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Prosecutors Say Cop Tried To Cover Up Fatal Shooting Of Innocent Man
By
Max Rivlin-Nadler
Published Feb 9, 2016
Modified Oct 12, 2017
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By
Max Rivlin-Nadler
Published Feb 9, 2016
Modified Oct 12, 2017
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On the final day of the trial of NYPD officer Peter Liang, the prosecution argued that the rookie officer intentionally fired his weapon in the dark stairwell of East New York’s Pink Houses, killing 28-year-old Akai Gurley, and then attempted to cover up what happened.
“Peter Liang fired a shot right where Akai Gurley stood,” said Assistant District Attorney Joe Alexis during his closing argument. “He fired a shot because he heard a sound. Akai Gurley is dead because officer Liang heard a sound… a sound [Liang] can’t even describe.”
Assistant District Attorney Joe Alexis displays the firearm used by Liang. (Pool/Gregory P. Mango)
Dismissing the defense’s argument that Liang’s finger had slipped from the side of the gun and onto its trigger when he was startled, the ADA tore into Liang’s conduct after he fired his weapon.
Liang testified yesterday that he had returned to the stairwell after discharging his weapon to not only look for where the bullet had struck, but to also find the bullet casing. Alexis used this testimony against Liang, suggesting that the officer tried to cover up the shooting in the immediate aftermath.
“He went to the stairwell to find the shell casing, to keep this quiet. But when they found Akai Gurley on the fifth floor landing, they realized that they couldn’t anymore,” Alexis told the jury.
With Brooklyn DA Ken Thompson sitting in the gallery, Alexis argued that Liang became upset not only because he had just killed an innocent man, but because he knew that there was no way to cover it up.
“When Liang got downstairs, he became upset, because he was weighing the consequences to him.”
Neither the prosecution or defense provided a fact-based, clear timeline of what happened that night in November of 2014, though both told the jury they were going to. Perhaps the biggest discrepancy was how long it took for Liang to stop arguing with his partner, Shaun Landau, and get help for Gurley. The prosecution stated that it was close to four minutes, while the defense countered it was more like 30 to 40 seconds.
“When officer Liang found Mr. Gurley on the landing, from that moment, Peter Liang never stopped trying to get help over the radio,” defense attorney Robert Brown told the jury in his closing argument.
Brown also showed the jury a drawing made by police investigators that portrayed Gurley heading up the stairs towards Liang when he was shot, although there had never been any other evidence introduced that claimed he was doing anything other than walking down when he entered the stairwell. By presenting this evidence a second time, the defense was implying that Liang had fired in self-defense, but stopped short of making that argument, because it would undercut their narrative of the shooting as being completely accidental.
The defense stumbled towards the end of their closing argument, claiming that it was Gurley and his girlfriend Melissa Butler’s response to Liang entering the stairwell that frightened Liang.
Akai Gurley
“Melissa Butler and Akai Gurley were in the seventh floor stairway, and the eighth floor door opens,” Brown said. “They realize he’s a cop, they react. That reaction is what has Peter Liang react. That’s what started it.”
Brown argued that the trial has focused too much on Liang’s reaction to the shooting and not what precipitated it.
“The whole ‘I’m fired’ thing, total red herring,” Brown said, referring to Liang’s comment shortly after he fired the shot. “You have to radio the patrol supervisor? Total red herring.”
But the defense’s admission that Liang was startled by the presence of Butler and Gurley played right into the prosecution’s hands.
“Don’t believe Peter Liang didn’t know someone was down there. The only thing that could have startled him were other people,” ADA Alexis told the jury. By shooting his weapon, the prosecution said, Liang acted recklessly, knowing full well that the source of the sound that startled him could only have been made by another person.
Liang is charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, among other charges. If found guilty, he would be the first NYPD officer to be successfully prosecuted by a Brooklyn District Attorney in decades.
A verdict is expected before Friday.
Tagged
Peter Liang
Akai Gurley
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Max Rivlin-Nadler
Max Rivlin-Nadler has been a contributor to Gothamist since 2013. He has also reported for the New York Times, NPR, and The Intercept. His years-long investigation into New York City's arcane civil forfeiture laws led to a series of reforms which altered a practice that had been taking millions from poor communities for decades. Recently, he brought back a surfing habit from a few years on the west coast, and would love to see you all out in the Rockaways.
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