3 NYPD detectives cleared in groom's 50-shot death

AP Photo/Jin LeeSean Bell's father William Bell,  friend Joseph Guzman, Rev Al Sharpton, fiancee Nicole Paultre-Bell, and friend Trent Benefield, from left, address the media on the steps of City Hall Wednesday, April 23, 2008 in New York. Three of the undercover officers involved in the strip club shooting were cleared Friday of manslaughter and other charges. Guzman and Benefield were injured in the Nov. 25, 2006 shooting that killed Sean Bell hours before his wedding.

AP Photo/Jin LeeSean Bell's father William Bell, friend Joseph Guzman, Rev Al Sharpton, fiancee Nicole Paultre-Bell, and friend Trent Benefield, from left, address the media on the steps of City Hall Wednesday, April 23, 2008 in New York. Three of the undercover officers involved in the strip club shooting were cleared Friday of manslaughter and other charges. Guzman and Benefield were injured in the Nov. 25, 2006 shooting that killed Sean Bell hours before his wedding.

Share this: Email | Facebook | X

NEW YORK " Three NYPD detectives have been acquitted of all counts in the 50-shot killing of an unarmed groom-to-be on his wedding day.

Michael Oliver, Gescard (ZHEHS'-kahrd) Isnora and Marc Cooper were cleared in the 2006 slaying of Sean Bell. Isnora and Oliver faced the most serious charge of manslaughter.

Shouts of "No!" and "Not guilty!" erupted in the crowd outside the courthouse as word of the verdict spread. Some people wept on each other's shoulders.

Justice Arthur Cooperman delivered the verdict in a Queens courtroom packed with spectators, including the victim's fiance and parents. The ruling brings an end to a nearly two-month trial.

Bell was killed outside a seedy strip club in Queens on Nov. 25, 2006 as he was leaving his bachelor party with two friends.