No Prison Time for Ex-NYPD Officer in Fatal Shooting of Black Man

Liang was sentenced to 800 hours of community service and five years' probation Tuesday after Judge Danny Chun reduced his manslaughter conviction to criminally negligent homicide in the shooting death of Gurley, 28, who was not armed.

Liang, 28, was found guilty of manslaughter and official misconduct in February for shooting Gurley in the stairwell of a Brooklyn housing project.

But Chun said that for manslaughter to stand, the prosecution had to prove that Liang not only "created a substantial and unjustifiable risk that a death would occur" but also that the the officer "was aware of and consciously disregarded that risk."

"There is no evidence either direct or circumstantial that the defendant was aware of Akai Gurley's presence and still disregarded any risk by firing the weapon," Chun said. "The evidence showed that it was a quick reaction to perhaps a sound, which in my opinion only amounts to failing to perceive a unjustifiable risk."

The prosecution said it will appeal the judge's decision to reduce the verdict, CNN reported.

Liang, who was immediately fired after his conviction, on Tuesday apologized to Gurley's family.

Gurley's domestic partner, Kim Ballinger, told the court that Liang's reckless actions changed many lives. She described Gurley as a "lovely father" and said their young daughter asks why a police officer killed her father.

"An innocent man was shot and killed due to the reckless actions of a police officer and then, after the shooting, a police officer did nothing to help him as Akai lay bleeding to death on a cold stairway," she said.

Liang, with 18 months on the job, was on patrol in the dark stairwell of a Brooklyn housing project in November 2014 when he fired his gun. The bullet ricocheted off a wall and struck Gurley in the chest. Gurley died at a hospital.