NYPD Sgt Out on Appeal

The sergeant with the "cooler conviction" was granted what the courts have given to every actual criminal - the ability to be free while appealing:

• NEW YORK CITY - The former New York City police sergeant sentenced to three to nine years in prison for tossing a picnic cooler full of drinks at a fleeing suspect, who then crashed his motorized scooter and died, has been granted bail pending appeal. That's according to attorney Arthur Aidala.

  Judge Saliann Scarpulla, of the mid-level Appellate Division, ordered Erik Duran freed on $300,000 cash or bond and said he must surrender his passport to his lawyers, who will keep it until his appeal is over.

  "This is a major win for Erik and his family and for law enforcement officers around the country," said Vincent Vallelong, the president of Duran’s union, the Sergeants Benevolent Association.

There was absolutely ZERO intent to cause death or bodily harm - the criminal was driving a motorbike down a crowded sidewalk while attempting to escape, endangering many people. If he was running and got tackled or tripped into a tree, we doubt this would have even been an issue.

Why a bench trial was chosen in lib-tarded New York, where the judge's anti-police bias would play an oversized role is still a head-scratcher.