USA prosecutors on Wednesday dropped all remaining charges against police in the death of Freddie Gray, an African American whose fatal injury in custody provoked riots in Baltimore, ending the high-profile case without any convictions.
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The 25-year-old African American subsequently died as a result of injuries sustained in the back of the police van.
Prosecutors’ decision Wednesday comes after a judge had already acquitted three of the six officers charged in the case, including the van driver and another officer who was the highest-ranking of the group.
She also expressed frustration that her office had no say in whether cases were tried before a jury or at a bench trial, i.e., before a judge. His death added fuel to the growing Black Lives Matter movement, set off massive protests in the city and led to the worst riots the city had seen in decades. For those that believe I’m anti-police, it simply is not the case. “All of our clients are thrilled with what happened today”, Catherine Flynn, Miller’s attorney, told reporters outside the courthouse. Burns said he expects the report to be released soon. However, after State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s decision Wednesday to drop the charges, Ryan was relatively restrained.
He said Mosby should have determined Gray’s death to have been a tragic accident. “We stand by the medical examiner’s determination that Freddie Gray’s death was a homicide”, Mosby said.
Gray’s mother, Gloria Darden, stood by Mosby, saying police lied. “I know they lied, and they killed him”, she said. Police said no extra officers will work the streets Wednesday night. The officers have sued Mosby, saying she intentionally filed false charges against them.
Police investigating other cops was problematic and while the Baltimore police chief had been “extremely accommodating”, Mosby said individual detectives had been “uncooperative” and sought to disprove the state’s case. Ivan Bates, an attorney representing Sgt. Alicia White, said prosecutors should bear responsibility for the outcome because they had the opportunity to conduct their own investigation but instead left it to city police. The city broke out in weeks of unrest, including numerous mass demonstrations against police brutality and a day of rioting. “The Baltimore state’s attorney had the opportunity to do an investigation and they did not”. “We’re going to continue to be fighters for Freddie”, he said.
Officer Garrett Miller faces assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment charges stemming from Freddie Gray’s death in April 2015. The officers’ further erred when they chose not to call for a medic after Gray indicated he wanted to go a hospital, according to the prosecution. He was handcuffed and shackled when he was hurt.
“There must be a statewide review of police policies to ensure that cases like Freddie Gray’s will not be repeated”. She posed for magazine photos, sat for TV interviews and even appeared onstage at a Prince concert in Gray’s honor. She has taken a prominent role on the podium this week at the Democratic National Convention.
The Gray case hasn’t fit quite so neatly into the narrative of white authorities imposing unfair justice on minorities. Her comments came after prosecutors told a judge that they were dropping the remaining charges against three officers. At the time of Gray’s death, so was the police chief. He later pulled out.
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“(The prosecution) applied that theory to all of these officers and the judge in each of the last three verdicts decided that they did not present any evidence to show that they were criminally liable”, Burns said. She did not let up Wednesday.
