Cash-Strapped NYC Settles Civil Suit for $7.15M in Wrongful Death of Black Man, Sean Bell, on his Wedding Day

Cash-strapped New York City settles civil suit in wrongful death of black man, Sean Bell, by police on his wedding day, to the tune of $7.15 million.

Thanks to trigger-happy cops, cash-strapped New York City will have to cough up more than $7 million to settle a wrongful death civil suit brought by Nicole Paultre Bell, fiance of Sean Bell, the unarmed black groom who was savagely gunned down by police officers on his wedding day. His estate, which is controlled by Paultre Bell, will receive $3.25 million, while his pals, who were injured in the hail of bullets, will also be compensated. Joseph Guzman, 35, who was shot 11 times in the incident, will receive $3 million and Trent Benefield, 27, will be granted $900,000, according to the NY Daily News. No monetary compensation could ever replace a loved one, but it ensure that Sean Bell's children will be able to live a good life.

The settlement, approved by a Brooklyn federal magistrate, ends a four-year legal battle by tragic would-be bride Nicole Paultre Bell and two men wounded in a 50-shot barrage that claimed her lover's life. Guzman said he is still suffering from the shooting that fueled minority concerns that cops are too quick on the draw in their neighborhoods.

"I got a metal rod in my leg. I have four bullets still in me," he said, standing in front of Brooklyn Federal Court with Paultre Bell and their lawyer Sanford Rubenstein. "I don't think a black or Hispanic man's life means much in this city. It will happen again."

Guzman and Benefield, who is black, were in a car with Bell when undercover cops opened fire on them outside the Club Kalua strip club in Queens on Nov. 25, 2006, hours before Bell was to get married. Source

What's unconscionable in this tragedy is the fact that Detectives Michael Oliver, Marc Cooper and Gescard Isnora were all acquitted in a 2008 trial of manslaughter and reckless endangerment charges stemming from the Bell shooting. The cops claim they fired on Bell's lurching car after mistakenly believing someone inside had a gun and fearing that Bell was trying to run them down. This wouldn't be the first time the NYPD has been accused of using deadly force to take the life of an innocent man. The incident in which another unarmed man, Amadou Diallo, was savagely killed by officers who were acquitted comes to mind. It will happen again and again.