NEW YORK, April 25 (Reuters) - U.S. authorities will
consider civil rights charges in the case of three New York
police detectives who were acquitted on Friday in the shooting
death of an unarmed black man killed in a hail of 50 bullets on
his wedding day.
The Justice Department will be joined by federal
prosecutors in New York and the FBI in a review of the case,
the department said.
"They will conduct an independent review of the facts and
circumstances surrounding the Nov. 25, 2006, shooting of Sean
Bell and two others that resulted in the death of Mr. Bell," it
said in a statement.
A New York state judge cleared the three police officers of
all charges on Friday.
"The Civil Rights Division and the United States Attorney's
Office have been monitoring the state's prosecution of this
case and, following the review of all the evidence, will take
appropriate action if the evidence indicates a prosecutable
violation of federal criminal civil rights statutes," it said.