A former New York City police officer who shot an unarmed man to death won't face any jail time after a judge today reduced his manslaughter conviction to criminally negligent homicide.
Peter Liang was 28 years old and 18 months out of the police academy when he was patrolling a public housing project in Brooklyn, New York, in November 2014. He fired once and the bullet ricocheted, killing Akai Gurley, who was also in the stairwell.
A jury convicted Liang of second-degree manslaughter in February for Gurley's death. The police department fired Liang shortly after the verdict.
While Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson had suggested a sentencing of 6 months of house arrest, probation and 500 hours of community service, Judge Danny Chun said today Liang will face 5 years of probation and 800 hours of community service, but no house arrest.
Upon hearing the decision, the overflow room broke out in gasps. One woman left screaming and crying while another said she was having a panic attack.
Liang could have been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison for the manslaughter conviction, but Thompson, who has said the officer should not have had his finger on the gun unless he was ready to shoot, told the judge last month that "a prison sentence is not warranted."
Liang's attorney Paul Shechtman told ABC News before sentencing that he hoped the judge would follow Thompson's recommendation. Going forward, Shechtman said they were looking to appeal the conviction as well as a juror misconduct motion that was denied last week.
