Activist and former Baltimore mayoral candidate DeRay Mckesson made an appearance on Monday’s “The Kelly File” to discuss the ruling on Officer Nero who was charged with taking part in the death of Freddie Gray.
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Nero faced charges of second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and two counts of misconduct in office.
Pettit said the fact that Porter’s case proceeded all the way to jury deliberations – with Williams denying motions to dismiss the charges outright or for a judgment of acquittal after the state rested its case – showsthe chargeshad some merit in the eyes of the court.
Additionally, in unexcerpted text, Linderman identified “Circuit Judge Barry Williams”, who rendered the not-guilty verdicts, without labeling him.
Nero, 30, faced a maximum of 10 years in prison on the assault charge.
His death set off looting and arson that prompted authorities to declare a citywide curfew and call out the National Guard to quell unrest in Baltimore for the first time since the riots that erupted in 1968 over the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
A mural is seen at the site of Freddie Gray’s arrest in the Sandtown neighborhood of Baltimore, Monday, May 23, 2016, after Officer Edward Nero, one of six Baltimore city police officers charged in connection to the death o… Baltimore prosecutor Marilyn Mosby charged the officers a year ago. A jury trial for Officer William Porter late previous year ended in a hung jury when the panel could not reach a decision on manslaughter and other charges. The papers state White saw Gray at the North Avenue stop of the police transport van. “They seized a political opportunity and in the process destroyed 6 lives and demolished the relationship between the Baltimore Police department and their own office”.
Harvard University professor Alan Dershowitz said he believed the judge’s verdict was an example of the legal system looking at the facts of the case without being influenced by race or community pressure.
“The state’s theory from the beginning has been one of negligence, recklessness, and disregard for duty and orders by this defendant”, Williams said during Nero’s trial, according to the Associated Press.
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake issued a statement following the verdict.
Gray was placed in the back of the transport van, seated on the wagon’s bench.
She says Nero now faces a Police Department administrative review.
Among the witnesses was Sgt. Charles Sullivan, Nero’s field training officer who told the judge that the policeman’s hands-on training module was cut short for some reason, but couldn’t explain why.
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Nero caught the biggest breaks in not being found guilty thanks to Officer Garrett Miller claiming responsibility in detaining Gray. Zayon argued Nero wasn’t involved in Gray’s arrest, having only arrived after Gray was in handcuffs.
