December 17, 1999

Bombshell in Diallo Trial

Moved to Albany; outrage in Bronx

By TARA GEORGE and DAVE GOLDINER
Daily News Staff Writers

A state court yesterday ordered the Amadou Diallo police shooting trial moved to Albany from the Bronx, triggering a wave of outrage from relatives and supporters of the man whose death sparked months of city protests. The surprise decision locks millions of city residents out of the jury box as the four cops accused of killing Diallo in a hail of 41 bullets are tried in the overwhelmingly white upstate capital region."It's outrageous, that's the only way I can say it," said Kadiadou Diallo, the slain man's mother.Judges sided with lawyers for the four police officers, who argued that a firestorm of news coverage has made it impossible for them to get a fair trial in any of the five boroughs. The 11-page decision cited newspaper articles and cartoons that lambasted the cops who hit the unarmed African immigrant with 19 bullets Feb. 4.

"This case has been deluged by a tidal wave of prejudicial publicity," the five judges wrote. "Even an attempt to select an unbiased jury would be fruitless."

Burton Roberts, the lawyer for Officer Richard Murphy, said he was "delighted" by the decision — which came on what other attorneys had described as a longshot legal otion that rarely succeeds. "If there is ever a case that warrants a change of venue, this is it," Roberts said.The cops had been expected to opt for a nonjury trial, in which a judge would decide their fate. Now, attorneys say, they expect to have a jury trial."This is an opportunity for the four officers to have a trial that's judged on the facts, not the politics," said Patrick Lynch, president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association. The other Street Crime Unit cops accused in the case are Edward McMellon, Sean Carroll and Kenneth Boss.

Mayor Giuliani lauded the judges' decision to pull the trial out of the Bronx amid a wave of anti-police sentiment.

"They noted the things I've been saying throughout," Giuliani said. "A very, very strong prejudicial, biased, and bigoted viewpoint was being expressed." But the decision drew nothing but scorn from city activists, black elected officials and residents of Diallo's old block in working-class Soundview.

In a reminder of the visceral emotional punch of the Diallo case, the Rev. Al Sharpton said the decision reminded him of the Rodney King police beating trial, which was moved to the predominantly white suburbs of Simi Valley, Calif., from Los Angeles. The cops were acquitted.

"This is the Simi Valley strategy," Sharpton said. "It undercuts people's confidence in the judicial system."A lawyer for Amadou Diallo's father, Saikou, called the decision "shocking ... This is where he lived, this is where he was shot," said the lawyer, Omar Mohammedi. "It's outrageous."Diallo supporters were not alone in blasting the decision, in which the judges suggested that 12 impartial jurors could not be found in a city of roughly 8 million people.

Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson, whose office still will prosecute the case, was upset that the judges ruled before any effort was made to pick a Bronx jury. "Crimes should be tried in the community where they occurred," Johnson said. "I believe a fair jury could have been empaneled."

The order, which cannot be appealed, also means that Judge Patricia Williams will be removed from the case, because, as an acting judge, she cannot serve in another county. A new judge will have to be selected in Albany, pushing back the trial indefinitely from its scheduled Jan. 3 start.Diallo supporters attacked the judges for citing poll figures asserting that 81% of Bronx residents say there was no excuse for what the cops did to Diallo. "If we were to use a system run by polls, then nobody would go to trial," Sharpton said.Despite the hardships of attending a trial in Albany, 150 miles north of the Bronx, activists vowed to attend every minute. "We're used to the impossible," said the Rev. Herbert Daughtry.

With Bill Egbert and John Marzulli