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Police Sergeant Acquitted in Killing of Mentally Ill Woman Police Sergeant Acquitted in Killing of Mentally Ill Woman
(about 5 hours later)
A New York City police sergeant was acquitted of murder by a judge on Thursday in the fatal 2016 shooting of a bat-wielding, mentally ill, 66-year-old woman in the bedroom of her Bronx apartment. A New York City police sergeant was acquitted Thursday of murder in the fatal 2016 shooting of a bat-wielding, mentally ill 66-year-old woman in the bedroom of her Bronx apartment.
The death of the woman, Deborah Danner, became a flash point in the national debate over whether police officers are too quick to shoot people and whether they are adequately trained and sufficiently conscientious in their dealings with people suffering from severe mental illness. The death of the woman, Deborah Danner, became a flash point in the national, racially charged debate over whether police officers are too quick to shoot people and whether they are adequately trained and sufficiently conscientious in their dealings with people suffering from severe mental illness.
The sergeant, Hugh Barry, 32, had also been charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide and chose to have his case decided by a judge instead of a jury; he was acquitted on all counts by Justice Robert A. Neary of State Supreme Court.The sergeant, Hugh Barry, 32, had also been charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide and chose to have his case decided by a judge instead of a jury; he was acquitted on all counts by Justice Robert A. Neary of State Supreme Court.
Given that the sergeant had raised a self-defense claim, Justice Neary said that the prosecution had the burden of proving that he was “not justified in the use of deadly physical force.” Because the sergeant claimed self-defense, Justice Neary said that the prosecution needed to prove that he was “not justified in the use of deadly physical force.”
“The prosecution’s evidence has failed to meet that burden of proof,” he said.“The prosecution’s evidence has failed to meet that burden of proof,” he said.
Sergeant Barry’s trial focused on the Police Department’s protocols for dealing with what the department calls “E.D.P.’s,” or emotionally disturbed persons. Prosecutors argued that Sergeant Barry’s actions escalated the encounter with Ms. Danner to its fatal conclusion when he failed to proceed as cautiously as departmental guidelines and his training demanded. Sergeant Barry’s trial focused on the Police Department’s protocols for dealing with emotionally disturbed persons, or “E.D.P.’s.” Prosecutors argued that Sergeant Barry escalated the encounter by not proceeding as cautiously as departmental guidelines and his training demanded.
The sergeant’s lawyer, Andrew C. Quinn, however, sought to show how the department’s training set few hard-and-fast rules, often leaving decision-making to experienced field supervisors, such as Sergeant Barry, a nine-year veteran, who Mr. Quinn noted had successfully handled a multitude of emergency calls involving the emotionally disturbed. Some critics of the police said that Ms. Danner, a black woman who was shot by a white sergeant, was another casualty of a criminal justice system that values white lives over black ones.
Sergeant Barry fatally shot Ms. Danner at about 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 18, 2016, in the bedroom of her seventh-floor apartment at 630 Pugsley Avenue in the Bronx. From the start, he maintained he had acted in self-defense. He said Ms. Danner had refused an order to drop a baseball bat and then had begun to swing it at his head. But the sergeant’s lawyer, Andrew C. Quinn, argued that the department’s training set few hard-and-fast rules, often leaving decision-making to field supervisors, such as Sergeant Barry, a nine-year veteran.
The police had been called to the apartment by a building security guard because Ms. Danner, a paranoid schizophrenic with a history of hospitalizations, had been ranting in a hallway and tearing posters off the wall. Sergeant Barry remained suspended from the force with pay Thursday morning. Union leaders called for his immediate reinstatement. They characterized his conduct as not only legal, but entirely reasonable. “I think any sergeant, or officer, put in the same situation would react the same way,” said Ed Mullins, the president of the sergeants’ union.
It was the third time in two years the police had been called in to help emergency medical technicians take Ms. Danner to a hospital. The previous two times the police had had to break down her door to extricate her. Sergeant Barry shot Ms. Danner at about 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 18, 2016, in the bedroom of her seventh-floor apartment at 630 Pugsley Avenue. From the start, he maintained he had acted in self-defense. He said Ms. Danner refused his orders to drop a baseball bat and began to swing it at him.
Though the police have wide leeway under state law to use lethal force to protect their lives, Ms. Danner’s death came amid a national debate over police shootings and prompted protests in New York led by elected officials and others. For many, it echoed the 1984 death of Eleanor Bumpurs, another mentally ill woman killed by the police in her Bronx apartment. The police had been called by a building security guard because Ms. Danner, a paranoid schizophrenic with a history of hospitalizations, had been ranting in a hallway and tearing posters off the wall. It was the third such call in two years. The previous two times the police had to break down her door to extricate her.
The shooting of Ms. Danner drew swift condemnations from Mayor Bill de Blasio and James P. O’Neill, the police commissioner, who said Sergeant Barry had failed to follow police protocols. The shooting drew swift condemnations from Mayor Bill de Blasio and James P. O’Neill, the police commissioner, who said Sergeant Barry had failed to follow protocols, though neither said he had committed a crime.
The Bronx district attorney’s office persuaded a grand jury to indict Sergeant Barry on charges of murder and the lesser offenses of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. On Thursday, the Police Department left unanswered the question of whether Sergeant Barry would be welcomed back into the patrol force or disciplined. In a statement, Mr. O’Neill said the Police Department would now proceed with its own “disciplinary review of the tactical and supervisory decisions leading to the discharge of a firearm in this case.”
The trial, which began on Jan. 30, focused attention on police procedures for handling the mentally ill. Prosecutors argued that Sergeant Barry had ignored his training and had rushed to subdue Ms. Danner, forcing the confrontation that led to her death. He had only spent five minutes at the apartment when he fired his weapon. For many New Yorkers, the case echoed the 1984 shooting of Eleanor Bumpurs, another mentally ill woman killed by the police in her Bronx apartment.
But Mr. Quinn, the sergeant’s lawyer, argued that whatever mistakes he might have made in the minutes leading up to the shooting, he had an absolute right to defend himself the minute Ms. Danner decided to swing the bat at him. Ms. Danner, a former information-technology worker who lived alone, was well aware of Ms. Bumpurs’s fate. She cited it in a 2012 essay about her struggles with schizophrenia. “They used deadly force to subdue her because they were not trained sufficiently in how to engage the mentally ill in crisis,” she wrote. “This was not an isolated incident.”
The five other police officers and two emergency medical technicians who were present gave conflicting testimony about what happened. Since the Bumpurs killing, officers have been trained to isolate and contain emotionally disturbed people, taking time and continuing to talk to them to persuade them to comply.
Sergeant Barry testified in his own defense. He said he arrived at the apartment at about 6:22 p.m. and learned from one of the officers that Ms. Danner was in her bedroom with a pair of scissors and refusing to come out. He said he started talking to the distraught woman, coaxing her to speak to the medics. But the trial underscored the distinction between questionable tactics and criminal conduct that has made convictions of police officers rare even in killings where they deviate from protocol.
After a few minutes, he said, Ms. Danner slammed the scissors down on a nightstand and came just outside her bedroom door. At the three-week trial, prosecutors argued that Sergeant Barry had rushed to subdue Ms. Danner, forcing the fatal confrontation. They faulted him for not learning details of two recent encounters Ms. Danner had had with the police, despite riding the elevator to Ms. Danner’s floor with her sister. And once he entered the apartment, prosecutors said, he could have called for help from a police unit specializing in dealing with the mentally ill.
Sergeant Barry said he soon decided Ms. Danner would not come any farther and made a decision to grab her before she could return to the bedroom and rearm. He signaled with his head to the other officers and rushed her. A prosecutor, Wanda Perez-Maldonado, said in her closing arguments that Ms. Danner was shot in the “safe place” of her own bedroom.
But Ms. Danner moved too quickly for him. As he followed her into her bedroom, she jumped on the bed and pulled a baseball bat from the bedclothes. He ordered her to drop it. She stood up quickly in a right-handed batter’s stance and moved her front left foot toward him to start a swing. He fired twice into her torso. But Mr. Quinn, the sergeant’s lawyer, argued that it was far from clear what Sergeant Barry should have done. If he had shut the bedroom door to isolate Ms. Danner, she might have stabbed herself with the scissors — in which case he might have been blamed for not intervening more resolutely, Mr. Quinn said.
“I just see the bat swinging and that’s when I fired,” he said. Sergeant Barry, who testified in his own defense, said that when he arrived and learned from another officer that Ms. Danner was in her bedroom with scissors and refused to come out, he started talking to her, coaxing her to speak to emergency medical technicians.
Sergeant Barry acknowledged that Ms. Danner never completed the swing. He also said he could not back up because the other five officers were crowded close behind him. After a few minutes, he said, she slammed the scissors down on a nightstand and came just outside her bedroom door.
Only one of the other officers, Camilo Rosario, had a clear view of the shooting. He was standing next to Sergeant Barry and a half step behind. He said the two bullets hit Ms. Danner before she swung the bat, though he added on cross-examination that he believed she was about to swing when Sergeant Barry fired. Sergeant Barry said he figured Ms. Danner would not come any farther. He decided to grab her before she could return to the bedroom and grab the scissors again. He nodded to the other officers and rushed her.
Sergeant Barry conceded that he had not followed the department’s guidelines for dealing with the mentally ill. Since the killing of Ms. Bumpurs, officers have been trained to isolate and contain emotionally disturbed people, taking time and continuing to talk to them in an effort to persuade them to comply. But Ms. Danner retreated to the bedroom, jumped on the bed, and pulled a baseball bat from the bedclothes. Sergeant Barry ordered her to drop it. She stood up in a batter’s stance and moved her foot toward him to start a swing. He fired twice into her torso.
Patrol sergeants are also trained to call officers from the Emergency Service Unit, if necessary, because they have special equipment and training. “I just see the bat swinging and that’s when I fired,” he testified.
Sergeant Barry, however, never called for help. He said he decided he had to act quickly to subdue Ms. Danner before she picked up the scissors again, and he was unaware she had a baseball bat. He said he could not back up because his colleagues were crowded close behind him.
His account differed in many small but significant ways from the accounts of the other officers and two emergency medical technicians. Officer Rosario, for instance, recalled that it was he who persuaded Ms. Danner to put down her scissors and come to the door of her bedroom. The only other officer with a clear view, Camilo Rosario, said the bullets hit Ms. Danner before she swung the bat, though he added that he believed she was about to swing.
And one of the EMTs, Brittney Mullings, testified that Sergeant Barry never spoke to Ms. Danner. She said she was speaking to Ms. Danner when Sergeant Barry advanced toward her. Sergeant Barry’s account differed in many small but significant ways from those of some of the five other officers and two medics who were present. Officer Rosario, for instance, recalled that it was he who persuaded Ms. Danner to put down her scissors and come to the bedroom door.
Every day of the trial, members of the Sergeants Benevolent Association union sat in the front row in a show of support. Several said they thought the prosecution was politically motivated. Throughout the trial, members of the Sergeants Benevolent Association union sat in the front row in a show of support. Several said they thought the prosecution was politically motivated.
Members of Ms. Danner’s Episcopal church also filled the benches, sitting with Ms. Danner’s sister and a handful of Black Lives Matter activists. Members of the Episcopal churches Ms. Danner attended, her sister, and Black Lives Matter activists also filled the benches. As Justice Neary delivered his verdict, they sat with their hands at their mouths and closed their eyes.
The judge offered no detailed explanation.
Some of Ms. Danner’s supporters criticized the verdict. “Racism is still alive and kicking and anyone who tells you different is lying,” said Wallace Cooke Jr., a former city police officer whose cousin is Ms. Danner’s mother. Hawk Newsome, a Black Lives Matter activist, said the verdict felt “like somebody just ripped my heart out.”
Sergeant Barry’s supporters were jubilant. Officers hugged and clasped hands. Some wiped away tears.
Another Black Lives Matter activist, Joshua Lopez, 39, called after the president of the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, Patrick Lynch, “What if that was your mother?”
Matthew Heyd, a priest at the Church of the Heavenly Rest in Manhattan, recalled Ms. Danner as “always in church,” and a frequent participant in knitting circles and discussion groups. “She always asked the tough questions,” he said.
In her own essay, Ms. Danner described schizophrenia as “a curse” that led to “a complete loss of control.”
Her illness, she wrote, had cost her jobs and family ties. She described roaming through the streets with a knife in search of a public place to kill herself. When she was well, she wrote, she was constantly examining herself for signs of a relapse.
“Generally speaking, those who don’t suffer believe the worst of those of us who do,” she wrote. “We’re asked to accept less than our natural rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”