Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson is not seeking prison time for former New York City police officer Peter Liang who was convicted in the fatal shooting of Akai Gurley, an unarmed man in a housing project in East New York.
Eugene O'Donnell, professor of law and police science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, former police officer and former prosecutor, offers legal analysis as Gurley's family claims the DA's no-jail proposal "diminishes Akai's death."
O'Donnell said this wasn't a simple "shoot-no shoot" situation; it was an outlier, which makes it much more complicated. He said Liang didn't make any claims that he felt endangered: "Probably through those words alone, he was on his way to a criminal conviction."
@BrianLehrer @BrooklynDA where's the negligence on the part of the supervisors who assigned inexperienced cops to patrol a dangerous area.
— G (@6Strings88Keys) March 24, 2016
@BrianLehrer without prison time there is no justice! The indictment and trial gave hope and the punishment washes it away. SMH
— Rosa Linda (@RosaLinda168) March 24, 2016
@BrianLehrer when a civilian kills another by accident they still go to jail especially if a minority He was a trained officer. Jail for him
— Alejandra VeraCharle (@alemvera1) March 24, 2016