Rice – the senior ranking officer connected to the case – was charged with involuntary manslaughter, misconduct in office, reckless endangerment, and second-degree assault.
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“There are a number of possibilities this court could entertain, some that are innocent and some that are not”, Williams said.
Michael Schatzow, the chief deputy state’s attorney, had argued that Rice was responsible for ensuring Gray’s safety because he was most responsible for following police procedures to fasten a prisoner in a seat belt.
Rice went into the trial facing five charges, but just before opening statements, prosecutors dropped a misconduct charge related to Gray’s arrest without explanation. He was handcuffed and later shackled and placed on his stomach in the back of the police van. Update: May 23, 2016: A Baltimore officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray has been found not guilty on all counts, The Associated Press reports. Will she still move ahead, spending city resources and tying up the courts to attempt to prosecute the two remaining officers?
Williams’ verdict in Goodson’s case sent “a message to the public and to the courts and the prosecution that if you can’t convict beyond a reasonable doubt as to a high charge like murder, what does it say about lesser crimes?” The officer made the correct split-second decision while Gray was being combative and a hostile crowd looked on, they said. Meanwhile, a George Washington University law professor said he planned to mail a complaint against Mosby to the Maryland Attorney Grievance Commission in hopes of having her disbarred. Circuit Judge Barry Williams said today that jurors in the trial had announced a deadlock. She is now zero for four on these attempts and the last two don’t look any more promising.
Police union officials have called on prosecutors to drop the charges against three officers still awaiting trial in the case, which triggered protests and rioting in the mainly black city and stoked a national debate about how police treat minorities.
Gray died while in police custody one week after his April 2015 arrest.
Rice, 42, is the highest-ranking officer of the six charged in Gray’s death, who suffered a broken neck in a police transport van. 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. But none of the officers involved killed him? And, it did not show Rice acted “corruptly”, which is required for misconduct in office, he said. Prosecutors described onlookers as concerned observers, but Belsky said officers heard threatening comments during the arrest, according to AP.
Matt Clark, a Hogan spokesman, said the Republican governor responded to a question after the acquittal of Lt. Brian Rice.
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Gray’s family received a $6.4 million settlement from the city.
