Attorneys in the Freddie Gray case are scheduled to argue several pretrial matters Tuesday and Wednesday in Baltimore, including whether statements the officers charged in connection with Gray’s death in police custody made to investigators should be allowed as evidence.
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Six officers are charged with offenses ranging from reckless endangerment to second-degree murder in connection with the death of Freddie Gray.
The trials will be critical for a city battered by riots and political upheaval after Gray’s death one week after his arrest.
The judge must also consider a motion filed by the three white officers who chased Gray, arrested him, and loaded him into a police transport van on April 12.
An off-duty Memphis police officer who died after being shot multiple times had been on the force for little more than a year and had a fiancee who is four months pregnant, authorities said.
That motion is filed by the attorneys for Lt. Brian Rice, Officer Edward Nero and Officer Garret Miller. Porter, Rice, White and Goodson also face manslaughter charges.
The hearing, before circuit judge Barry Williams, could last two days.
Five of the six officers have asked to have their statements thrown out, contending they were improperly obtained.
The Maryland Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights stipulates that statements police provide as part of their jobs may not be used against them in court. His trial is to begin November 30.
The trials of the six officers were meant to begin on 13 October.
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A police helicopter circled overhead, beginning when merely roughly one dozen journalists stood in their own line for entry to judge Williams’ courtroom. There was no ticketing on Tuesday.
