Judge Confirms Decision Denying Access To Officer Bovell’s Personnel Files, Forbids Supporters From Wearing Pink Hand Over Their Breast To Highlight Alleged Sexual Attack On McMillan
Cecily McMillan, accompanied by approximately 50 supporters, was back in court April 7th for pre-trial motions. Judge Zweibel upheld hisprevious decision on motion 50-4(a), denying access again to Officer Grantley Bovell’s personnel files, on the grounds that this previous history of excessive force and corruption are not relevant to the case at hand. The DA argued that none of these cases were substantiated due to the recommendation from the internal affairs bureau, an arm of the NYPD.
Approximately 50 supporters showed up to court this morning. Many were wearing a pink hand over their right breast, signifying solidarity with Cecily, who was sexually assaulted in this exact manner by Officer Bovell the night of M17. Judge Zweibel ordered that these signs of solidarity would be forbidden in the court room, as the claim of sexual assault is “unsubstantiated” since Cecily never reported this incident to the IAB directly.
Jury selection was postponed due to a supposed lack of potential jurors in the building. It will begin tomorrow morning, Tuesday, April 8th at9:30am at 100 Centre St, Room 1116, Part 41.
We aren’t entirely sure how quickly or slowly things will move, but here’s a tentative schedule of events – we’ll update as we can:
April 7th – Admissions of Evidence
April 8th – Jury Selection
April 9th – Opening Arguments
April 11th – Prosecution Case
April 14th – Defense Case
April 15th – Defense Witnesses
April 16th – Closing Arguments
April 18th – Jury Deliberation