“Remember from a jury you get a guilty or not guilty, so it is interesting to have the judge’s full opinion”, Wood said.
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Officer Edward Nero is charged with assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment.
Nero, who is white, was the second of six officers charged in the racially combustible case to stand trial.
About a dozen protesters gathered outside the courthouse in the moments after the verdict was rendered, and some chanted the familiar protest cry, “No justice, no peace”.
“When we left the courtroom, it was a very traumatic area”. Numerous residents hadn’t heard the verdict yet by early afternoon. The state also argued that Nero was guilty of reckless endangerment for failing to seat-belt Gray in the police van.
William Tyler, 44, carried his trash out on his stoop across the street from Gilmor Homes a few hours after the verdict. “As young people our time is now”. As for his failure the buckle Gray in, Williams said there was no proof Nero knew he had a duty to belt the prisoner in, or that he failed to do so on goal.
Williams at one point said: “If you touch someone, it could be assault, it could be a hug”. Nobody killed that boy in this community.
“This is our American system of justice and police officers must be afforded the same justice system as every other citizen in this city, state and country”, Rawlings-Blake said in a statement. They arrested him on charges of having an illegal switchblade, though the knife Mr.
A white Baltimore police officer accused of wrongdoing in the highly politicized death of black career criminal Freddie Gray past year that sparked days of rioting has been completely exonerated by the courts. “In the case of any disturbance in the city, we are prepared to respond”.
“There’s been too many cases where police haven’t been held accountable the same way people are held accountable”, Black said.
Let John or Jane Q. Citizen chase an unarmed man down for no legitimate reason, as officers did Gray; let the victim hurt his back or have an asthma attack in the process; let John or Jane throw the victim in the vehicle or truck and ride him around bouncing for an hour or more-offering no medical assistance; let him die in their custody or control. An earlier trial for an officer charged with manslaughter in the case ended in a hung jury in December. The goal of the civil settlement is to bring an important measure of closure to the Gray family, to the community, and to this city, and to avoid years and years of protracted civil litigation and the potential harm to the community and the divisiveness which might result.
Westley West, a 28-year-old minister in Gray’s West Baltimore neighborhood, said after the verdict that he was frustrated by what he sees as a lack of accountability in Gray’s death. Its taxpayer money that could be funneled into recreation centers or badly needed infrastructure projects.
Officer Goodson’s trial starts on June 6th. The defense argued that Nero was not trained on transporting detainees or seat belting them and that the prosecution couldn’t prove if he had read an email mandating that there is no discretion allowed in seat belting passengers. Mosby sat in the front row for much of the trial but was not in court for the verdict. Judge Williams apparently agreed. Gray was then arrested and placed in the back of a police van without a seatbelt and with his legs shackled.
The next Gray-related trial will be of Officer Caesar Goodson Jr, the driver of the van used to transport him.
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“As a black lawyer who doubles as a social activist, I often find myself at the pinnacle of rage in these situations because my thirst for justice is often balanced by my understanding of the law and how very easy it is for law enforcement officers to walk free fromspace” charges of official wrongdoing.
