Officer Pleads Not Guilty in Ramarley Graham Shooting Pool photograph by Richard Drew/Associated Press Constance Malcolm and Franclot Graham, parents of Ramarley Graham, in State Supreme Court in the Bronx on Wednesday. An officer was arraigned on manslaughter charges on Wednesday in the shooting death of an unarmed 18-year-old man who was followed by the police to his home in the Bronx and then killed by a single police bullet in his bathroom. Appearing in State Supreme Court in the Bronx, the officer, Richard Haste, 31, pleaded not guilty to charges of first- and second-degree manslaughter; he was released after posting $50,000 bail. Before a courtroom filled with police officers as well as relatives of the dead man, Ramarley Graham, Officer Haste entered through a side door, wearing a black suit and using crutches because of a recent motorcycle accident. Stuart London, a defense lawyer for Officer Haste, portrayed his client as a product of the Bronx, a graduate of Lehman High School, an armed services veteran and a New York City police officer for four years. Mr. London said Officer Haste "had no choice" but to shoot Mr. Graham. " "I thought he was going to kill me," " Mr. London said in quoting a statement given by Officer Haste after the episode. " "So I shot him." " The Bronx district attorney, Robert T. Johnson, said after the hearing that the shooting was not justified, noting that Mr. Graham had no weapon. "There's a major difference between exercising caution and pulling the trigger and using deadly force," Mr. Johnson said. In the minutes before the shooting on Feb. 2, a street narcotics unit team had been staking out a bodega in the Wakefield section of the Bronx, acting on a tip of drug sales out front. Two officers then reported that they believed one of three men seen leaving the bodega together had a gun, the police have said. Further police radio communications reinforced that notion. Mr. London said at the arraignment that Officer Haste had heard officers say, "I see the weapon; it's on him," and, "I see the handle of a weapon." "When Officer Haste confronted him, he said: "Show me your hands. Show me your hands," " Mr. London said. My client approached him, desperate that he wouldn't have to use his weapon. After he fired his weapon, the lawyer said, the officer yelled: "Gun! Gun! Donald Levin, a senior prosecutor in the Bronx district attorney's office, requested $75,000 bail, saying in court that the officer had "consciously and deliberately pulled the trigger." The officer's lawyers asked that he be released on his own recognizance, emphasizing that there was no threat of Officer Haste's missing a court appearance. Martin Marcus, an acting State Supreme Court judge, then ordered the $50,000 bail, saying that "given the first-degree charge, bail is appropriate." The shooting of Mr. Graham has become a flash point in the roiling debate over police aggression; his family has taken part in several vigils and rallies to press for criminal charges in the case, as well as highlight what some critics say is a bias shown by the police against young men of color. Ramarley Graham's father, Franclot Graham, said at a news conference after the court appearance: "I keep asking, "Why did he kill our son?" Eighteen years old. Eighteen. He did nothing to deserve this. Ramarley Graham's mother, Constance Malcolm, followed and said tearfully: "We have too much of this going on, and it has to stop. When does it stop? We can't keep killing our kids. Outside of the courthouse, about a dozen protesters supporting the family chanted, "N.Y.P.D., K.K.K., how many kids did you kill today?" Officer Haste's indictment is the first of a New York City police officer on a charge stemming from an on-duty shooting since three detectives were charged in March 2007 in the death of Sean Bell, who was shot as he left a strip club hours before he was to be wed. Another officer, Rafael Lora, was indicted in December 2007 for an off-duty shooting in the Bronx that killed the driver of a minivan; his conviction at trial on manslaughter charges was overturned by an appeals court. Mr. London said he would "keep all the options open" in terms of seeking a change of venue. District Attorney Johnson said he would oppose any such request. "I think it's offensive to take the position that there are not 12 fair and just people in this county," he said. The murder trial of four police officers who killed Amadou Diallo in the Bronx was moved to Albany because of pretrial publicity; the officers were acquitted in 2000. Mr. Johnson said that the decision to move the Diallo trial was a mistake, and that in any case, the Graham shooting had received far less news media attention.