Peter Liang was going to be found guilty from Day 1, as this case is nothing if not highly politicized. We have a Brooklyn DA, associated council members, and a mayors office determined to satisfy their constituents at all costs; the NYPD determined to make a sacrifice to deflect their miserable track record; a cultural climate where police brutality is front and center in the media (as it should be), and a tone in mainstream media where China-bashing is commonplace (WNYC is guilty of this as well). However, Peter Liang was made a scapegoat to pay for Staten Island, for Ferguson, and for Baltimore. As an Asian American, he was an easy target in his indictment with no political constituents to back him up. Aside from this context, the trial was flawed and unjust. The prosecution changed their story during the closing arguments to say that Liang deliberately aimed at Gurley, and key context was not allowed to enter the trial (two cops were shot doing vertical patrols during the week the jury was deliberating). Further, since when does putting a gun in a jurors hands make them an expert on firearms? If you're going to take that route to sway the verdict, let's be fair and put the jurors alone in a dark and dangerous NYCHA housing project staircase at 11 pm and see how they rule then. Now does this mean that Liang should not have to pay something for his tragic error? Of course not. But let's let the punishment fit the crime, and not have this entire systemic failure fall upon one man, and one community.