Conflicting accounts at NYC officer's trial for shooting black man
By Joseph Ax
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Prosecutors told a jury on Tuesday that the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a New York police officer was not an accident, as dramatically different accounts of the incident were heard at the close of his criminal trial.
Officer Peter Liang faces charges of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and other counts in the death of Akai Gurley, 28, who was struck in the chest by Liang's bullet after it careened off a wall in the pitch-black stairwell of a Brooklyn public housing complex on Nov. 20, 2014.
Liang testified that a loud sound startled him as he entered the stairwell, causing his finger to slip onto the trigger and fire inadvertently.
But Assistant District Attorney Joseph Alexis said Liang recklessly discharged his weapon toward the source of the noise.
"He put his finger on the trigger of the gun, he pointed his gun directly at where the sound was, and he fired," said Alexis, who held Liang's unloaded gun to show it can only be fired if the finger is placed deliberately on the trigger. "It's no accident."
Liang's defense lawyer, Robert Brown, performed his own demonstration, pulling the trigger of the gun while mimicking an involuntary start.
"The slightest flinch, and that gun can go off," Brown said.
Gurley's death added fuel to nationwide protests over police treatment of minorities, although Liang, a Chinese-American, is not accused of deliberately killing Gurley.
Prosecutors, however, have said Liang initially refused to call in the shot and then failed to render CPR to Gurley, who lay bleeding to death.
During his closing argument, Alexis also said the noise could only have been caused by another person in the unlit stairwell.
"I think it's clear to all of you that he knew that someone was there," Alexis said.
That assertion appeared to go significantly further than the prosecution's previous arguments.
Brown argued that Liang had no idea anyone was in the stairwell and that he followed his training at all times, drawing his weapon but keeping his finger off the trigger and the gun pointed downward.
The gun's position explains why the bullet ended up striking Gurley, who was walking unseen one floor below Liang, Brown said.
"Police need to be able to take their guns out of the holster when they feel they are in danger," Brown said.
Brown also said Liang immediately called for help upon realizing someone had been hit and did not have adequate training to offer medical aid.
Both sides seemed wary of the emotions surrounding the national debate over police tactics. Brown cautioned that "policing in America is not on trial," while Alexis told the jurors that convicting Liang "is not a conviction of the New York City Police Department."
(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Scott Malone and Alan Crosby)
