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Grand jury set to hear evidence in Bell shooting

The Associated Press

7:34 AM EST, January 22, 2007

Nearly two months after five police officers unleashed a 50-shot fusillade that killed an unarmed man on his wedding day, key questions remain: Why did they start shooting? Did they do so without warning? And _ most importantly _ did they commit a crime?

Lawyers involved in the case say a grand jury will get some answers today when prosecutors start calling witnesses and detailing evidence from a shooting that sparked community outrage and put police tactics and motives under the microscope.

The presentation of the complex case is expected to drag out for a month or more before the five shooters learn whether they'll face criminal charges in the death of Sean Bell and the wounding of two other unarmed men.

The four detectives and one police officer "are very concerned," said Mike Palladino, president of the Detectives' Endowment Association. "They have to live with this every day."

Officials with the Queens District Attorney's office declined to discuss the closed-door proceedings.

Bell, 23, was killed the morning of Nov. 25 after his bachelor party at Kalua Cabaret, a topless bar in Queens where police had launched an undercover operation in response to complaints about prostitution. Union representatives and lawyers for the officers have said their clients became convinced Bell and his friends were going to retrieve a gun from a car parked around the corner after overhearing them get into an argument with another patron.

When one undercover detective, Gescard Isnora, approached the car _ driven by Bell and carrying the two other men _ it lurched forward and bumped him, then twice rammed into an unmarked police minivan, police said.

Isnora, who has claimed through his lawyer that he spotted one of the men make a suspicious move, squeezed off 11 rounds before the vehicle came to a stop. Of the other plainclothes detectives, Michael Oliver, fired 31 bullets, Marc Cooper shot four times, and Paul Headley fired once. Officer Michael Carey shot three times.

The three victims were black; the officers are both black and white. All have been taken off undercover duty and put on paid leave.

In recent weeks, four of the officers have come forward and met privately with prosecutors for preliminary questioning, lawyers said. It was unclear whether the fifth _ Oliver _ has been cooperating with the investigation; there was no response to telephone messages left with his attorney.

Oliver could stand out from the rest in one critical way: Law enforcement officials said that ballistic evidence shows he fired rounds that struck Bell. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because prosecutors had not presented that evidence.

In their initial meetings with prosecutors, some of the shooters have said they were on edge after hearing ominous radio transmissions in the moments before the gunfire erupted, lawyers said. A police report in evidence backs that assertion, saying a lieutenant at the scene had "relayed the information about the possibility of a gun to his field team and advised them to use necessary caution."

One point of contention: Isnora's attorney has said that before his client opened fire, he pulled out a badge and identified himself as an officer. But the survivors, Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman, and other guests at the bachelor party say their clients will tell the grand jurors that never happened, their lawyers said.

Though still recovering from gunshot wounds, Benefield and Guzman "are ready, willing and able to testify," said attorney Sanford Rubenstein.

Other civilian witnesses will testify that there was an initial volley of gunfire, then a pause, then more shooting, lawyers said.

In the end, the officers themselves will be invited to tell the grand jury their side of the story. Union officials have said the four detectives are eager to testify; the lawyer for Casey, Stephen Worth, has been noncommittal, saying, "We want to keep our options open."

Police critics have suggested the investigation has taken too long, and questioned whether the district attorney was too cozy with police to be impartial _ an argument he dismisses. A lawyer representing some of the eyewitnesses, Charlie King, said he expects a fair grand jury presentation.