Brooklyn and Manhattan prosecutors said charges will be dismissed against 154 of the protesters after six months if the defendants stay out of trouble. Another nine pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. Because of the high volume of arrests, 61 cases, including those of Bell and Sharpton, are still pending in Manhattan. Those cases will likely be eventually dismissed as is the practice with most civil disobedience cases, prosecutors said.
Bell, 23, died in a hail of 50 bullets on Nov. 25, 2006, around the corner from a Queens topless bar where he had been celebrating his bachelor party and where undercover police were investigating complaints of prostitution.
Detectives Gescard Isnora, Michael Oliver and Marc Cooper were cleared of manslaughter and other charges in April after a two-month trial heard by a judge instead of a jury. The detectives said they opened fire on Bell's car because they believed he and his friends were armed and because the men defied orders to halt and tried to drive away. No weapon was recovered.
