Officer Is Cleared of Murder Charge

A police officer accused of fatally choking a man whose football hit a squad car during a touch football game on a Bronx street was cleared of homicide by a reluctant judge who called the officer confrontational and unprofessional. The verdict in the non-jury trial of Officer Francis Livoti triggered a hysterical outburst by the family of the victim, Anthony Baez, and their supporters, who burst from the courtroom screaming, “Murderer!” New York Supreme Court Judge Gerald Sheindlin said the prosecution had not proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Livoti, 37, was guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Baez, 29, in 1994. The city medical examiner testified that Baez had choked to death.