Photograph of a memorial near where Bell was shot by Casa de Darnoc on Flickr
With tomorrow's start of the trial of the three police officers charged with killing an unarmed man in 2006, the Reverend Al Sharpton is holding candlelight vigils today and tomorrow in the memory of Sean Bell. Bell, who was killed hours before his wedding after his bachelor party crossed paths with an undercover police operation, and his friends were fired at 50 times. He was just 23 years old.
Sharpton, joined by Bell's fiancee Nicole Paultre Bell and the two friends who were in the car the night of the incident, emphasized they were looking for justice, not revenge. The three police detectives on trial face charges including manslaughter and reckless endangerment. After attempting to get the trial moved out of Queens, the cops settled for a bench trial in which a judge will determine the verdict. It is expected the cops will take the stand.
The Post has a good graphic/crib sheet explaining the trial, which hinges on the concept of "justified" force. (According to court papers, "The grand jury found the first few shots from all of the police officers to be justified but that justification quickly evaporated, leaving Detective [Michael] Oliver and Detective [Gescard] Isnora chargeable with homicide.") The sheer volume of bullets fired is at the center of a column from the Daily News' Errol Louis, who discusses how a "might have meted out different justice."
The Daily News reported that Bell's fiancee and mother of his two children will be the first person to testify in the trial. Paultre Bell has been the subject of many articles this week, noting how she will be in court every day (at least after she testifies), ready to hear what the defense will say about her fiance. She told the NY Times, "Nothing was worse than the day I lost him. So if I have to sit through court for two months, hear evidence or things I may not have known, it’s O.K. I’m willing to do that.”
However, her appearance, with her and Bell's daughter in a Rocawear ad, caused some commotion, as the words "We are going to be here to the end, 'til justice is served" are also in the ad. Detectives Endowment Association head Michael Palladino to say, "This was a planned publicity stunt timed to influence the jury." However, Paultre Bell's lawyer said, "You can easily go negative with anything. She sees it as something uplifting," and Rocawear marketing head Jameel Spencer told the Post that Paultre Bell's spirit was admirable after such tragedy.
Bell's family gathers near the Kalua Lounge, the nightclub where the bachelor party was held and where the NYPD undercover operations was held, on the 23rd of each month and did so last night; his mother Valerie Bell told WCBS 2, "Just like anyone else, if you do the crime you have to do the time. I'm praying the judge will see, have a conscience, knowing that they did wrong."
