Brown's office argued the media coverage generated by the 50-shot police barrage that killed Bell on November 25, 2006, did not compare to the outpouring and protests following the 1999 Amadou Diallo shooting.
Ppolls taken before the Diallo trial found 81 percent of Bronx residents believed the shooting was unjustified. Some media coverage was four times higher in the Diallo case.
Defense lawyers said their own poll found that more than 60 percent of some 600 prospective jurors said they believed the shooting was unjustified.
The trial in the Bell shooting set to begin in Queens on February 4th in Harlem.