Brooklyn DA Steps Into the Spotlight with Akai Gurley Case

In the weeks following the non-indictment in the Eric Garner case and the murders of two police officers, the death of Akai Gurley was almost overshadowed. The unarmed 28-year-old was killed in a dark public housing stairwell back in November by a rookie cop. Now the officer who shot him, Peter Liang, has been charged with manslaughter and official misconduct. He pleaded not guilty Wednesday.

Al Jazeera Legal Analyst Jami Floyd said Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson is approaching the case differently from Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan.

"I think it indicates that [Thompson's] responding to his constituency. I think it reveals that he wants transparency in this case, rather than a secret process," Floyd told WNYC. 

And while many have sought to compare the Garner and Gurley cases, Floyd said the district attorneys who steered those cases have very different constituencies. 

"You start to think about the fact that on Staten Island, you have a white district attorney and his constituency and [in Brooklyn] you have a black district attorney and his constituency. I don't think it's cynical to consider those realities. I think it's necessary and honest to confront those realities," Floyd said.