I'm not entirely sure what is going on here but the testimony offered by Fabio Coicou is confusing and directly contradicts his grand jury testimony. Does he realize that he has just set himself up for a perjury conviction?
A pillar of the officers’ defense is the claim that undercover detectives witnessed an argument between Mr. Bell and Wednesday’s witness, Fabio Coicou, over a remark about Mr. Bell’s drunkenness, and that someone in Mr. Bell’s group said, “Go get my gun.”
Mr. Coicou, (pronounced kwah-COO), 30, testified that he never heard those words. Last year, however, he gave a different version of the event in meetings with Queens prosecutors and in appearances before a grand jury, a contradiction that was pointed out during cross-examination. A defense lawyer, Anthony L. Ricco, asked him if he remembered telling prosecutors in January 2007 that he heard someone say, “We’ll get the gat,” slang for a gun.
Mr. Coicou replied: “I don’t recall that. I don’t remember anyone saying that, and I don’t recall that statement.” He later said he did not even know what the word “gat” meant. The statements before the prosecutors from the Queens district attorney’s office were not made under oath.
No seriously a black guy, sorry to have to stereotype here but, a black guy, who grew up in a black neighborhood, 30 years of age, has never heard of the word "gat"? Is he serious? I don't do street life and I know what a gat is. Mr. Coicou is a liar.
“I kept my hands in my pockets to demonstrate peace,” Mr. Coicou said.
An entirely plausible explanation.
Mr. Coicou told Mr. Bell, “I got bread up in here,” referring to his girlfriend and the money she earned, he said. He said he noticed a bald man who did not seem to belong to the group, and suspected him of being an undercover officer. He later learned he was correct.
So let's get it straight. Coicou doesn't know what a "gat" is, but does know slang for money? Liar. He doesn't know what a "gat" is but is streetwise enough to recognize an undercover cop? hmmmmmmm. Now that part is bad for the prosecution. The question is whether Sean Bell and co. were also street wise enough as Coicou to recognize that there were police around. Or where they, as Coicou suggested, controlled by alcohol?
After the men walked away, Mr. Coicou said, he found himself alone in front of the club, and drove around the block. Last year, Mr. Coicou said he felt uneasy because several of the men were “peeking” at him and he thought “they were going to go get whatever to do whatever.”
But as he explained his actions on Wednesday, he said he never felt uneasy. “Let me just get out of here for a little bit, circle the block, come back around,” he said, recalling his thinking that morning.
I have previously argued that it is entirely possible and probable that Sean Bell and company thought that the police van and the detective in black was in fact Coucoi returning to get back at Bell. Coucio's actions, though not criminal and in fact very street smart on his part, add to the validity of the idea that Bell thought he was about to become a victim of a shooting.
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