Prosecutors on Wednesday dropped all charges against the three remaining Baltimore police officers awaiting trial over the death of Freddie Gray, concluding a landmark police brutality case without any convictions.
Advertisement
Hill-Aston noted that since the charges, Baltimore police started to issue officers body cameras and install cameras inside police transport vans like the one where Gray, 25, sustained his fatal injuries while restrained by handcuffs but not a seatbelt.
Persecutors representing the officers said that officers didn’t have anything to do with Gray’s death and that the previous year has been a “nightmare” for the officers.
Mosby, who is black, was a little more than four months into her role as state’s attorney for Baltimore City in April 2015 when she charged the officers four days after the city exploded in a day of rioting and arson following Gray’s funeral.
William Porter was trial by jury, who deadlocked, and it was then declared a mistrial.
For Mosby, the lack of any guilty verdicts comes after a dramatic rise that made her a national figure and a symbol of the Black Lives Matter movement. He said he had wanted to see some officers convicted but said Mosby had to drop the charges “because the judge battered down the evidence in the other trials”.
Last year, Gray’s family received a $6.4 million settlement from the city.
Marilyn Mosby, the state’s attorney for Baltimore, argued Wednesday that there is an “inherent bias” whenever “police police themselves”. “We stand by the medical examiner’s determination that Freddie Gray’s death was a homicide”, she said.
“We do not believe that Freddie Gray killed himself”. The state couldn’t prove that officers knew Gray was suffering from a medical emergency before they found him unconscious.
Three of the officers who were charged are white and three are black.
He said their theory to file charges for involuntary manslaughter and, in Goodson’s case, second-degree murder, was based on footage of Gray at the van’s prior stops that showed Gray bearing his weight.
She also noted that the prosecution had successfully fought numerous defense motions to drop charges and move the trials out of Baltimore and had succeeded in compelling some of the officers to testify for each other. “Don’t forget, she prosecuted the best case, what she thought were her best cases, first”.
Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said in a statement that Mosby’s decision was “wise”, and he called on residents to direct their emotions “in a constructive way to reduce violence and strengthen citizen partnerships”.
Lt. Gene Ryan, of the Fraternal Order of Police, said the hope is the investigation will wrap up quickly so the officers can get back to work.
Before Miller and White’s cases were dropped, Porter’s trial ended in a mistrial a year ago and Nero and Rice were acquitted.
A so-called “clean team” of prosecutors had been appointed to handle the case, along with a liaison to buffer them from Schatzow, Bledsoe as well as the defense.
Those comments by Mosby are a disgrace to her and the office she serves.
“This system is in need of reform”, she said.
At least five of the six officers have filed lawsuits against Mosby and Baltimore County. But the message to every police officer is: You must protect and safeguard your prisoner or face possible prosecution.
Gray’s stepfather appeared before the cameras briefly, saying, “We stand behind Marilyn and her prosecuting team”. Their attorneys have said they acted reasonably and professionally, and that Gray’s death was the result of a tragic accident.
London-based Amnesty International called on Baltimore police to exercise restraint during protests, which erupted after Gray’s death past year.
When the van arrived at the police station, Gray was unresponsive.
Advertisement
As the cases proceeded, some observers said having the cases play out – conviction or no conviction – was helpful for the city.
