The New York defense attorney for former NYPD Sgt. Erik Duran says he’s been completely overwhelmed by the public support for his client after last week’s sentencing in the death of a fleeing suspect. 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.”
Duprey was driving a motorized scooter toward bystanders and police while fleeing a drug sting when Duran threw a bystander’s Igloo cooler at him to stop him, according to Duprey’s defense team. He was traveling close to 30 mph and put pedestrians at risk of severe injury or death, a defense expert testified at trial. Duran said he 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 suffered a fatal head injury. Duran’s supporters have alleged 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, a decision that drew political attention and prompted 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. Aidala told Fox News Digital, “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.” Duran didn’t intend to use lethal force, he said, arguing that he improvised to handle a dangerous situation.
