By Samuel Maull, The Associated Press
New York (AP) -- A police officer pleaded not guilty Thursday to manslaughter in the fatal shooting of an unarmed African immigrant inside a storage building last year.
Defense attorney Stuart London said Officer Bryan Conroy had testified before the grand jury that indicted him and was “very disappointed” with the second-degree charge, unsealed Thursday.
“He talked about the life-and-death struggle that was going on when Mr. Zongo was going for his gun,” London said. “My client’s life was seriously in jeopardy. He did what he had to do to save himself.”
Conroy, 25, shot Ousmane Zongo after they met in a third-floor hallway of the building in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood on May 22, 2003. The officer was at the storage building to guard bootleg CDs that had been seized in a raid. Zongo used another unit in the same building.
Bail was set at $20,000, which Conroy posted Thursday afternoon. His next court date is July 8. If convicted, he could face up to 15 years in prison.
Manhattan District Attorney Robert characterized the shooting as “a reckless act that was unjustified.”
Sanford Rubenstein, attorney for the Zongo family, said the “indictment speaks for itself.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton said many people had doubted the officer’s self-defense argument.
“Clearly, our questioning was right,” he said. “The grand jury, after hearing from the police officer himself, clearly did not believe him.”
Conroy shot Zongo in the chest, abdomen and upper back after a winding chase through the halls. There were no witnesses to the shooting and no surveillance cameras.
London said his client, wearing a postal carrier’s uniform as undercover garb, identified himself as a police officer and had his police shield pinned to his shirt.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has said the officer told his supervisors: “He tried to take my gun. I had to shoot him.”
Zongo, 35, an immigrant from Burkina Faso, repaired African art and musical instruments. His family has sued the city and Conroy, and the attorneys say they are seeking $150 million in damages.
The president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association called the indictment a mistake. “We’re confident he’ll be exonerated,” Patrick Lynch said.
The case recalls that of another African immigrant, Amadou Diallo, a 22-year-old native of Guinea who was shot and killed by four undercover police officers in the Bronx in 1999.
The officers involved were acquitted of criminal charges, and the Justice Department decided not to bring federal civil rights charges against them. The city early this year announced a $3 million settlement with his family.