New York City ex police officer Peter Liang breaks down after receiving a conviction in February for the shooting and death of Akai Gurley in 2014. (Photo : Twitter)
Lawyers of controversial New York City ex police officer Peter Liang have filed a motion on Tuesday to overturn the conviction for manslaughter handed down to him, arguing that he was not given proper training to handle the situation.
According to Liang's appellate lawyer Paul Shechtman, the court's ruling that Liang should have performed CPR on Akai Gurley to save his life was incorrect, as the officer did not have the proper skills to administer it and the action would be useless, DNAinfo.com reported.
"If the People continue to press a 'he-should-have-performed-CPR' theory in response to this motion, it would be to punish an officer for not performing a task he was not trained to do," Shetchman stressed.
Liang, a rookie officer of the New York Police Department, was convicted of manslaughter by the Brooklyn Supreme Court in February for fatally shooting Gurley in 2014. He faces up to 15 years in prison if sentenced.
During the trial, the court found that neither Liang nor his partner Shaun Landau performed CPR on Gurley after they realized that he had been shot. Landau also admitted in court that, while he is certified to deliver CPR, he does not know how to administer it correctly.
The lawyer also reasoned that Liang has fired at Gurley by mistake, asserting that the dark stairwell in the Pink Houses apartment prevented his client from clearly identifying the victim.
In a related development, the NYPD Patrolmen's Benevolent Association said that they will be standing behind Officer Melissa Brown, who served as Liang's CPR instructor during his time at the Police Academy and who was relieved of her duties following an investigation over her competence.
Brown was stripped of her badge and her gun after the police department called for an investigation of the allegations that she did not provide proper CPR training for members of the 2013 recruit class, which included Liang, the New York Daily News reported.
Patrick Lynch, who heads the officers' union, said that they are confident that Brown will come clean of the allegations once the investigation has been completed.
"The PBA will not allow one of our members to be scapegoated for an ineffective training program," Lynch stressed.
