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Bell verdict, examined from multiple angles

By Mark Obbie

Stellar work today by a Times team explains what to some may seem inexplicable: the acquittals of police in the shooting death of Sean Bell. Bell was killed in a hail of 50 shots on the day of his wedding outside of a New York strip club. The number of shots makes it easy to jump to the conclusion that the police did wrong. But are they guilty of a crime? And what are the elements of that crime that prosecutors had to prove, but didn't to the judge's satisfaction. The Times did a much better job than its direct competitors the New York Post and Daily News, of examining those core issues (though the tabs' work was itself ambitious and worthy of praise). Michael Wilson, the Times' lead trial reporter, penned both the main verdict story and this sidebar explaining the judge's written decision. Supplemented by this clear and engaging graphic that explains each witness' testimony, the extensive package of reports may inject facts into the emotional debate New Yorkers are having about the verdict issued by Judge Arthur Cooperman (it was a bench trial). My only quibble: why not make the link to the judge's written decision easier to find? After all, the judge took the added step of spelling out his reasons for the verdict. It's not the most elegantly written document -- that's where journalists as interpreters come in handy -- but it should be an easily located document on any news site that covers the verdict.

Full post as published by Lawbeat on April 26, 2008 (boomark / email).