Prosecution Rests Case in Police Shooting

New York Judge Faces Contradictory Testimony From Many of the Witnesses

NEW YORK, April 2 -- At first, it seemed like an open-and-shut case: Police fired 50 bullets at a group of friends in a car and killed an unarmed black man on the morning of his wedding day.

But when the prosecution rested its case on Wednesday, more than five weeks into the trial of three police officers charged in the killing of Sean Bell, the facts in this racially charged incident seemed muddled.

On Tuesday, Joseph Guzman, who sustained 19 bullet wounds while sitting in the passenger seat of Bell's car, gave a detailed account of what he saw, contradicting testimony from the police and also that of other prosecution witnesses.

What is not in dispute is that police detectives fired at Bell and his friends about 4 a.m. on Nov. 25, 2006, outside a strip club in Queens where the trio had held Bell's bachelor party. But almost everyone present has testified to seeing and hearing the chaotic events differently.

Key facts are still in doubt: Bell, 23, and his friends did or did not get into an argument with a stranger outside the club and threaten to go get a gun as a bluff, putting the undercover detectives on alert. The car Bell was driving did or did not hit a police officer, an unmarked police van and a wall, causing the detectives to believe they were under attack and to open fire. The detectives, who were in plainclothes, did or did not say they were police and show their badges before shooting.

On the stand, Guzman said Bell's car crashed into the van, which had turned toward them. Then he said that he saw a black man with a gun appear "out of nowhere."

"He shot me," Guzman said. "I'm looking in his eyes, man. He shot me. Everything slowed down. But I'm looking at him shooting me. He's continuing to shoot."

Guzman said that, as the shooting continued, he urged Bell to drive away. "Let's do it," he said he told Bell. "This is not a robbery. They're trying to kill us."

The man with the gun was Detective Gescard Isnora, the first to open fire, who has been described by his attorney as quiet and religious. Isnora has not testified, but in grand jury testimony read in court on March 20, he said: "I stated: 'Police! Don't move! Police! Don't move!' "

"The driver floored the car and struck my leg," Isnora said in the transcript. He said Bell's car continued forward, struck the van and then backed up toward him, forcing him to jump out of the way. "I maintained focus on Guzman," he said. "I kept noticing he was going into his waistband," where the detective feared Guzman had a gun, Isnora said.

Isnora, charged with manslaughter, fired his Glock pistol 11 times at those inside the car.

But in his own grand jury testimony, read in court on March 24, Detective Michael Oliver, also charged with manslaughter, said he did not see Isnora showing his badge or yelling commands before the shooting began. Oliver said he shouted "Police, don't move!" before firing.