By RICHARD PYLE
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK- A New York police officer is on trial for manslaughter in the deadly shooting of an unarmed African immigrant worker, in a case that previously ended in a mistrial.
Defense attorney Stuart London declared in an opening statement Monday that Officer Bryan Conroy had shot Ousmane Zongo on May 22, 2003, because the victim acted “unreasonably and irrationally” by trying to seize the officer’s gun during a confrontation in a hallway of the vast warehouse in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood.
The lawyer said Conroy feared his life was in danger when Zongo came at him, refusing his shouted order “Police, don’t move.”
But Assistant District Attorney Armand Durastanti told Manhattan state Supreme Court Justice Robert Strauss, who is hearing the case without a jury, that the officer had “recklessly engaged in conduct that led to the death of Mr. Zongo ... that was not justified” by the situation.
The shooting occurred during a police raid on the warehouse in which two suspected DVD and CD counterfeiters were arrested. Zongo was not connected to that case.
Zongo, an immigrant from Burkina Faso, worked at the warehouse repairing African art objects that had been damaged in shipment.
Conroy was a member of a police task force conducting the undercover raid and was wearing a postal service uniform with a police badge pinned to his shirt and his service weapon tucked in his waistband.
Zongo was hit by four bullets from Conroy’s 9 mm pistol and died in a hospital hours later.
The prosecutor said Conroy had failed to follow proper procedures but “inexplicably chose to challenge Mr. Zongo, not by showing him his badge but pulling out his 9-millimeter pistol and pointing it at Mr. Zongo.”
London said Zongo’s immigrant visa had expired and he may have feared he would be deported.
“Maybe he just panicked,” London said.
According to Conroy’s testimony at his first trial, Zongo came close to him in a threatening way that caused the officer to think he would grab for the gun. Conroy fired five shots, three hitting Zongo in the upper torso and one in the arm.
Conroy’s first trial ended in March with the jury deadlocked 10-2 for conviction, according to jurors.
Many of Zongo’s friends and family, some in African dress, and Conroy’s supporters packed the courtroom for the start of the retrial.