The widow of a police officer who was ambushed and assassinated along with his partner 47 years ago won a judicial order blocking the state Parole Board from releasing one of the killers until a court reviews the decision, the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association announced April 5.
“There are some crimes so heinous that those who commit them forever forfeit their right to freedom,” Diane Piagentini, 74, said in a statement. She sued the Parole Board to block the release of Herman Bell, now 70. A second killer, Anthony Bottom, has a parole hearing scheduled for June.
Lured to Their Deaths
Her husband, Officer Joseph Piagentini, and Officer Waverly Jones were killed May 21, 1971. Three members of the Black Liberation Army made a phone call to 911 reporting a nonexistent problem at a Harlem housing project in order to lure officers to the scene.
When Officers Piagentini and Jones left the building after checking out the report, the three men shot them from behind. Officer Jones died immediately, but Officer Piagentini lingered. He was shot 22 times as he begged for his life, telling his killers he had a wife and two young daughters.
Mr. Bell, Mr. Bottom and Albert Washington were convicted and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, the most-severe sentence available at the time. Mr. Washington died in prison, but Mr. Bell and Mr. Bottom have come up for parole hearings every two years since they reached their minimum sentence.
Mr. Bell was turned down seven times, but in February his three-member parole board voted 2-1 to release him as early as April 17. The board majority said he was no longer a danger to society and praised him for finally acknowledging the hurt he had brought to the Piagentini and Jones families.
Initial Appeals Ignored
The PBA and Ms. Piagentini vowed to overturn the decision to parole Mr. Bell. The union said it had sent three letters to Tina Stanford, Chairwoman of the Parole Board, pointing out evidence ignored by the Parole Commissioners who voted to release him.
“The board has not made a single response,” the PBA said. “Given the nearness of the earliest parole date, Mrs. Piagentini was forced to take legal action in an effort to obtain justice for the death of her husband."
The court granted a temporary restraining order April 5 blocking Mr. Bell’s release pending a hearing on the case April 13.
“This parole board blew the call by making a decision to release this cold-blooded assassin without having considered all of the facts as the law requires,” PBA President Patrick J. Lynch said in a statement. “To make matters worse, the board tried to pull a fast one by telling a newspaper reporter that after they had made their decision to release this cop-killer, they read the statements by the judge and District Attorney, both of whom indicated that Bell should never be freed, and that it hadn’t changed the board’s minds. Well, it is time that they learned that they don’t get to play fast and loose with the laws that govern parole.”
Seeks New Hearing
Ms. Piagentini’s lawsuit, filed in Albany Supreme Court by the PBA’s law firm, Worth, Longworth & London, asks that a judge delay Mr. Bell’s release until the court can hear the issue and order a new hearing before a new parole board.
The suit lists alleged errors by the parole board, many of which were cited by the PBA in its letters to Ms. Stanford. They include a statement by the judge that Mr. Bell’s sentence should be consecutive with any other terms he received (including one of 25 years handed down in Federal court for robbery). The suit charged that the parole board failed to consider Ms. Piagentini’s victim-impact statement as well as records from the sentencing proceeding in which various lawyers warned that Mr. Bell could not be rehabilitated.
The parole decision “demonstrates irrationality bordering on impropriety,” the suit said.
“It is reprehensible that Mrs. Piagentini has to sue a New York State institution just to have them comply with existing laws which dictate that Herman Bell’s parole must be rescinded and a brand-new panel must rehear the case,” Mr. Lynch said.
Accident of Timing?
Ms. Piagentini said, “Herman Bell was convicted after the death penalty was declared unconstitutional and before the sentence of life without parole was instituted. The judge and prosecutor at his trial made it clear that he should never get out of prison. He, and many horrible cop-killers like him, who would have been put to death before it was struck down or would have been given life without parole if they committed the same crimes today, shouldn’t be freed because of coincidental timing.”
She added, “I implore Governor Cuomo to direct his Parole Board Chairwoman, Tina Stanford, to follow the laws regarding parole and to understand that releasing cop-killers undermines the law, disregards the intentions of the sentencing judge and sends the wrong message to society.”
“The board has not made a single response,” the PBA said. “Given the nearness of the earliest parole date, Mrs. Piagentini was forced to take legal action in an effort to obtain justice for the death of her husband."
The court granted a temporary restraining order April 5 blocking Mr. Bell’s release pending a hearing on the case April 13.
“This parole board blew the call by making a decision to release this cold-blooded assassin without having considered all of the facts as the law requires,” PBA President Patrick J. Lynch said in a statement. “To make matters worse, the board tried to pull a fast one by telling a newspaper reporter that after they had made their decision to release this cop-killer, they read the statements by the judge and District Attorney, both of whom indicated that Bell should never be freed, and that it hadn’t changed the board’s minds. Well, it is time that they learned that they don’t get to play fast and loose with the laws that govern parole.”
Seeks New Hearing
Ms. Piagentini’s lawsuit, filed in Albany Supreme Court by the PBA’s law firm, Worth, Longworth & London, asks that a judge delay Mr. Bell’s release until the court can hear the issue and order a new hearing before a new parole board.
The suit lists alleged errors by the parole board, many of which were cited by the PBA in its letters to Ms. Stanford. They include a statement by the judge that Mr. Bell’s sentence should be consecutive with any other terms he received (including one of 25 years handed down in Federal court for robbery). The suit charged that the parole board failed to consider Ms. Piagentini’s victim-impact statement as well as records from the sentencing proceeding in which various lawyers warned that Mr. Bell could not be rehabilitated.
The parole decision “demonstrates irrationality bordering on impropriety,” the suit said.
“It is reprehensible that Mrs. Piagentini has to sue a New York State institution just to have them comply with existing laws which dictate that Herman Bell’s parole must be rescinded and a brand-new panel must rehear the case,” Mr. Lynch said.
Accident of Timing?
Ms. Piagentini said, “Herman Bell was convicted after the death penalty was declared unconstitutional and before the sentence of life without parole was instituted. The judge and prosecutor at his trial made it clear that he should never get out of prison. He, and many horrible cop-killers like him, who would have been put to death before it was struck down or would have been given life without parole if they committed the same crimes today, shouldn’t be freed because of coincidental timing.”
She added, “I implore Governor Cuomo to direct his Parole Board Chairwoman, Tina Stanford, to follow the laws regarding parole and to understand that releasing cop-killers undermines the law, disregards the intentions of the sentencing judge and sends the wrong message to society.”