Judge reduces conviction in ex-cop's fatal Brooklyn stairwell shooting
Former New York Police Department officer Peter Liang will avoid prison for fatally shooting Akai Gurley inside a housing project.
The New York Times reported Tuesday that Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Danny Chun ruled that the November 2014 shooting had been an accident and reduced the jury’s verdict finding Liang guilty of manslaughter. Instead, over the objections of the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, Chun found Liang guilty of the far less serious offense of criminally negligent homicide and handed down a sentence of five years’ probation and 800 hours of community service.
“This was not an intentional act,” the judge said in court. “This was a criminally negligent act. As such, I find incarceration not necessary.”
The Brooklyn DA, who had previously recommended that Liang not face prison time, promised to appeal Chun’s decision to reduce the verdict.
Chun’s ruling came days after he refused to vacate Liang’s conviction after allegations that one of the jurors had lied on his questionnaire in order to get on the jury. Liang’s attorney, Paul Shechtman, had made a motion to vacate after the Daily News published an article alleging that the juror in question, Michael Vargas, did not disclose that his father had been convicted of a crime when asked about it during jury selection. Vargas told the Daily News that his father was sent to prison for accidentally shooting a man to death. Chun was satisfied that the juror had not lied during jury selection and that he had not affected the guilty verdict.
Chun’s decision to reduce the verdict sparked outrage from family members of Gurley who attended the sentencing hearing.
“There is no justice!” Gurley’s aunt, Hertencia Petersen, yelled as she stepped into a hallway. ”Akai Gurley’s life didn’t matter!” According to the Times, there were dueling groups of protesters outside the Brooklyn courthouse and about 60 gathered around the Gurley family to support them after word of the sentence leaked out. “Another black man has been murdered by the hands of the Police Department and the officer is not being held accountable,” Petersen said. “This right here is not the end. We’re going to continue to fight until we get justice.”
Liang, for his part, apologized to Gurley’s family, saying that “the shot was accidental.” Shechtman expressed sympathy for the Gurley family but also said that he was pleased with the sentence. “We have very mixed emotions,” Shechtman said to the Times. “But this is a good day for Peter Liang in a year and a half when there haven’t been many good days.”
