Thread: Baltimore officer found not guilty on all charges in Freddie Gray case

Baltimore officer found not guilty on all charges in Freddie Gray case

Published May 23, 2016 FoxNews.com

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DEVELOPING: A judge in Baltimore Monday found a police officer not guilty on all charges against him in connection with the death of Freddie Gray in police custody, months after another officer's trial ended in a hung jury.
Officer Edward Nero faced second-degree assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment charges. Prosecutors said the 30-year-old unlawfully arrested Gray without probable cause and was negligent when he didn't buckle the prisoner into a seat belt.

In a lengthy analysis read from the bench, Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry Williams said Nero's partner, Officer Garrett Miller, detained and arrested Gray himself. Williams said Nero did not act "corruptly" with an intent to commit a crime.

He also said the state failed to prove that Nero was informed and aware of an updated transport policy regarding seat belts.

"Officer Nero is relieved that for him, this nightmare is nearing an end. Being falsely charged with a crime, and being prosecuted for reasons that have nothing to do with justice, is a horror that no person should ever have to endure," the Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police responded.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/05/23...gray-case.html

5/1/15

BREAKING NEWS: COPS CHARGED Freddie Gray death ruled a homicide

Baltimore officers charged in Freddie Gray case sue state | Fox News

Baltimore police lieutenant acquitted in Freddie Gray death


By Donna Owens
July 18, 2016

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Baltimore Police Lieutenant Brian Rice, the highest-ranking Baltimore police officer charged in the death of black detainee Freddie Gray, is shown here in this undated booking photo provided by the Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. Police Department. REUTERS/Baltimore Police Department/Handout


By Donna Owens

BALTIMORE (Reuters) - A Maryland judge on Monday acquitted Baltimore police Lieutenant Brian Rice of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office for the April 2015 death of black detainee Freddie Gray.

Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams handed down his verdict after a bench trial. Rice, 42, is the highest-ranking officer charged in Gray's death from a broken neck suffered in a police transport van.

Gray's death triggered protests and rioting in the mainly black city and stoked a national debate about how police treat minorities. The controversy flared anew this month with the deaths of African-American men at the hands of police in Minnesota and Louisiana.

Monday's verdict is the latest setback for prosecutors, who have failed to secure a conviction in the trials of four officers thus far.

Rice, who is white, ordered two officers on bicycle to chase Gray, 25, when he fled unprovoked in a high-crime area.

Prosecutors said Rice was negligent in shackling Gray's legs and not securing him in a seat belt, as required by department protocol.

But defense lawyers said Rice was allowed leeway on whether to get inside a van to secure a prisoner. The officer made a correct decision in a few seconds while Gray was being combative and a hostile crowd was looking on, they said.

Williams, who heard the case without a jury at Rice's request, said prosecutors failed to show the lieutenant was aware of a departmental policy requiring seat belts for prisoners during transport.

"The state did not prove the defendant was aware of the new policy," the judge said in court.

Only a handful of protesters were at the courthouse for the verdict's announcement.

Williams previously acquitted Officers Edward Nero and Caesar Goodson Jr., the van's driver. A third officer, William Porter, faces a retrial after a jury deadlocked.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/verdict-d...197.html?nhp=1