Gray, 25, suffered severe spinal cord injuries in the back of a police van in April 2015 and died a week after his arrest. A judge had acquitted three of the officers charged already in bench trials – Officer Caesar Goodson Jr., Lt. Brian Rice and Officer Edward Nero. The police accused of his death were cleared of all wrongdoing, from murder to minor charges-surely a better outcome for these officers than to let stand a conviction in the court of public opinion.
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Gray’s death set off a series of sometimes violent protests that rocked the city and prompted Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the nation.
Some eyewitness accounts allege that officers were unnecessarily forceful in the arrest, while the Baltimore Police Department disputes those claims.
Should criminal cases involving police be tried by an independent body? The results are expected soon. They are still subject to internal investigations.
Mosby also pointed out the “inherent bias” that often occurs when “police police themselves” and said some individual Baltimore police officers impeded the investigation into Gray’s death.
“All of our clients are thrilled with what happened today, and we’ll be making a comment later to address the details of what happened”, said Catherine Flynn, one of the police officer’s attorneys, according to The Baltimore Sun.
If you happened to scroll through the Baltimore state’s attorney’s personal Twitter account on Wednesday morning, you’d see no mention of Freddie Gray. Michelle Dickens, 55, comforted Gray’s mother, a distraught Gloria Darden, who was surrounded by friends and neighbors after Mosby spoke. He also called Mosby’s decision to drop the charges “a wise one” that will help the city heal and move forward.
Baltimore Fraternal Order of Police President Gene Ryan reacted by saying Mosby’s accusations are “outrageous” and “not true”. White was scheduled for October 13. “The Baltimore state’s attorney had the opportunity to do an investigation and they did not”.
Angel Selah (left) and local artist PFK Boom gather to remember Freddie Gray and all victims of police violence during a rally outside city hall in Baltimore, Maryland, US, July 27, 2016.
Gray’s mysterious death turned the largely black city near the nation’s capital into a tinderbox.
Pretrial motions had been scheduled for Wednesday for Officer Garrett Miller, who faced assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment charges stemming from Gray’s death. Wednesday was supposed to mark the beginning of Miller’s trial, but the Chief Deputy State’s Attorney Michael Schatzow said the department would be dropping all charges. He was handcuffed and shackled when he was hurt. She posed for magazine photos, sat for TV interviews and even appeared onstage at a Prince concert in Gray’s honor.
The Gray case never fit neatly into the narrative of white authorities imposing unfair justice on minorities.
The interference included officers who were witnesses investigating the case and key questions not being asked during interrogations, she said. The victim, judge, top prosecutor and mayor are African-American.
Gray died in police custody, and his death was called a homicide.
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“I recognize the emotional nature of this case”, she said in a statement from Philadelphia. He later pulled out. Standing at the intersection where police arrested Gray in April 2015 – and with Freddie Gray’s stepfather Richard Shipley at her side – she railed against police officers whom she accused of kneecapping her office’s investigation.
