Jury reaches not guilty murder verdict in fatal shooting of NYPD detective, guilty on other charges
Guy Rivera was on trial for the killing of NYPD Detective Jonathan Diller.
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UPDATE: A jury has reached a not guilty verdict on the top count in the trial of a man accused of killing an NYPD detective. The jury did find Guy Rivera guilty on other charges, including aggravated manslaughter.
This is a developing story. Stay with News 12 for updates.
Original story below:
Jurors are continuing deliberations in the trial of a man accused of killing an NYPD detective, despite sending a note that they'd come to a verdict — a verdict read aloud by the foreperson.
The foreperson said the jury found 36-year-old Guy Rivera not guilty of murder in the first degree for the killing of NYPD Detective Jonathan Diller, but guilty of aggravated manslaughter, attempted murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.
After the jury announced its decisions, each juror was individually asked to confirm the verdict. During that process, juror No. 5 responded, “No," to the surprise of a packed courtroom.
The judge spoke to the attorneys, then sent the jurors back to deliberate.
Shortly after, the jury sent a note asking how many days they'd be kept if they didn't come to a unanimous verdict on Wednesday.
The jury sent two notes to the judge during the first deliberation. The first was a request to watch the prosecution's 18-minute-long compilation video of the moments before, during and after Diller was shot. The second note asked for legal specifics pertaining to some of the charges.
Diller, of Massapequa Park, Long Island, was shot and killed in the line of duty two years ago in Queens. He leaves behind a wife and a young son.
During summations, prosecutor John Kosinski told jurors that Guy Rivera "chose the deadliest of choices" and said his choices were "intentional," while defense attorney Jamal Johnson said, "there’s no evidence that Mr. Rivera set out to kill an NYPD police officer."
