Prosecutors drop all remaining charges in Freddie Gray case
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Officer Garrett Miller, right, one of the six members of the Baltimore Police Department charged in connection to the death of Freddie Gray, arrived with attorney Michael Davey at a courthouse for his pre-trial proceedings in Baltimore today.
BALTIMORE » Prosecutors dropped the remaining charges today 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 black 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 who the state considered the most responsible and another officer who was the highest-ranking of the group.
A fourth officer had his case heard by a jury, but the panel deadlocked and the judge declared a mistrial.
Instead of a pretrial hearing today for Officer Garrett Miller, who had faced assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment charges, Chief Deputy State’s Attorney Michael Schatzow instead told the judge that prosecutors were dropping the charges against Miller and the rest of the officers.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys quickly left the courtroom without commenting, but both sides planned news conferences later today.
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After Gray’s death, the U.S. Justice Department launched a patterns and practice investigation into allegations of widespread abuse and unlawful arrests by the Baltimore Police Department. The results have not been released.
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.
State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby wasted little time in announcing charges after Gray’s death — one day after receiving the police department’s investigation while a tense city was still under curfew — and she did not shy from the spotlight. She posed for magazine photos, sat for TV interviews and even appeared onstage at a Prince concert in Gray’s honor.
The city’s troubles forced Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to fire her reform-minded police chief and abandon her re-election campaign. Homicides skyrocketed at a rate unseen in decades.
Many feared that the acquittals could prompt more protests and unrest, but that never panned out.
Three of the officers who were charged were black and three were white.
No reputations hinged on the case’s outcome as much as Mosby and her husband, Nick Mosby, a councilman for Baltimore’s west side who announced his mayoral candidacy shortly after Rawlings-Blake pulled out.
Marilyn Mosby spoke so forcefully when she announced the charges against the officers in May that defense attorneys argued she should recuse herself for bias.
15 responses to “Prosecutors drop all remaining charges in Freddie Gray case”
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DemoRats are taking over the Country, Vote Majority. Vote Trump like your life depended on it. .
“DemoRats”? Well, at least you’re on the same intellectual plane as Mr. Trump.
“I love the poorly educated!” Go Trump!
Seems like a cross between the cases involving the Duke lacrosse team and Ferguson. At intersection of race & police, combined with a overly ambitious prosecutor with political aspirations. This led to a rush to judgement and over-charging to quiet the riots and play to the court of public opinion.
The term “illegal arrest” sounds rather oxym0r0nic!
It’s not. There are illegal arrests made every day in this country.
Officers see not clear yet. Now Feds will do Civil rights investigation on officers.
Yep! Loretta Lynch is out lynch someone not connected with the insiders?? ha! ha!
This is why Congress developed the Civil Rights laws. Are you suggesting ignoring those laws?
Now lets all go out and kill a few cops to take revenge on the justice system. Remember, innocent before proven guilty.
Another Police Trouble and the system fails again… A Man is dead in custody of the police and there is nobody responsible or held accountable…
Justice sure is blind…
No you are blind to the facts of the case with the presumption of guilt. Why is that? When the Prosecutor’s Office drops the case, it is a blatant admission on their part that they don’t have the evidence to warrant further prosecution based on the acquittals already rendered. They now have their tails between their legs with egg on their face. I suggest you read the article again without bias on your part.
Some might argue that Freddie was responsible.
Then “some” (whoever that is in your mind) would be wrong, obviously.
This was a man in police custody who died from a severed spine while in that custody. Despite the fact you apparently don’t understand many things, you should understand that while in custody, the police have a duty to not kill people.
How do you prove intent.
Windward_Side – That can be accomplished by fact or law. I’m not licensed to practice in Maryland, but many states have law for this involving a standard of care so low that it shocks the conscience. Having a man die from a severed spine in police custody would be one of the cases where that standard should be at least investigated. The question is “Is it reasonable to be in police custody and die from a severed spine?”
The police have a duty to not casually kill people.