk of the cases stem from concerns about the investigative tactics of a now-retired detective. On Wednesday, Thompson said Liang’s case was not to be seen in the shadow of Garner. “This case has nothing to do with Ferguson or Eric Garner or any other case,” he said. “This case has to do with an innocent man who lost his life and a young New York City police officer who has now been charged with taking his life,” he said.

Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan has held the job for a little over a decade. He is currently planning to run for the Congressional seat formerly occupied by disgraced Rep. Michael Grimm in a special election. Donovan asked for some details of the Garner grand jury to be released, but not a transcript of the minutes. The New York Civil Liberties Union and others asked a court to order Donovan to release the transcript, detailed descriptions of evidence and other documentation. A judge is weighing a request.

NOW WHAT:

Federal prosecutors are reviewing the Garner case, and the family has filed paperwork to sue the city.

Liang likely will face a judge, not a jury, and experts say it will be difficult to win a conviction because they will have to prove he knew there was a substantial risk of causing someone’s death and disregarded it to be convicted on the top charges. “It’s a very tough sell,” said Bennett Gershman, a Pace University law professor and former prosecutor. “I give the DA a lot of credit; it was a courageous use of authority here. Now comes the tough part. It’s easy to get a grand jury to indict; it’s quite different to win a conviction.” The family of Gurley also has filed paperwork to sue the city.

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Oakland Post: Week of October 30 – November 5, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of October 30 – November 5, 2024

Published

21 hours ago

November 1, 2024

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New Filing: Trump’s Attempts to Overturn 2020 Election Were Part of Private Scheme, Not Official Acts

NNPA NEWSWIRE — The filing reveals the extent of Trump’s interactions with figures such as attorney Rudy Giuliani and other senior officials, some of whose names were withheld. Trump persisted with a plan to undercut Joe Biden’s victory despite numerous warnings from people in his circle that his claims of a stolen election were untrue.

Published

4 days ago

October 29, 2024

Oakland Post

Jack Smith during a statement regarding the indictment of Donald J. Trump. (Wikimedia Commons)

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Special Counsel Jack Smith has delivered a powerful legal blow to former President Donald Trump, unveiling new evidence that the twice-impeached Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results were part of a private scheme rather than actions taken in his official capacity as president.

In a 165-page legal brief unsealed Wednesday, Smith provided new details about Trump’s behind-the-scenes maneuvers to subvert the election, including pressure campaigns targeting key officials, attempts to create false electors, and private discussions with his vice president, Mike Pence.

The filing reveals the extent of Trump’s interactions with figures such as attorney Rudy Giuliani and other senior officials, some of whose names were withheld. Trump persisted with a plan to undercut Joe Biden’s victory despite numerous warnings from people in his circle that his claims of a stolen election were untrue.

Smith’s brief is part of a broader strategy to prove that Trump can face trial for his actions, even after a Supreme Court ruling granted him immunity for official acts as president. The special counsel argues that Trump’s efforts to enlist Pence in blocking Congress’s certification of the election results were part of a private, illegal campaign to retain power, not part of his official duties.

“At its core, the defendant’s scheme was a private criminal effort,” Smith wrote in the filing. “In his capacity as a candidate, he used deceit to target every stage of the electoral process.”

The document provides new evidence of Trump’s attempts to sway election officials in critical swing states to alter the results in his favor. The brief quotes a lawyer advising Trump, who gave an “honest assessment” that his claims of widespread fraud would not withstand scrutiny in court. Yet, Trump dismissed the warning. “The details don’t matter,” Trump said, according to the filing.

Further, the brief recounts private conversations between Trump and Pence, in which Pence urged Trump to accept defeat and consider another run in 2024. Trump, however, expressed reluctance, saying, “2024 is so far off.”

Smith’s filing depicts Trump’s actions as part of a desperate and illegal campaign to remain in power after losing the 2020 election. The brief also points to Trump’s reliance on Giuliani and other private allies in his election subversion attempts, asserting that none of these efforts fell under the scope of presidential duties.

“The defendant asserts that he is immune from prosecution for his criminal scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election because, he claims, it entailed official conduct,” the filing reads. “Not so. Although the defendant was the incumbent president during the charged conspiracies, his scheme was fundamentally a private one.”

A sealed appendix to the legal brief contains FBI interviews, search warrant affidavits, and grand jury testimony that might soon become public. Smith’s filing builds on the indictment released last year, expanding the evidence and reinforcing the argument that Trump’s conduct was criminal and not shielded by presidential immunity.

Smith concluded the brief with an explicit request to the court: “The government respectfully submits that the defendant’s conduct described in this motion is not subject to presidential immunity and that he should face trial for his private acts of subversion.”

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Special Interview: Rep. Barbara Lee Discusses Kamala Harris’ Plan for Black Men

On Oct. 16, California Black Media (CBM) spoke with Harris-Walz campaign surrogate, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA-12), who shared more insights on Harris’ agenda and the importance of securing the Black Male vote. “She has said very clearly that she wants to earn the vote of everyone. And that means earning the vote of Black men,” said Lee of Harris. “She understands the systemic and historic challenges that Black men have. You haven’ t heard of a presidential candidate coming up with a concrete actual plan and policy agenda.” The agenda includes five focus areas based on insights she gleaned from hosting discussions with Black men during her Economic Opportunity Tour.

Published

5 days ago

October 28, 2024

Oakland Post

(File Photo) U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-13-Oakland) chides Justices on the Supreme Court of the United States for voting to strike down Affirmative Action. She is shown here speaking in front of the California Reparations Task Force in Oakland on May 6, 2023. CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey. By Edward Henderson, California Black Media

By Edward Henderson, California Black Media

Last week, the Kamala Harris campaign released its Opportunity Agenda for Black Men.

“She has said very clearly that she wants to earn the vote of everyone. And that means earning the vote of Black men,” said Lee of Harris. “She understands the systemic and historic challenges that Black men have. You haven’ t heard of a presidential candidate coming up with a concrete actual plan and policy agenda.”

The agenda includes five focus areas based on insights she gleaned from hosting discussions with Black men during her Economic Opportunity Tour:

Provide 1 million loans that are fully forgivable to Black entrepreneurs and others disadvantaged groups to start businesses.
Champion education, training, and mentorship programs that help Black men get good-paying jobs in high-demand industries It will also develop more accessible pathways for Black men to become teachers.
Support a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency and other digital assets so Black men who invest in and own these assets are protected.
Launch a National Health Equity Initiative focused on Black men that addresses sickle cell disease, diabetes, mental health, prostate cancer, and other health challenges that disproportionately impact them.
Legalize recreational marijuana and creating opportunities for Black Americans to succeed in this new industry.

“[Vice President Harris] knows that Black men have long felt that too often their voice in our political process has gone unheard and that there is so much untapped ambition and leadership within the Black male community,” the language in the agenda states. “Black men and boys deserve a president who will provide the opportunity to unleash this talent and potential by removing historic barriers to wealth creation, education, employment, earnings, health, and improving the criminal justice system.”

Diving into Harris’ agenda, Lee says, reminded her of her own record of supporting Black men over the years as an elected official. In the 90’s, she established the first California Commission on African American Males through which she pressured the state to address urgent economic, health and social challenges specific to Black men.

“No group of people are a monolithic group of people,” said Lee She’ s not taking any vote for granted. I’ve known her over three decades and I believe she is being herself. She’ s authentic,” Lee added.

Each of the 5 key points addressed in the Harris Campaign’s agenda, Lee says, has additional clauses that can potentially help Black men and their families thrive. This includes lowering rent; up to $25,000 in downpayment help for first time homebuyers; and cutting taxes for Black men in lower-wage jobs by increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit maximum to $1,500.

“I think the messages is one of empowerment for Black men — regardless of whether they’ re a blue-collar worker, if they’ re not working, if they’ re in business, if they’ re an entrepreneur, whatever background or whatever they’re doing or experiencing life. I think the authenticity of their experience can only be articulated through them,” said Lee.