Trump: Freddie Gray prosecutor should prosecute herself
Prosecutors have dropped all remaining charges against the police officers in the Freddie Gray case. By dropping the case Marilyn Mosby, Baltimore"s head prosecutor, effectively ends one of the only attempts to hold law enforcement responsible for civilian deaths.
Of the six officers who were charged after Gray"s death, four had already gone to trial. Three of the officers were acquitted, and one trial ended in a hung jury.
The trials demonstrated just how challengingit is to prosecute law enforcement. It is often difficult for prosecutorsto show that police misconduct meets the high standard of wrongdoing.
Gray, who was 25, lived in Baltimore and died after suffering a spinal cord injury while in police custody. He was arrested for having an illegal knife, butthe switchblade he was carrying was later determined to be legal.
Gray"s death was ruled a homicidealthough apparently, no onekilled him.
Marilyn Mosby speaks out on Freddie Gray case decision
Published: 07/27/16 09:57 am EDT.
Updated: 07/27/16 10:24 am EDT.
Prosecutors dropped the remaining charges Wednesday against three Baltimore police officers awaiting trial in the death of Freddie Gray, bringing an end to the case without a conviction.
Gray was a man whose neck was broken while he was handcuffed and shackled but left unrestrained in the back of a police van in April 2015. His death added fuel to the growing Black Lives Matter movement and caused turmoil in Baltimore, including large protests and the worst riots the city had seen in decades.
The decision by prosecutors 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.
A fourth officer had his case heard by a jury, who deadlocked and the judge declared a mistrial.
Prosecutors had said Gray was illegally arrested after he ran away from a bike patrol officer and the officers failed to buckle Gray into a seat belt or call a medic when he indicated he wanted to go to a hospital.
2016 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Latest Police Neglect Victim: Freddie Gray Dies Of A Severed Spine [Graphic Video]
Three Baltimore police officers have been tried for killing Freddie Gray, and none have been convicted. These trials took place in a city radicalized by Grays death and during a summer when the pattern of police officers killing African-American men around the country has not ceased, but the protests in Baltimore have been muted. The third trial, of an officer named Caesar Goodson, was considered the signal one. Goodson faced the heaviest charges, since he drove the paddy wagon in which Gray, his hands and legs shackled but his body not belted in place, was allowed to bounce around, restrained from protecting himself, until he suffered a fatal injury to his spinal cord. There are four more trials to come (three defendants have not yet had their cases brought to court, and a fourth, William Porter, is scheduled for a retrial this fall). But Goodsons acquittal, on June 22nd, indicated that the most serious charges are not likely to end in convictions. Whatever justice for Freddie Grays death looks like, it will probably not involve long prison sentences for cops.
The proceedings in Baltimore seem especially significant after the police killings of Alton Sterling, in Baton Rouge, and Philando Castile, near Minneapolis, andthe assassination of five Dallas police officers, events backgrounded by a sense that the tension between law enforcement and the African-American community remains unresolved.The trials of the Freddie Gray officers have taken place in a city that has met many of the demands that protesters have made elsewhere. Baltimores states attorney, a thirty-six-year-old African-American woman named Marilyn Mosby, was elected by a progressive coalition, defeating a white incumbent whom her campaign attacked for being too reflexively pro-cop.Mosby brought charges against the officers three weeks after Grays death, the grand jury delivered indictments three weeks later, and the first case opened five months after that.Defense motions to move the trials to Baltimores more conservative suburbs were denied.
The judge who presided over all three cases is an African-American man named Barry Williams, who worked in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice during the Clinton Administration, and was dispatched around the country to help prosecute cases of police misconduct. One officer who was prosecuted by Williams years ago told the Baltimore Sun that, if he were one of the Freddie Gray defendants facing Williams, Id want to move my trial. Nevertheless, officers Edward Nero and Goodson chose to have Judge Williams hear their case (a trial by bench), rather than face a jury, and in each case he found them not guilty. Officer Porter had a jury whose racial composition was close to Baltimores: there were seven African-American jurors and five white ones, in a city that is sixty-three per cent black. Only one juror held out to convict Porter of manslaughter, the most serious charge he facedthe other eleven all voted to acquit. Baltimore did get to try its own accused police officers, as the demonstrators had demanded.The results will probably not look like justice to them.
Each police killing illuminates some aspects of the general pattern of police killing and obscures others. No one cop killed Freddie Gray. His death was instead assembled piecemeal, with several different officers involved in a sequence in which Gray was pursued arbitrarily, arrested roughly, secured improperly, and driven callously, and in which officers ignored first his cries for help and then his silence. A reasonable officer in Goodsons position, Judge Williams found, could not be expected to quiz the cops who detained Gray or check to be sure that a prisoner had been securely detained. His training, in Williamss view, had not required it.
The trial of the highest-ranking officer charged in Grays killing, Lieutenant Brian Rice, began last Thursday. Prosecutors dropped a misconduct charge on the first day of the trial, and Williams, who again is ruling from the bench, dropped a second-degree-assault charge against him on Monday. In their opening remarks, the prosecutors argued that, because of his rank, Lieutenant Rice had a greater responsibility than the others to insure Grays safety. Maybethey will succeed. But, given the outcomes of the previous trials, it seems more likely that Williams will acquitthat the attempt to find an individual responsible for collective negligence, for a slaying by increments, may fall short again.
Mosby was widely lauded when she first announced the indictments (among other things, she was profiled in Vogue), and it seemed at the time as if the Freddie Gray case might be the moment when the criminal-justice system caught up to the problem of police killing. Now that promise has faded, and the case mostly represents the ways in which everyday police neglect can elude criminal justice. Mosby could not put the state on trial in the aggregate, only six individual cops, each of them only partly culpable. A chant rang out during the Baltimore protests in particular: We wont stop until killer cops are in cell blocks. But despite the resonance and political influence of the Black Lives Matter movement, that hasnt actually happened, in Baltimore or elsewhere.
In certain ways, Freddie Grays killing did not resemble other high-profile police killings, in which, usually, it has been possible to pinpoint a single lethal act and a single actor. Rather, it evoked the general pattern of police harassment, the slow lean of cops on members of a community they find suspicious. The outcomes of the trials suggest that the criminal-justice system may not be so well-equipped to counteract that culture. The pressure to fix it falls on politics.
Latest Police Neglect Victim: Freddie Gray Dies Of A Severed Spine [Graphic Video]
A judge has acquitted Lt. Brian Rice, the highest-ranking Baltimore City police officer charged in connection with the death of Freddie Gray last year.
Complete coverage: Updates | Special section | Timeline | Officers charged | Charging documents | Who"s who
Rice is the fourth of six officers to go on trial in the Gray case. He faced involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office charges in connection with Gray"s death.
Prosecutors dropped a second misconduct in office charge related to Gray"s arrest and Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams dismissed an assault charge prior to the defense making its case.
Williams, announcing his verdict Monday morning, said the state failed to prove Rice"s actions did not rise to criminal action. The judge said that while Rice may have used bad judgment in not seat-belting Gray, it"s not a crime. The judge"s ruling in the Rice trial is similar to that of the trials of Officers Caesar Goodson and Edward Nero.
Read the judge"s verdict (PDF)
The judge said he could not make assumptions or presumptions when making his ruling.The judge said the state failed to prove Rice"s actions were grossly negligent.
"This court"s findings and determinations cannot rest upon presumptions or assumptions," Williams said. In this criminal proceeding, this court cannot apply strict liability standards in order to reach the state"s desired result."
Williams said the situation at the second stop of Gray"s arrest was tense for both police at residents.The judge said there was no evidence presented by the state that Rice was aware of policy that requires seat-belting of arrestees.
VIDEO: Legal analyst: Not guilty verdict wasn"t a big surprise
VERY INTERESTING INSIGHT. WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY STILL WE HAVE ANOTHER LEGAL EXPERT. WE"VE BEEN USING THROUGH THE YOU"VE BEEN HERE DAILY. WHAT IS YOUR REACTION OVERALL TO THE NOT GUILTY ON ALL CHARGES? >> IT WASN"T A BIG SURPRISE. I THINK WE WERE EXPECTING THAT THERE WAS NOT A GREAT DEAL OF DIFFERENT EVIDENCE FROM WHAT WE"VE SEEN IN THE PAST. AND SO THIS WAS NOT A SHOCK. THE JUDGE DID ADD A LITTLE BIT HERE. HE DID EXPLAIN -- HE DID TAKE THE POSITION, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT THE RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT CHARGE WOULDN"T APPLY BECAUSE THERE IS AN EXCEPTION IN THE LAW FOR MOVING VEHICLES TO BE HONEST I WAS SURPRISED THAT THAT APPLIED BUT HE WAS VERY CAREFUL TO GO BACK THROUGH AND SAY EVEN IF IT DIDN"T APPLY UNDER THESE FACTS HE COULDN"T FIND BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT FOR GUILT IN THAT CHARGE. TRR JUDGE DID GIVE THE STATE A ROADMAP. HE HAD TWO ACQUITLES HE EXPLAINED HOW HE CAME TO THIS CONCLUSION. WHAT COULD THE STATE DONE WITH THAT NONL IF THEY DIDN"T HAVE ANY ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE? >> I DON"T THINK THE STATE IS MISHANDLING IT. I THINK THEY HAVE WHAT THEY HAVE AND THEY"RE TRYING THE CASE TO THE BEST OF THEIR ABILITY. THERE WAS ONE DIFFERENCE IN THIS CASE WHICH WAS AND THE JUDGE NOTED THAT THERE HAD BEEN A DISCOVERY VIOLATION. THEY HAD FAILED TO GET MATERIAL QUICKLY ENOUGH AND TURN IT OVER TO THE DEFENSE. SO THEY WERE BARRED FOR BRINGING IN THE CURRICULUM FOR SOME OF THE TRAINING AND THAT COULD HAVE BEEN OFFERED TO SHOW THE AWARENESS OF THE DANGERS OF NOT SEAT BELTING. AT THE END OF THE DAY I DON"T BELIEVE THAT CHANGE IT HAD OUTCOME. I THINK THIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN A VERY HARD CASE TO PROVE. I THINK THE FACT THAT THEY WERE AWARE OF THE HURDLES FROM THE PRIOR CASES DIDN"T CHANGE THE FACT THAT THEY STILL HAD TO HAD. AND SO GOING FORWARD THEY WILL STILL HAVE TO STEP BACK, SHOULD GO FORWARD ON THE OTHER CASES AND DECIDE IF THEY WANT TO TRY AGAIN. >> ONE OF THE THING THAT IS STUCK OUT TO ME IS THE JUDGE EXPLAINING HIS VERDICT THAT THE COURT"S IMAGINING IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR EVIDENCE. THAT IS A CLAIRE SIGNAL THE STATE FAILED TO MAKE ITS CASE. >> I THINK THAT"S A STATEMENT REASONABLE DOUBT THE VERY HAPPENED. I THINK WHAT"S INTERESTING AND I THINK IT"S REALLY GOOD FOR THE PUBLIC TO UNDERSTAND THAT HE SAID THERE ARE DIFFERENT STORIES ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED THAT DAY. SOME OF THOSE STORIES ARE QUITE NEFARIOUS AND SUGGEST A CRIME. AND OTHERS ARE QUITE INNOCENT POLICING. AND WE SIMPLY CANNOT FIND BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT WHICH ONE OF THOSE THINGS HAPPENED. STATE. AND IF YOU CARE ABOUT THE PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE AND YOU REQUIRE THE STATE TO PROVE EACH ELEMENT BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT, I THINK ANYONE WATCHING THE TRIAL WOULD HAVE SAT BACK AND SAID THE APPROPRIATE VERDICT HERE WAS NOT GUILTY. >> YOU HAVE SAID ALMOST FROM DAY ONE KIND OF BOILS DOWN TO WHAT WAS LIEUTENANT RICE PERCEPTION? AND THE JUDGE RULED IN FAVOR OF WHAT THIS SOUNDS LIKE AN ASSUMPTION OF WHAT LIEUTENANT RICE WAS THINKING IN HIS PERCEPTION. >> REMEMBER BECAUSE THE BURDEN IS ON THE STATE HE REALLY WAS SAYING I CANNOT CONCLUDE THAT HE WASN"T THINKING THAT THIS WASN"T EITHER SIMPLY A MISTAKE. IT"S MORE IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT HIS VERDICT, AN ACQUITLE HERE IS NOT A STATEMENT THAT APPROPRIATELY. IT"S NOT A STATEMENT THAT THEY ACTED INAPPROPRIATELY EITHER BECAUSE THE GUILT REQUIRES MORE THAN MERE NEGLIGENCE. MORE THAN JUST A MISTAKE. HE HAS TO CONSCIOUSLY DISREGARD A RISK. AND I THINK THE JUDGE SAID HE COULDN"T FIND BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT. >> DO YOU THINK THE JUDGE SHOULD HAVE OR MAYBE THIS ISN"T GOOD PROTOCOL BUT COULD HE HAVE ADMONISHED THE SYSTEM? SOMEONE DIED IN POLICE CUSTODY. >> I THINK THE JUDGE IS BEING VERY CAREFUL. THERE"S NO QUESTION EVERYONE IN THE ROOM UNDERSTANDS THAT THIS IS A CASE THAT HAS POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS THAT THIS IS A CASE THAT RAISES PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES THAT THE COMMUNITY IS GREATLY CONCERNED ABOUT AND APPROPRIATELY SO. AND IN ORDER FOR HIM TO MAINTAIN THAT NEWT RALT THAT GIVES US FAITH IN THE JUSTICE SYSTEM TO RESOLVE THESE ISSUES I THINK HE"S BEING VERY CAREFUL TO STAY AWAY FROM THAT. >> YOU TOUCHED ON THIS IN OUR CONVERSATION BUT IF YOU COULD EXPAND ON WHERE COULD THE STATE GO FROM HERE? WHAT DO THEY NEED TO DO? >> REMEMBER EACH CASE IS SULTLY DIFFERENT AND EACH HAS DIFFERENT EVIDENCE. AND MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THAT EVIDENCE MIGHT BE THE STATEMENT OF THE OFFICERS WHO ARE CHARGED. OFFICER MILLER IS NEXT. AND OFFICER MILLER MADE A STATEMENT. IF HE MADE A STATEMENT AND I HAVE NO REASON TO BELIEVE THAT HE DID SAY THAT I THOUGHT HE WOULD BE INJURED BY I KIND OF THOUGHT HE DESERVED IT IT WOULD BE A DIFFERENT CASE. ONE OF THE THINGS WE NOTED IS LIEUTENANT SAID. WHAT WAS INTERESTING IS AT THE END OF THE TRIAL WE STILL HADN"T HEARD. SO WE CAN INFER THERE WAS NOTHING IN THAT STATEMENT THAT SUGGESTED SOMETHING THAT FAVORED THE PROSECUTION. >> YOU HAVE BEEN ASKED THIS. SHOULD THE STATE GO FORWARD? I KNOW IT"S NOT YOUR CALL BUT BASED ON WHAT YOU"VE HEARD IN ALL THESE TRIALS. >> I THINK THAT"S A COMPLICATED QUESTION. I THINK THEY HAVE TO WEIGH THE COSTS AND BENEFITS. THEY WILL HAVE TO ASSESS THE EVIDENCE AND DECIDE CAN THEY REASONABLE DOUBT NOT SIMPLY DO WE BELIEVE A CRIME OCCURRED BUT CAN WE PROVE IT IN COURT. THERE -- IT IS WORTH NOTING THAT THE PROSECUTION OF THESE CASES, IF YOU ACCEPT THAT THEY BELIEVE A CRIME OCCURRED HAS UNCOVERED A GREAT DEAL ABOUT POLICING IN BALTIMORE. CONVERSATION FORWARD ABOUT HOW WE"RE GOING TO DEAL WITH SOME OF THE CHALLENGES ABOUT HOW WE"RE POLICING COMMUNITIES. SO NOT EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS CASE HAS BEEN A FAILURE EVEN IF
The judge said he believes the officer testimony of concerns over crowd at Gray arrest. He also believed Gray"s friend, Brandon Ross" testimony that there were community concerns over the handling of Gray"s arrest.
"There is no finite definition of crowd," Williams said. "To one officer, three people may be a crowd, to three other officer, nine may not be a crowd. It is a matter of perspective. As this court noted its willingness to acknowledge that in the circumstances of the moment, Mr. Ross" perception that Mr. Gray was tased was believable for him, this court is equally willing to acknowledge from the veiwpoint of (Officers Edward) Nero and (William) Porter that there may have been issues with what they called the crowd."
Burden of proof not met
"The state has put forth every theory that can exist and the judge has acknowledged again and again that the state did not meet its burden," said attorney Warren Alperstein, a courtroom observer.
"It wasn"t a big surprise, I think we were expecting this," University of Baltimore law professor David Jaros said."There was not a great deal of different evidence than what we"ve seen in the past."
The 25-year-old Graydied April 19, 2015, a week after he suffered a neck injury while in a police transport van.
Rice is the officer who initiated the pursuit of Gray when he and two others were walking in west Baltimore on April 12, 2015. Gray ran off after Rice made eye contact with him.
The prosecution argued Rice"s decisions amount to a reckless disregard for Gray"s life. On the other side, the defense argued Rice made a 9-second decision that was 100 percent reasonable based on Gray being combative, tight van quarters and a hostile crowd gathering.
The state called that defense called the defense version police mythology based on video of the scene showing a handful of people dispersing and that the van was not rocking.
"This was a case of rushed prosecution," said defense attorney Warren Brown, a courtroom observer with no connection to the trial. "The judge said he needs to see evidence in these cases and without it this will continue to be the result."
Alperstein agrees.
"Judge Williams drove home the point that his decision would be based solely on the evidence," Alperstein said. "The judge has the ability to put prejudices and emotions aside."
VIDEO: Legal analyst expects additional officers" trials will continue
STATE PROVED ITS CASE BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT. PROFESSOR COLBERT. WHAT DID THIS CASE REVEAL ABOUT CITY POLICING AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CITY POLICE AND PROSECUTOR"S OFFICE? >> IT"S GOING TO TAKE A VERY STRONG PROSECUTOR TO FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE AND TO BRING CHARGES AGAINST THE POLICE OFFICER. BUT THAT"S HER ETHICAL DUTY WHERE THE EVIDENCE SUPPORTS CONVICTION IN HER OPINION BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT. THE PROSECUTING ATTORNEY MUST DO SO NO DOUBT SHE"S ALREADY FELT A GREAT DEAL OF WRATH AND HOSTILITY FROM THE POLICE UNION. BUT I EXPECT THAT THERE WILL BE ADDITIONAL TRIALS BECAUSE YOU"RE PUTTING THE POLICE DEPARTMENT ON NOTICE. YOU"RE PUTTING THE OFFICERS OF THEIR AWARENESS THAT THEY MUST TREAT PEOPLE AND PROTECT THEM AND SAFEGUARD THEM AND MAKE SURE THAT WHAT HAPPENS TO FREDDIE GRAY DOES NOT EVER HAPPEN AGAIN IN OUR CITY. >> MARILYN HAS BEEN IN THE COURTROOM ON AND OFF. TODAY HOWEVER SOME OF HER STAFF WAS IN THE COURTROOM. BUT SHE WAS NOT. >> I THINK WHAT"S IMPORTANT HERE IS THAT SHE HAS MAINTAINED HER COMMITMENT AND HER DEDICATION. A LESSER OFFICIAL PERHAPS ONLY THINKING ABOUT THEIR FUTURE MIGHT HA DECIDED TO TAKE A DIFFERENT PATH AND TO DO WHAT THE POLICE UNION IS REQUESTING. BUT I THIN WE CAN FEEL CERTAIN THAT THE PROSECUTION WILL CONTINUE BUT WILL TRY TO ADD THE MISSING PIECES THAT JUDGE WILLIAMS IDENTIFIED DURING HIS DECISION. >> U YOU"VE BEEN SITTING IN ON ALL THESE TRIALS AND THIS O WAS THERE ENOUGH EVIDENCE TO PROSECUTE OBANYTHING? >> THE JUDGE INDICATED THERE WAS ENOUGH EVIDENCE WHEN HE DENIED THE DEFENSE MOTION TO DISMISS IT AT THE CLOSE OF THE PROSECUTION CASE AND HE ALLOWED -- HE FOUND THAT THERE WAS THE CHARGES. SO THAT"S THE ANSWER TO ANY OF THE NAYSAYER WHO ARE SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE. THE QUESTION THOUGH FOR THE JUDGE WAS WAS IT SUFFICIENT TO PROVE GUILT BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT. AND FOR THE COURT HE FOUND THAT THERE WAS NOT SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE. >> THE JUDGE SAID -- APPARENTLY THERE WERE TOO MANY GAPS IN THE STATE"S CASE AND THE JUDGE SAID THE COURT"S IMAGINING IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR EVIDENCE. THAT WAS A CLEAR SIGNAL YOU GUYS HAVE GOT THE SAME EVIDENCE BUT YOU"RE GOING TO HAVE THE SAME CONCLUSION UNLESS YOU UP WITH SOMETHING NEW? >> ONE PLACE WHERE THE EVIDENCE CAN BE PRESENTED WILL ANSWER THE JUDGE"S QUESTION ABOUT THE AWARENESS OF THE POLICE DEFENDANT, THAT THE DEFENDANT WAS AWARE THAT PLACING FREDDIE GRAY IN THE SITUATION HE WAS IN LEFT HIM HELPLESS AND VULNERABLE TO INJURY. AND THAT EVIDENCE WILL COME FROM OUR CITY PAYING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FOR OTHER PEOPLE WHO WERE SERIOUSLY INJURED DURING POLICE RIDES. AND THAT INFORMATION I EXPECT WOULD HAVE BEEN COMMUNICATED NOT ONLY TO THE TOP OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT BUT TO THE OFFICERS ON DUTY. >> FINAL QUESTION HERE THOUGH. PART OF THAT EVIDENCE THAT DID NOT COME IN WAS THE SANCTION FOR DISCOVERY VIOLATION. AND THAT EVIDENCE COULD HAVE BEEN RECORDS OUTSIDE OF THE ACADEMY TRAINING. DOES THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE NOW IN HINDSIGHT? >> I THINK THAT THE PROSECUTION EXPECTED THE JUDGE TO TAKE NOTICE THAT 18 YEARS ON THE FORCE IN THE POSITION OF A LIEUTENANT WOULD HAVE GIVEN THIS DEFENDANT THE AWARENESS AND KNOWLEDGE THAT HE NEEDED TO THAT INJURY WOULD LIKELY -- OR THE POTENTIAL OF INJURY WOULD
Officials react to verdict
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake released a statement after the verdict was announced, saying, "Judge Barry G. Williams found Lt. Brian Rice not guilty of all criminal charges. Lt. Rice is the highest-ranking officer charged in the Freddie Gray case. He was facing involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office.
"Now that the criminal case has come to an end, Lt. Rice will face an administrative review by the Police Department.
"This has been a very difficult time for our city and I thank the community for their patience during this time and ask their continued respect for the judicial process as we move forward."
State Sen. Catherine Pugh, the Democratic nominee for Baltimore mayor, also released a statement, saying, "Judge Barry G. Williams found Lt. Brian Rice not guilty on all criminal charges. Now that a verdict has been delivered, the city must continue to exercise patience and respect for the judicial process. Even though there will be disagreements on this outcome, we have an opportunity to continue the public dialogue around police and community interaction it is not an easy conversation but a necessary one if we are to solve the longstanding problems that exist."
U.S. Rep Elijah Cummings, a Baltimore Democrat, shared a similar sentiment.
Today Judge Barry G. Williams found Mr. Brian Rice not guilty of all charges," Cummings said in a statement. " I thank Judge Williams for ensuring a fair process for all parties involved in this trial. I thank every Baltimore resident for respecting Judge Williams rulings and for expressing any frustrations constructively by engaging in peaceful protests.
Like every city in America, Baltimore must continue to find ways to improve the relationships between our communities and police departments. While recent attacks on law enforcement in Dallas, Baton Rouge and in our own city have been painful reminders of the dangers our officers face on the job daily, we must continue making reforms to our police department.
I am pleased that Commissioner Kevin Davis has worked to implement several reforms, including a commitment to recruiting the best officers to join the Baltimore Police Department; a mandate that all recruits spend more than 3 months engaging in community policing when they join the force; a plan to teach all recruits about Baltimores history and culture; and an updated and clearer use of force policy.
I look forward to further reforms at the Baltimore Police Department. I believe that such reforms will go a long way toward creating and fostering a healthy relationship between police and the entire Baltimore community. We must turn toward each other, and not against each other.
Chuck Canterbury, the national president of the Fraternal Order of Police, expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the Rice trial.
"We knew from the beginning that Lt. Rice was innocent and wrongly charged with these crimes like the rest of the officers that have been on trial," Canterbury said in a statement. "The outcome of today"s trial just proves that Lt. Rice did everything by the book, like every other officer that was present at the arrest that day, despite the false charges against him.
"It is terrible that in our country today that law enforcement officers doing their job the right way can still be fasely accused of misconduct and have their lives potentially ruined, even though the facts were there from the beginning that no misconduct occurred," Canerbury continued.
"It is time to end this witch hunt that State"s Attorney Mosby has been leading. She has disgraced her office and there should be charges of prosecutorial misconduct brought against her immediately. There"s been a lot of loose talk about the so-called Ferguson effect. What officers are really worried about is the Mosby effect -- prosecutors on a witch hunt prosecuting police officers who are just doing their jobs."
Does verdict impact other cases?
Goodson, the transport van driver, was cleared last month of all charges, including second-degree depraved heart murder. Nero was cleared of misdemeanor charges in May. Both Goodson and Nero opted for bench trials. The trial of Officer William Porter ended in December with a hung jury.
Nero, Goodson, and Officer Garrett Miller were in the front row when the verdict was read. Baltimore City State"s Attorney Marilyn Mosby was not in the courtroom.
Alperstein and Brown are among those wondering how much longer the state will continue to pursue the remaining cases against the officers in the Gray case given the previous verdict.
"The state isn"t just 0-for-4 in these cases; they are 0-for-24," Brown said. "There has not been a guilty verdict on any of the charges in this case. How much longer will the state continue with these trials."
"The prosecution has moved forward with these cases because they promised justice for Freddie Gray," Alperstein said. "But, the state has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on these cases not including the cost of additional law enforcement on verdict days. At some point, can"t the state say these cases have led to changes in police policies and protocols and that is justice?"
The next officer to go on trial in the Gray case is Officer Garrett Miller, whose case is set to begin July 27. Porter is expected to be retried on Sept. 6 and Sgt. Alicia White will go on trial Oct. 13.
WBALTV.com digital editor Saliqa Khan,WBAL-TV 11 News I-Team reporters David Collinsand Barry Simms and WBAL NewsRadio 1090 AM reporter Robert Lang contributed to this report.
Officer Caesar Goodson Jr., the third of six Baltimore police officers to stand trial for their alleged role in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray, was found not guilty of second-degree murder today by Judge Barry Williams.
Goodson, who drove the police van carrying Gray, 25, faced up to 30 years in prison if he was convicted of the most serious charge, second-degree depraved-heart murder. He chose to leave his fate up to a judge instead of a jury.
Goodson and the packed courtroom sat silent throughout the judge"s reading of the verdict. Deputies had warned those in attendance against overt protests. Officer Edward Nero, who was found not guilty by the same judge last month, sat in the front row. Outside, seven brown-shirted sheriff"s deputies guarded the front door of the courthouse as protesters chanted and held signs.
The verdict comes three days after arguments wrapped up in the case. Williams was tasked with deciding when during the ride Gray sustained the injury that led to his death and whether that injury was a result of actions taken or not taken by Goodson.
Goodson was also found not guilty of manslaughter, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office. He pleaded not guilty on all counts.
A protester displays a sign outside a courthouse after Officer Caesar Goodson was acquitted of all charges in his trial in Baltimore, June 23, 2016.
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake issued a statement on the judge"s decision today, asking residents to remain patient in the process and to respect the ruling.
"Now that the criminal case has come to an end, Officer Goodson will face an administrative review by the Police Department. We once again ask the citizens to be patient and to allow the entire process to come to a conclusion," she said. "I am proud that we as a community have come together to move our city forward over the past year. I know that the citizens of Baltimore will continue to respect the judicial process and the ruling of the court."
SLIDESHOW: Public Reaction to Freddie Gray Trial Verdicts")
Prosecutors had to prove that Goodson acted with such wanton and reckless disregard for human life that it amounted to malice. During closing remarks Monday, Williams seemed confused by the states argument that a wide right turn taken by Goodson was part of a "rough ride," asking, "Can we not agree that taking a turn wide is less dangerous?"
A "rough ride" is police lingo for teaching someone a lesson by putting him or her in a police wagon without a seat belt and driving so jarringly that the person is thrown around, according to The Associated Press.
Protesters stand outside the courthouse during the trial of officer Caesar Goodson, one of six Baltimore police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray, in Baltimore, Maryland, June 23, 2016.
Williams also questioned prosecutors why Goodson stopped to check on Gray if it was the officer"s intent to give a rough ride. Obtained surveillance footage from the time of the ride shows Goodson stopping the van after the wide right turn in question, walking to the back of the vehicle, looking in, returning to the front and getting back behind the wheel before calling dispatch for backup.
A representative for the Office of the State"s Attorney for Baltimore City, Marilyn Mosby, said, "We will not be issuing any statement and will continue to respect the gag order implemented by the judge."
Goodson"s attorney Andrew Jay Graham declined to comment on today"s decision.
Baltimore City State"s Attorney Mosby Marilyn Mosby, center, exits the courthouse after a verdict was issued in the trial of officer Caesar Goodson in Baltimore, Maryland, June 23, 2016.
Gray died after suffering a severe neck and spinal cord injury. During the trial, the defense argued that the neck and spinal cord injury occurred simultaneously in a catastrophic moment before his arrival at the police station. The prosecution argued that the neck injury resulted from the alleged rough ride and progressively worsened through the remaining stops and that the officers neglected to get Gray medical care leading to his death.
Williams also presided in the previous cases of Officers William Porter and Edward Nero. Porters trial ended with a hung jury in December, and he will be retried in September. Nero, who also opted for a bench trial by Williams, was acquitted last month.
ABC News" Jim Avila and Sarah Kolinovsky contributed to this report.
Get real-time updates as this story unfolds. To start, just "star" this story in ABC News" phone app. Download ABC News for iPhone here or ABC News for Android here.
Freddie Gray is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 27, 2015 (AFP Photo/Brendan Smialowski)
because white men cant
police their imagination
black men are dying
(fromCitizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine)
By now,the details of Freddie Grays lonelyridein the back of apolice van have been burnished onto our collective memories.Freddie Gray was handcuffed, shackled,and left on his stomach in the back of the van. Nothing belted him to a seat or bed. When the driver stopped the van and took corners, Grays body was tossed around. Despite Grays moans for help, none came. When he was transported to the hospital non-responsive and not breathing he was resuscitated, but died a week later. The autopsy revealed that Grays spine had been transected, meaning it had been severed.
Those of us who were mesmerized by the horrors of Baltimore revealed in the HBO series,The Wire, wondered if it were possible that this television city might exist in real life. Certainly theprotests of prominent Baltimoreanswere loud in their condemnation of David Simon (the showrunner) and his vision of the town where he had been a crime reporter for the Baltimore Sun. They insisted that Baltimore was a city of museums, of a lovely waterfront walk, and a view of American history.
Turns out, that like most things in 2016 America, Baltimore is a fragmented city where its poor, mostly black citizens, are treated like rabid dogs by a police department full of bullies and miscreants. InSeptember, 2014, the Baltimore Sun published theresults of its investigation of police brutality. Undue Force detailed how the city of Baltimore had paid out $5.7 million between 2011 and 2014 in settlements awarded to victims of police brutality. The settlements would have totaled much, much more but a tort reform had limited damages to a maximum of $200,000 per complaint. Still, that money would cover the cost of a state-of-the-art rec center or renovations at more than 30 playgrounds. And that doesnt count the $5.8 million spent by the city on legal fees to defend these claims brought against police, according to the Sun.
And in case the assumption is that most of the victims of police brutality would be young black men around Freddie Grays age, the details of the Suns investigation revealed a sickening panoply of victims whose major crime had been catching the eye of a police officer who treated all the residents of certain neighborhoods as suspicious.
Over the past four years, more than 100 people have won court judgments or settlements related to allegations of brutality and civil rights violations. Victims include a 15-year-old boy riding a dirt bike, a 26-year-old pregnant accountant who had witnessed a beating, a 50-year-old woman selling raffle tickets, a 65-year-old church deacon rolling a cigarette and an 87-year-old grandmother aiding her wounded grandson.
In the case of the 87-year old, police threw her to the ground and broke her shoulder. She had called the police to report that her grandson had been shot. When police arrived, they told the boy that they wouldnt take him to the hospital until he told them who in his house had shot him. When the grandmother insisted that the boy had run into the house shot, and that his assailants were outside, she was thrown against a wall and fell to the ground.
b***h, you aint no better than any of the other old black b*****s I have locked up, the 87-year-old victim was told as she was laying on the ground. The officer taunted her while he stood over her, then put his knees in her back as he pulled her arms behind her back to slap cuffs on her.
But dying in custody is not a series of incidents for which only Baltimore has become infamous. The notoriety of having police forces who cannot be trusted to arrest a suspect and transport a person to a processing center should be shared across the country. While it is difficult to find these numbers in an American paper, the Guardian (UK) has been keeping track of the number of people killed by the police at a project called The Counted. Since January 1, 2015,57 people have died in police custody. The most recent of these deathswas in late May, when a 64-year-old man was Tasered twice and pepper sprayed while being subdued by police in Tulsa.
Of the 57 who have died, only one has been a woman. Of the 56 men, 23 have been black, 9 Hispanic, 20 white, and 2 Native Americans. (The numbers of Native Americans who have died at the hands of the police are all out of proportion to their share of the American population.)
While it is not possible to tell the stories of each of the 57, one of whom is Freddie Gray, here are some of the stories gathered from newspaper accounts of each of these deaths.
Michael Marshall. Age 50. November 11, 2015. Denver, Colorado
Marshall, a homeless African American, was arrested on November 5, 2015 for trespassing and disturbing the peace. Marshall was known to have mental health issues, and thecommunity leaders who protestedMarshalls death implicated Denver police racism as an issue. Marshall died after asphyxiating on his own vomit inside a mask that had been placed on his head to prevent him spitting on officers. His death is still under investigation.
Cecil Lacy, Jr. Age 50. September 28, 2015. Marysville, Washington
Two Tulalip reservation police officers and a Snohomish County sheriffs deputy responded to reports that Lacy was walking on a road inside the Tulalip Indian reservation. Lacy was Native American. While attempting to take Lacy into protective custodyto get him off the road, officers report that Lacy began fighting with them as they were trying to get him into a police car.During the scuffle, the man became unresponsive,the Seattle Times reported. The incident remains under investigation.
Troy Goode. Age 30. July 18, 2015. Goodhaven, Mississippi
Goode, a white man who was on his way to a rock concert with his wife, was approached by police for acting rowdy. His wife had taken Goode to a parking lot to get him to chill out after Goode had dropped a hit of acid, but police responded because of a report from a caller. Policehog-tied Goode in the parking lot forover an hour and left him lying on his stomach. The pressure of the position caused his heart to go into tachycardia and he died. Police allege that the acid killed Goode; Goodes family argue that the autopsy proves that it was the stress position that killed him. The case is still under investigation.
Jonathan Paul. Age 42. March 12, 2015. Arlington, Texas
Jonathan Paul was a black man who was arrested when police responded to reports that a man was throwing things out of a window. He had prior warrants, so he was taken into custody. Three days later, he died in his cell. An autopsy revealed that he had been restrained and pepper sprayed. A grand jury has handed down an indictment of criminally negligent homicide against two jailers, one of whom had subsequently retired after Pauls death.
Frank Smart. Age 39. January 5, 2015. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
A black male with a known history of seizures, Smart died in a jail cell after being restrained during a medical emergency. The autopsy showed that the restraints had exacerbated Smarts condition, and his mother wrote an article for the Guardian in which she recounted Smarts medical history, and that his need for medication had been ignored by the staff of the private prison where he was being held. The death was ruled an accident due to natural causes. No charges were brought.
Matthew Ajibade. Age 22. January 1, 2015. Savannah, Georgia.
Video tape of the 22-year old African Americanshows Ajibade being Tasered in the groin while in a restraint chair. He had been arrested during a bi-polar episode after he broke his girlfriends nose. After being shocked and having a spit mask put on his head, Ajibade was found dead in his cell a few hours later. Ninedeputies were fired over his deathand two of them were indicted for manslaughter.The two deputies were acquitted of manslaughterbut were convicted of lesser charges.
Randy Nelson. Age 49. February 3, 2016. Athens, Alabama.
Nelson diedin a hospital where the African American manhad been brought for evaluation of mental health issues. Nelson resisted being evaluated by medics. The police officer called to assist them Tasered Nelson. Nelson was Tasered multiple times, and images from the incident show him bleeding from the wounds in his back from the Taser probes. Nelson died in his mothers company, and the transcript of the event shows that the officer kept telling Nelsons mother that her son had to be shocked. Nelson died at the scene. It is still under investigation.
Darius Robinson. Age 41. April 4, 2016. Andarko, Oklahoma.
Robinson was arrested for failure to pay child support. When jailers entered the black mans cell after he threw things around,he was restrainedafter trying to escape. Robinson stopped breathing while being restrained. The case is still under investigation.
These seven victims reflect the spectrum of recent cases of those who died in police custody. One of the common features in reading through the reports, which are all availableat the data bank, The Counted,is that restraint positions and the use of Tasers is often implicated in prisoners deaths. In combination with the horror report issued by the Baltimore Sun, which demonstrates the number of people that Baltimore police have been held liable for brutalizing and the fact that many of the Baltimoreans were witnesses to crimes who were subsequently arrested by officers it is more than likely that sometime in the past 18 months, an innocent person has died being arrested for a crime he did not commit. Even in some of the cases discussed above, it is apparent that being poor, alone, or mentally ill gives police license to treat ones very presence as a provocation that requires the police to intervene. For those who resisted, the Taser and stress positions made protesting ones innocence a capital offense.
Police Officer Cleared In Freddie Gray Case Video Protesters React to Freddie Gray Verdict
Protesters gathered outside court in Baltimore on Monday to follow the verdict in the Freddie Gray trial.
By CBS, VIA REUTERS on Publish Date May 23, 2016. Photo by Patrick Semansky/Associated Press. Watch in Times Video
BALTIMORE A police officer was acquitted of all charges on Monday in the arrest of Freddie Gray, a black man who sustained a fatal spinal cord injury while in police custody. The verdict is likely to renew debate over whether anyone will be held responsible for Mr. Grays death.
The officer, Edward M. Nero, sat with a straight back and stared forward as Circuit Judge Barry G. Williams, who ruled on the case after the officer opted to forgo a jury trial, read his verdict on the charges of second-degree assault, misconduct and of reckless endangerment.
The verdict on each count, said Judge Williams, concluding his reading after about 30 minutes, is not guilty.
The states theory has been one of recklessness and negligence, Judge Williams said. There has been no evidence that the defendant intended for a crime to occur.
Officer Nero, who was implicated not in the death of Mr. Gray but in the opening moments of his arrest, then stood and hugged his lawyers as supporters pressed forward to congratulate him. He wiped away tears and, at one point, embraced Officer Garrett E. Miller, who is also charged in connection with the arrest of Mr. Gray
Perhaps a dozen protesters gathered outside the courthouse in the moments after the verdict was rendered, and some chanted the familiar protest cry, No justice, no peace.
To see that officer walk away, and still no accountability, that hurts me the most, said the Rev. Westley West, a frequent presence at demonstrations related to Mr. Grays death. That could be me.
The verdict, the first in any of the six officers implicated, comes a little more than a year after Mr. Gray died in April 2015. The first trial, against Officer William G. Porter, ended with a mistrial in December. Mr. Grays death embroiled parts of Baltimore, which has a history of tension between the police and its residents, in violent protest and became an inexorable piece of the nations wrenching discussion of the use of force by officers, particularly against minorities.
Timeline
Five police officers await trial in the case of Freddie Gray, who died last year after being injured while in police custody, after one officer was acquitted.
Many demonstrators had felt vindicated last year when the citys top prosecutor, Marilyn J. Mosby, announced charges against the officers, but legal specialists have questioned whether they were too ambitious.
Peter Moskos, a former Baltimore police officer who teaches at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said that Ms. Mosby had overplayed her hand.
Charges were filed too quickly, he said, adding that prosecutors should have spent more time bolstering cases against one or two officers who may have been most culpable. Someone dying doesnt always make it a crime, Mr. Moskos said. The prosecutors are trying to find social justice, but these are trials of individual cops.
A lawyer for Officer Nero, Marc Zayon, called for the charges against the remaining officers to be dropped.
The States Attorney for Baltimore City rushed to charge him, as well as the other five officers, completely disregarding the facts of the case and the applicable law, Mr. Zayon said in a statement.
Like Officer Nero, Mr. Zayon added, these officers have done nothing wrong.
Concerned about reaction within the community, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, in a statement, asked residents to be patient as the legal process played out, but added that the city was prepared to respond to any disturbances.
The Police Department said in a statement Monday that the internal review of Officer Nero, 30, who remains on administrative leave, will not be resolved until after the trials of the other officers involved.
The trial had shifted the focus from the injuries that killed Mr. Gray, which was a crucial point in Officer Porters trial, to the opening moments of his arrest. It was never going to be the highest-profile prosecution in the case related to Mr. Gray; that will be Caesar R. Goodson Jr., the driver of the police wagon in which Mr. Gray is believed to have broken his neck. But, in a city that is already the subject of a federal civil rights investigation into whether officers use excessive force and discriminatory policing, Officer Neros trial renewed questions about when an officer can stop a private citizen and what an officer is allowed to do.
I would say the trial has engendered a wider conversation about how police operate in poor communities, particularly poor communities of color that raises critical issues about society, said David Jaros, a law professor at the University of Baltimore.
Photo Edward M. Nero, a Baltimore police officer who was involved in Freddie Grays arrest, arriving at the courthouse on Monday. Credit Patrick Semansky/Associated Press
Judge Williams focused his rulings on Officer Neros specific actions, Mr. Jaros said, rather commenting on the broad legal theory underpinning the prosecutions case.
Paul Butler, a former federal prosecutor and a law professor at Georgetown University Law Center, called the charges an unusual and possibly unprecedented attempt by a prosecutor to convict a police officer for making an arrest that lacked probable cause.
The attempt may have been fueled in part by public anger over the death of Mr. Gray. Mr. Butler said said such calculations were a normal part of prosecutors decision making before handing down indictments. That tactic was essentially negated, he said, when Officer Neros defense team opted for a bench trial.
Despite the acquittal, Tessa Hill-Aston, president of the Baltimore city branch of the NAACP, said she remained hopeful that someone would eventually be held responsible for Mr. Grays death.
Im thankful were even in court, that charges were brought, she said. But now weve got to come out with something.
The low man in the totem pole was found not guilty, but now were working our way up, Ms. Hill-Aston said.
A lawyer for the Gray family, William H. Murphy Jr., called Judge Williamss ruling an excellent opinion.
He did his job under very trying circumstances, Mr. Murphy said.
Mr. Murphy added: The family doesnt want to see a conviction or an acquittal. They want to see justice. So theyre not going to be frustrated regardless of how this turns out, and neither should the community.
Baltimore reached a $6.4 million settlement with Mr. Grays family in September.
