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Shooting survivors to take stand in Bell case

BY ANTHONY M. DESTEFANO | anthony.destefano@newsday.com

March 31, 2008

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Prosecutors in the Sean Bell trial expect to wrap up their case with a dramatic flourish Monday by calling to the witness stand the two men who survived the 50-shot fusillade by police.

Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman -- prosecutors haven't said which will take the stand first -- will testify about the night of Nov. 25, 2006, when they were shot numerous times while with Bell in his Nissan Altima.

Their appearance in State Supreme Court in Kew Gardens will no doubt be filled with emotion as they recount how they were wounded during the shooting that took Bell's life. Police shot at Bell's car 50 times as Bell and his friends ended a night of partying at the Kalua Cabaret strip club in Jamaica.

Three detectives -- Michael Oliver, 36, Gescard Isnora, 29, and Marc Cooper, 40 -- are on trial in connection with the shooting. Oliver and Isnora face first- and second-degree manslaughter charges, as well as assault charges. Cooper faces only second-degree reckless endangerment charges. Justice Arthur J. Cooperman is hearing the case without a jury.

Guzman and Benefield are among the final witnesses to be called by Queens prosecutors. Guzman, 24, who was struck 19 times and hospitalized for weeks, didn't give a statement to police immediately after the shooting. Benefield, 32, who was hit three times, did talk to police and it is expected that defense attorneys will grill him on inconsistencies between what he told police and what he testifies about.

"The victims usually wind up being victimized again on cross-examination," said Brooklyn attorney Sanford Rubenstein, who is representing Guzman and Benefield.

One significant difference between what Benefield first told police and what other witnesses remembered involved an argument between Bell, 23, and his friends and a man in a black sport utility vehicle. While Benefield is quoted in a November 2006 police report as having said he and his friends didn't have a dispute with anyone at the club, trial witnesses recalled a tense verbal confrontation between Bell and the SUV driver, Fabio Coicou. The situation seemed filled with the potential for violence because Coicou was holding his hands in his pocket as though he had a gun, witnesses said.

It was during that faceoff, some witnesses said, that undercover cops said they heard comments from someone in Bell's entourage about getting a gun. That put police on guard about there being a gun in Bell's car, although none was found, said the defense.

Benefield did tell police he first noticed a man with a gun, later determined to be Isnora, standing in front of the Altima. As Bell started to drive away on Liverpool Street, Isnora started firing, Benefield told police. But another witness, Jean Nelson, testified last week that Isnora started firing only after Bell drove at the detective and sent him catapulting over the hood of the vehicle.

Guzman and Benefield appeared before the grand jury and defense attorneys will also be reviewing that testimony to find more inconsistencies. One source familiar with the case who didn't want to be named said neither may have seen a lot because they covered their faces or closed their eyes when the shooting started.

The ultimate aim of the defense will be to show that the detectives feared for their lives because of the way Bell drove his car at Isnora, or suspicions about a gun in the car or the sudden chaos of gunfire. The defense is expected to present a case that could last about a week and a half.

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