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Prosecutors accuse detectives of being 'trigger happy'

Three undercover police detectives on trial over the death of an unarmed man killed in a hail of gunfire on his wedding day were reckless and trigger happy, prosecutors said.

Sean Bell, 23, who had been at a bachelor party on the night before his wedding, was killed in a barrage of bullets outside a Queens strip club in the early hours of Nov. 25. Two of his friends were wounded.

The shooting sparked protests and debate over excessive force and police conduct in New York City.

Prosecutor Charles Testagrossa told the judge on Monday that once the evidence is heard, "It will be clear that what happened cannot be explained away as a mere accident or mistake. It can only be characterized as criminal."

But lawyers for the detectives argued that the shooting was justified because their clients had reason to believe Bell and his friends were armed and dangerous.

There was evidence Bell was drunk and "out of control" when he left the club and witnesses overheard him exchange curses with another patron and heard Bell's friend Joseph Guzman tell someone to "Go get my gat," slang for gun, said Anthony Ricco, an attorney for Detective Gescard Isnora.

He said that Bell, at Guzman's urging, tried to run over Isnora with his car after the officers confronted Bell's party and identified themselves as police. Ricco described the car as a "deadly weapon" and "human battering ram."

"When there is a confluence of alcohol and ignorance, there's always a tragedy," Ricco said.

Isnora and detective Michael Oliver have pleaded not guilty to manslaughter; detective Marc Cooper has pleaded not guilty to reckless endangerment. Oliver fired 31 shots -- including the one that killed Bell -- Isnora fired 11 shots and Cooper fired four times. Two other officers also fired shots, but have not been charged.

The defendants waived their right to a jury trial, so State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Cooperman is hearing the case by himself.
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