Undercover police detectives involved in the deadly shootings in November 2006 in Queens, when Sean Bell, who was just exiting a strip club after his bachelor party, was shot to death 50 times, could face up to 25 years in prison for what the prosecutor considered to be “carelessness verging on incompetence.”

Two of the officers involved are accused of manslaughter, while a third one is accused of reckless endangerment. The accusations go beyond any justifiable police action, most people think, and some even turned it into a brutal police action against black people.

Assistant Dist. Atty. Charles Testagrossa said in the opening statement: “When the court has heard all the testimony in this case, it will be clear that what happened cannot be explained away as a mere accident or mistake, but can only be characterized as criminal.”

The defense attorneys rejected the idea that the shootings were not motivated, saying that the undercover detectives involved in the shootings had reasons to believe that Bell and his friends were armed and dangerous, and acted accordingly.

But 50 shots fired sounded a bit much for most people, who believe excessive force was used in Sean Bell’s case. Critics argue that it was a case of violence against blacks, and that the officers, who are Hispanic, black and white, would have acted differently if the young men exiting the club would have been white.

Protesters showed up on Monday with posters counting the number of bullets that led to the killing of 23-year-old Sean Bell. Nicole Paultre Bell, the victim’s fiancée and mother of two, also appeared in court to testify, but the only thing she could retell of the incident was that she received a call informing her that Sean was dead.

Sean Bell, along with two friends, Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, was leaving Club Kalua on the morning of November 25, 2006 just when the police was conducting an undercover investigation in the club. Officers shot 50 bullets at Bell believing that he was armed, and killed him. His two friends were injured.