Rice faced charges of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office. Two officers were recently acquitted after bench trials, and a third is scheduled to be retried this fall after a jury deadlocked in his case in December. “The police officers testified the van was shaking, the two civilians said it wasn’t”, said prosecutor Michael Schatzow.
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With no courtroom victories, activists are focusing on protests and police department reforms. A protest Saturday that blocked the interstate through downtown resulted in more than 60 arrests. She thanked the community for their patience during “this hard time” and asked for “their continued respect for the judicial process” as the city moves forward. Of the six officers charged in the racially charged case, three are white and three are black.
While this decision was lauded by many segments of the city, the repeated failure to get a conviction will undoubtedly continue to turn up the heat on Mosby and her office.
Three of the officers charged are white and three are black. The case came in a wave of police misconduct allegations against African American boys and men that swept the country in areas including Chicago and North Charleston.
Baltimore lawyer A. Dwight Pettit, who works on police brutality cases, defined “rough ride” to the New York Times as follows: “A rough ride is basically the police driving in such a manner to inflict injury or pain on the person being transported because they have knowledge that the person is not secure in the vehicle and is usually handcuffed or possibly leg chained and therefore has no way to protect themselves”. Williams said the state failed to meet their burden of proving “every element of the crimes charged” beyond a reasonable doubt, and so the court is “constitutionally required to find the defendant not guilty”, according to court records.
However, Williams ruled that because Rice didn’t drive the van, prosecutors had no evidence.
One by one, the Baltimore officers involved in the Freddie Gray case are being cleared on all charges.
He says prosecutors “rushed to judgment” in bringing charges against six police officers.
The highest ranking officer to face a bench trial in the death of Freddie Gray will not head to prison.
A gag order from the judge remains in effect, barring prosecutors and defense attorneys from speaking publicly about the case. Prosecutors described them as concerned observers, while Belsky said officers heard threatening comments during the arrest.
“It does not bode well for prosecution”, CNN legal analyst Danny Cevallos said.
From the beginning, it was clear – as in the other trials – that the prosecution did not have a case. “They’re 0-for-24 when you add up all the charges that the judge or jury considered through the court of four trials”.
Still, Mr. Slotnick said it’s unlikely that Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby will drop the remaining trials.
Matt Clark, a Hogan spokesman, said the governor responded to a question after the acquittal of Lt. Brian Rice on Monday. “It’s a waste of time and money”, Hogan said. “Billy” Murphy, on the civil side and agreed to pay the family $6.4 million.
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