Judge in Liang case 'thoughtful, diligent'

New York State Supreme Court Judge Danny Chun, who will sentence Peter Liang on Tuesday in the fatal shooting of Akai Gurley in the stairwell of a Brooklyn housing project, has a reputation for being objective and evenhanded, according to lawyers quoted in a recently published profile of Chun.

"He's a very contemplative, thoughtful and diligent judge - no-nonsense in his demeanor," Michael Farkas, the president of the Kings County Criminal Bar Association, told The New York Times in a story published on April 12. "There are some highly emotional feelings about this case, as everybody knows. But bottom line: I know for a fact that he will do the right thing as he sees fit."

Chun, 54, was born in Seoul, and came to New York with his family in 1973. They settled in Elmhurst, Queens, then moved to nearby Bayside, where his father worked as a real-estate broker before becoming a minister. He obtained degrees in political science and philosophy from Johns Hopkins University. Chun graduated from the Fordham University School of Law in 1987 and joined the Manhattan district attorney's office as its first Korean-American prosecutor.

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani appointed Chun to Brooklyn Criminal Court in 1999. In 2005, he was promoted to State Supreme Court, where he now handles many of Kings County's rackets and police misconduct matters.

As the city's first Korean-American judge, Chun has received petitions and letters to the court from New York's Asian-American community to show leniency to Liang, who grew up in New York's Chinatown. He attended elementary school and middle school in Chinatown. His mother was a garment factory worker and became a travel agent. His father worked as a cook.

"The undertone of race here just adds one more page to the script of how this all plays out," Arthur L. Aidala, the president of the Brooklyn Bar Association, told the Times. "But of every justice I know in New York, Chun has the background - and the backbone - to do what he feels is right."

Liang, who always dreamed of becoming a police officer, became the first New York City officer in more than a decade to be convicted in a shooting in the line of duty.

In November 2014, he was patrolling a stairwell of a public housing project in east Brooklyn. The stairwell was dark, and in accordance with police department practice, Liang had his gun drawn. It fired - how and why has been in dispute, though Liang has said he was startled by a noise.

The bullet ricocheted off a wall and hit 28-year-old Akai Gurley a floor below, in his heart. Liang didn't call for an ambulance and didn't perform CPR, which was used against him in court. A jury found him guilty of manslaughter and official misconduct.

The manslaughter conviction calls for a maximum 15-year prison term. But in a surprise move, Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson, who insisted that Liang be prosecuted, has recommended that Chun sentence Liang to only 500 hours of community service, five years of probation and six months of home confinement. NYPD commissioner Bill Bratton praised Thompson's "courage" for recommending Liang serve no jail time.

aiheping@chinadaily.com.cn