by Cris Italia
The driver was James O'Connor, 47, of Oceanside and a recently promoted captain in the New York Police Department. O'Connor had been celebrating his promotion at a bar in the Bronx. He left the party intoxicated and drove away in an unmarked police car, on his way back to his precinct in Queens to get his car and go home.
"I had consumed alcohol and ignored the risk," O'Connor said to State Supreme Court Justice Robert Hanophy. "I knowingly entered the car, started it up and proceeded . . . by driving that car I was ignoring that risk of death to myself and others."
O'Connor pleaded guilty to reckless manslaughter and accepted his sentenced of just 1-3 years in prison. Hazim's family was shocked and disgusted with the trial's outcome. "This is not justice," bellowed Hazim's wife, Jamilah outside the courthouse in Kew Gardens, Queens. "He didn't just take my husband's life, but my life and the lives of his family."
"This is just a slap in the face to everyone, his wife and his children," said Hazim's brother Elias. Hazim leaves behind his wife and his son Azzam, and two daughters, Souzan, 25, and Siham 21. "Justice was not served, and it is trial's like these that make you wonder about the American justice system. A man has died. The consequence is a slap on the wrist."
Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of at least 3 to 9 years, but Hanophy insisted that justice was served. "The sentence given to Mr. O'Connor is not different than for anyone else in Queens County," he said.
Hazim had come to the United States to live the American dream, and to give his family every opportunity. "He had everything he could have wanted, he was such a hard working person, and this was so senseless," Elias Hazim said. "What do we do from hear I don't know."
