NYC Police Officer Found Guilty Of Manslaughter In Shooting Of Unarmed Man

After a weeklong trial, a jury Thursday found an Asian-American police officer guilty in the November 2014 shooting death of an unarmed black man in New York City.

The Brooklyn Supreme Court found Officer Peter Liang guilty of manslaughter and official misconduct, for shooting, then failing to help Gurley after he lay dying.

The jury deliberated a little more than two days before reaching a verdict.

The bullet ricocheted off of a wall and fatally struck Gurley in the chest, killing the 28-year-old man.

Just before Liang fired, Gurley and his girlfriend, Melissa Butler, had walked into the stairwell one floor below.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the last NYPD officer to be found guilty in a civilian’s shooting death was Bryan Conroy, convicted by a Manhattan judge of criminally negligent homicide in 2005. He added that the verdict showed Akai Gurley’s life mattered, echoing the “Black Lives Matter” movement.

Laundau had testified for the prosecution against Liang under a criminal immunity deal. The verdict, says Patrick Lynch, “will have a chilling effect on police officers across the city because it criminalizes a tragic accident”.

One supporter of Liang told us he was upset with the verdict.

“We have to work constantly to do them the right way, and that means in a way that’s respectable to the residents of that development, in a way that is communicative, and understands the needs of the development”, Mr.de Blasio said, explaining how vertical patrols would work under his new model.

New York City police officer Peter Liang is escorted out of court after he was charged with manslaughter, official misconduct and other offenses on February 11, 2015 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.

The jury made the request Thursday in the second full day of deliberations at the manslaughter trial of Officer Peter Liang (lee-ANG’).

The officer called to report the shooting after it occurred, but didn’t ask for an ambulance – another bit of information that prosecutors said shows Liang wasn’t interested in trying to save Gurley.

The police union said the jury came to the “absolutely wrong decision”.

Liang faces a maximum sentence of five to 15 years in prison.

As Gurley’s girlfriend, Kimberley Ballinger, attempted to aid him, Liang reportedly stood by, shocked. The argument was backed by New York City Police Department Commissioner Bill Bratton, who said immediately after the incident that the shooting appeared to be an accidental discharge – no intention to strike anybody.

Liang, a rookie cop at the time, was on patrol inside a Brooklyn public housing project with his partner and drew his gun upon entering a pitch-black stairwell.

However, prosecutors said during the trial that the officer, who had been on the job for 18 months, shot into the dark stairwell “for no reason” and then argued with his partner about calling for help.