The New York defense attorney for former NYPD Sgt. Erik Duran, sentenced last week to years in prison for the death of a fleeing suspect, says he’s been “completely overwhelmed” by the public support for his client following his controversial trial.
Duran was convicted of manslaughter in February after a bench trial in the death of Eric Duprey.
“It’s rare when you’re in my position to get such support from the community, when you’re a criminal defense attorney,” Duran’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, told Fox News Digital. “So it’s been pretty amazing and… unique how many people have reached out complaining about the verdict, complaining about the sentence, and their desires to help Sgt. Duran any way they can.”
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Duprey was driving a motorized scooter in the direction of multiple civilians and police officers while fleeing a drug sting when Duran threw a bystander’s Igloo cooler at him in an attempt to stop him, according to his defense team.
He was going close to 30 mph and put the pedestrians at risk of severe injury and possibly death, a defense expert testified at trial. Duran threw the cooler to prevent anyone else from being hurt, according to the defense.
It knocked Duprey to the ground. He wasn’t wearing a helmet. And he suffered a fatal head injury.
Duran’s supporters allege that Duprey was a known member of the Trinitarios gang — which has been blamed for machete attacks in the Bronx in the past.
Prosecutors from New York Attorney General Letitia James’s office had requested a five-to 15-year sentence.
Judge Guy Mitchell sentenced him to three to nine years in prison last week, drawing political attention and prompting Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, New York’s Republican candidate for governor, to vow to pardon Duran on his first day in office if he defeats Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in November.
“I back the blue — that’s why Nassau County is the safest county in the nation,” Blakeman told Fox News Digital. “Meanwhile, in Kathy Hochul’s New York, a police officer is headed to prison while criminals get second chances. That’s backwards, and it will change when I’m governor.”
Mitchell rejected Duran’s argument that the cooler throwing was justified in order to protect other people from harm and said the sentence would serve as a “general deterrent” for other officers.
NYC JUDGE SEEKS TO MAKE EXAMPLE OF OFFICER WHO THREW COOLER AT FLEEING SUSPECT, CAUSING FATAL CRASH
“It is such a unique set of circumstances, I don’t know what example it could set except to deter cops from doing the best they can,” Aidala told Fox News Digital. “This wasn’t a routine traffic stop or they were chasing someone and this is gonna deter them from handling a stop a certain way.”
Duran didn’t intend to use lethal force, he said, arguing that’s why he improvised with the cooler rather than drawing his gun.
“They’re telling cops don’t throw a cooler at a guy on a motorcycle on the sidewalk in the middle of the afternoon next to a park going 30 miles an hour after they just committed a felony or a drug sale,” he said. “I don’t know who it’s setting an example to.”
Duran is seeking an appeal, and Aidala said he asked an appellate judge on Friday to release his client on bail while that proceeds. Oral arguments are expected later this week.
Vincent Vallelong, president on the NYPD’s Sergeant’s Benevolent Association, said the union continues to support Duran.
“The SBA’s focus at this time is to get this horrific injustice overturned before the November elections,” he said. “The silence from many of our elected officials is just as disturbing as the message the judge handed down last week.”
The union and the National Police Defense Foundation have teamed up to raise money for Duran’s appeal through a Kindful campaign, he added.
