Charges Against NYPD Officers in the Death of Sean Bell Dropped by Feds

There is insufficient evidence to pursue federal criminal civil rights charges against New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers involved in the fatal shooting of Sean Bell, according to officials at the U.S. Department of Justice in a report to the 14,000 member National Association of Chiefs of Police.

Officials from the department’s Civil Rights Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and the FBI met on Tuesday with members of  Bell’s family, his fiancé, and their representatives to inform them of this decision, as well as with Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, friends of Bell who were wounded during the 2006 incident.

The Attorney General Eric Holder’s department conducted what officials termed ”a comprehensive independent investigation” of the events surrounding the November 25, 2006, shooting that resulted in Bell’s death.

A team of experienced civil rights prosecutors and agents reviewed all of the materials and evidence generated and provided by the Queens County District Attorney’s Office and the NYPD, including witness statements, crime scene evidence, ballistics reports, reconstruction analyses, medical reports, state grand jury proceedings, and the state trial record.

Federal investigators also took additional steps, including interviewing numerous individuals, such as Bell’s friends who witnessed the shooting, and retaining an independent ballistics reconstruction expert to conduct an analysis of significant ballistics evidence and to review the ballistics and reconstruction analyses performed by the NYPD.

Under the applicable federal criminal civil rights laws, prosecutors must establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a law enforcement officer willfully deprived an individual of a constitutional right, meaning with the deliberate and specific intent to do something the law forbids.

This is the highest standard of intent imposed by law, and is different and higher than the intent standard under the relevant state statutes. Neither accident, mistake, fear, negligence, nor bad judgment is sufficient to establish a federal criminal civil rights violation.

After a careful and thorough review, a team of experienced federal prosecutors and FBI agents determined that the evidence was insufficient to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the law enforcement personnel who fired at Bell, Guzman, and Benefield acted willfully. Accordingly, the investigation into this incident has been closed.

The Civil Rights Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and the FBI devoted significant time and resources to complete a thorough analysis of the evidence developed during the investigation, according to a Justice Department statement.

The 23-year old Bell was killed and his friends were seriously wounded outside of the Kalua Cabaret in the Queens section of New York City in 2006. Bell, Benefield and Guzman were leaving Bell’s bachelor party by car.

At the time, the NYPD officers, all undercover detectives, had been investigating reports of prostitution at the club.

No weapon was found in Bell’s blood-splattered, bullet-riddled car. However, the officers and some witnesses stated that the car in question appeared to be intentionally driven in the direction of the undercover officers who stated they fired in self-defense.

The shooting sparked community outrage and accusations that the New York Police Department was too quick to use excessive force against minorities, since Bell was a black male. However, of the three officers charged in the shooting, two are blacks and one is white.

A New York State judge ended up acquitting the three police officers of state charges that included manslaughter, assault and reckless endangerment.

Upon hearing that federal charges would not be pursued against the officers involved, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Tuesday that the NYPD officers may still face disciplinary charges.