The New York Police Department officer who killed a Bronx man by throwing a cooler at his head last summer has been granted bail by a state appeals court, court documents and officials say.
Erik Duran, 38, was given a three to nine year sentence last Thursday by Bronx Supreme Court Judge Guy Mitchell after a jury found him guilty of manslaughter in the killing of 30-year-old Eric Duprey. Duran has said he threw the cooler because he recognized Duprey as a crime suspect fleeing on a motorized scooter.
Duran was the first active member of the NYPD to be prosecuted in more than a decade. He shed a tear during his sentencing hearing, where he pleaded with the judge for leniency and asked forgiveness from Duprey’s mother.
“We are very pleased but not surprised that the Appellate Division found that there are legitimate appellate issues in Sgt Duran’s case,” Duran’s attorney, Arthur Aidala, said. “It was obvious to the Court that he is not a flight risk nor a danger to the community and was entitled to be at home with his family during pendency of the appeal.”
Duran’s $300,000 bail, which requires him to give up his passport, was paid for by supporters and will keep him out of prison through the course of his appeal, filed in the Appellate Division, First Department. Associate Justice Salliann Scarpulla signed Duran’s bail order.
The Sergeants Benevolent Association, the union representing sergeants that helped secure Duran’s bail, applauded the judge’s decision Friday.
“I am very pleased to announce that the Sergeants Benevolent Association team of attorneys have secured bail for Erik Duran,” SBA president Vincent Vallelong said in a statement. “This a major win for Erik and his family and for law enforcement officers around the country!”
The New York Islanders had promoted Duran’s defense fund on their jumbotron earlier this week.
Advocates who had urged the New York Attorney General Letitia James to demand the lengthiest sentence possible for Duran expressed anger at Duran being granted bail.
“These people don’t care about justice, they don’t care about law and order, they care about police being able to do whatever they want to Black and brown people,” Hawk Newsome, a founder of activist group Black Lives Matter’s Greater New York chapter. “If the AG’s office was going to set bail at $300,000, they might as well not have prosecuted this case.”
Newsome said Duprey’s wife was “anguished” by the news.
The attorney general’s office declined a request for comment from amNewYork Law.