Liang apologizes to Gurley relative

The day after the Brooklyn district attorney recommended no prison time for Peter Liang - the former New York City police officer convicted of manslaughter in the death of Akai Gurley - Liang apologized to the mother of Gurley's daughter.

Liang met with Kimberly Ballinger, the mother of Gurley's 3-year-old daughter, Akaila, on Thursday morning at the district attorney's office in downtown Brooklyn.

"Peter has wanted to apologize for a long time," his attorney Paul Shechtman told China Daily. He said the meeting was brief and simple because both Liang and Ballinger are "people of few words".

Shechtman said Liang said he was "very sorry" for her loss, and that "it was a very difficult year for me, but it must be harder for you and your family".

Ballinger's lawyer Scott Rynecki told the New York Post that her client wanted Liang to know how his actions had affected her and her daughter's life.

"At the end, they shook hands," Shechtman said.

Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson issued a statement on Wednesday saying that he had recommended that Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun sentence Liang to five years of probation with six months of home confinement and 500 hours of community service, instead of jail time.

Liang, now 28, discharged his gun in a darkened stairwell of a Brooklyn housing project in November 2014. The ricocheted bullet fatally struck Gurley on a lower floor.

Thompson stated that there was no evidence that Liang intended to kill or injure Akai Gurley, and Liang poses no future threat to public safety, so that incarceration is not necessary.

"Although we disagree with Mr. Thompson on the fundamental issue of Peter's culpability, he deserves praise for his dispassionate and courageous decision that incarceration is not called for in this case," Shechtman and Liang's other attorney, Gabriel Chin, said in a statement.

"No prison is the first step. The ultimate goal is to set aside the conviction on all charges," said Eddie Chiu, director of the Lin Sing Association. The fraternal club in Chinatown has raised more than $350,000 for Liang's legal fees.

"We have to keep up with our effort," Chiu said. "The district attorney's changed attitude proves that the new lawyers and petitions and protests made a difference."

"We will keep applying for protests and signing petitions," said Wu Yiping, who has reached out to thousands of Chinese across the US through Chinese social media app WeChat to support the Chinese-American officer. "We want to clean up the charges. An accident does not equal crime."

The Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association will place an open letter to Justice Chun in a full-page ad in The New York Times on March 26.

While Liang's supporters were unaffected by Thompson's statement, Gurley's family was "outraged at District Attorney Thompson's inadequate sentencing recommendation", according to a statement issued by Gurley's aunt, mother and stepfather.

"This sentencing recommendation sends the message that police officers who kill people should not face serious consequences," they wrote.

hezijiang@chinadailyusa.com