February 18, 2000

Jury May Mull Special Case for Cops

By TARA GEORGE
Daily News Staff Writer

The jury in the Amadou Diallo murder trial will be told that the four defendants should be judged as police officers — giving the cops the benefit of special legal provisions when deliberations begin next week.

Albany Supreme Court Justice Joseph Teresi ruled yesterday that he will instruct the jury that the law allows on-duty police to use deadly physical force if they think their lives are in danger. He also will tell the jury that cops making an arrest have less of a duty to try to retreat before resorting to lethal violence than ordinary people do.

But jurors still will have to decide whether — by an ordinary person's standard — it was reasonable for the cops to mistake Diallo's wallet for a gun and kill him in a hail of 41 bullets.

Prosecutors argued unsuccessfully that the cops should get no special treatment because they weren't arresting Diallo when they approached him on his Bronx stoop. "A cop doesn't have to say the magic words: 'You're under arrest' [for this rule to apply,]" said Michael Marinaccio, who represents Richard Murphy.

Teresi also formally approved the addition of lesser charges to the murder indictment against Officers Murphy, Sean Carroll, Edward McMellon and Kenneth Boss — raising the possibility that the cops could be found guilty but avoid jail time.