Pubdate: Thu, 01 Feb 2001
Source: Alameda Times-Star (CA)
Copyright: 2001 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers
Contact:  P.O. Box 28884 ,Oakland, CA 94612
Fax: (510) 208-6477
Website: http://www.timesstar.com/
Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1528/a02.html

DIALLO: NO FEDERAL CHARGES FOR COPS

NEW YORK -- Four white police officers cleared in the shooting death of an 
African immigrant in a hail of 41 bullets will not face federal civil 
rights charges, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.

The officers were acquitted of murder and other state charges last year in 
the slaying of Amadou Diallo, 22, who was gunned down two years ago outside 
his Bronx apartment in what the policemen testified was a tragic error.

The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney Mary Jo 
White of Manhattan investigated the possibility of federal charges.

"The evidence ... does not provide a basis for bringing federal criminal 
charges," White said. "Mr. Diallo's death was a terrible tragedy, and our 
hearts will always be with the members of his family for their unbearable 
loss."

The Diallo family received news of the decision directly from White.

"This is another tragedy for me and my family," said Diallo's father, 
Saikou Diallo. "There is no doubt in my mind that what happened to Amadou 
was a crime."

Diallo was black, and his slaying by four white undercover officers on Feb. 
4, 1999, heightened racial tensions.

The plainclothes officers -- members of an elite street-crime unit -- were 
searching for a rape suspect when they stopped Diallo outside his home. 
Diallo was shot when he reached for his wallet; the officers said they 
believed he was going for a gun.

The Diallo family and many of their supporters had hoped for a federal 
civil rights prosecution of the officers.

Attorneys for the officers said the decision not to prosecute brings the 
case to an end for their clients, all of whom -- Kenneth Boss, Sean 
Carroll, Edward McMellon and Richard Murphy -- remain on the force.

"It's a decision that's right on the law and right on the facts," said 
Steven Brounstein, Boss' lawyer. "It was a tragic accident."

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani declined to comment on the decision.

The Diallo family still has an $81 million lawsuit against the city, its 
last legal recourse in the case.

The Rev. Al Sharpton said at a news conference with the family that the 
Diallos would press forward with the lawsuit. The officers "cannot hide now 
behind faulty and fake prosecutions," Sharpton said.

Federal civil rights prosecutions following state acquittals are rare. In 
the Diallo case, authorities would have had to prove the officers violated 
Diallo's civil rights by intentionally using excessive force.

In California, the four white Los Angeles police officers charged in the 
videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King were acquitted of most 
charges in state court in 1992, touching off riots that left 54 people 
dead. The officers were eventually convicted of federal civil rights charges.

The U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan has a separate investigation under 
way into police training and practices, especially by the street-crime unit.

The Diallo family, in its lawsuit, claims that the officers used 
unnecessary force and that the shooting resulted from racial profiling 
sanctioned by the police department.
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