Force-ful grill
11 KOd in Gurley jury quiz over views on cops
JURY SELECTION started Wednesday in the highly charged manslaughter case of a rookie cop accused of gunning down an unarmed man in a dimly lit Brooklyn stairway — and some potential jurors were dismissed after they said they were biased against the NYPD.
Two separate panels of approximately 75 potential jurors from across the borough were herded into Brooklyn Supreme Court ready to answer questions about whether they’d be able to serve on the trial, which is expected to last a month.
Officer Peter Liang, 28, is charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide for shooting Akai Gurley in the stairwell of the Pink Houses in East New York on Nov. 20, 2014.
Prosecutors are expected to contend that Liang was patrolling the stairwell with his gun out against police regulations, and pulled the trigger when he was startled to come across Gurley, 28, and his friend Melissa Butler.
The defense is expected to argue the trigger on the gun was defective.
Justice Danny Chun introduced attorneys and Liang to the prospective jurors.
“Good afternoon,” Liang said in a soft voice.
The judge asked the panel a series of questions to weed out any potential l jurors who may already have had an opinion about the shooting, to find out whether they y could be fair or im- partial if selected.
Surprisingly, of approximately 150 50 Brooklynites, only ly about 30 people said aid they’d heard about out the case through the he news. Eleven were allowed to leave because they said they could not be fair or impartial.
“I’ve been reading a lot about police brutality cases in the news. I don’t think the system is fair,” said an excused female juror.
“I’m a teacher. My students always tell me about how officers mistreat them. I won’t be fair,” said a male potential juror who was also excused.
Several others were excused because of financial hardships, language problems, disabilities, scheduled vacations, surgeries and child care issues.
The first dismissed juror’s last name was, coincidentally, Liang, no relation. That prospective juror did not understand English well.
Among the 100 other eliminated jurors was a Brooklyn Family Court judge, a civil rights employee, and relatives of victims of police brutality.
On Thursday morning, the remaining 51 potential jurors are expected to have an in-depth question-and-answer session with attorneys.
The trial is expected to start Jan. 25.