Trial set for NYPD officer charged in killing of unarmed man

NEW YORK (AP) — Even prosecutors agree that rookie New York police officer Peter Liang didn't mean to shoot and kill Akai Gurley in a pitch black stairwell in 2014.

[...] Liang will go on trial this week for manslaughter anyway in a prosecution that stands in contrast to other cases around the country in which officers intentionally used deadly force against other unarmed black men but escaped criminal charges.

Opening statements are set for Monday in state court in Brooklyn, where Liang is expected to take the witness stand and claim he fired his weapon by accident.

[...] advocates for stricter police accountability see the second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and other charges brought by Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson as justified.

According to grand jury testimony by Liang's partner, Liang repeatedly told him, "It went off by accident" and fretted that he would be fired.