Author Topic: Freddie Gray's death ruled a homicide  (Read 16923 times)

The Ugly

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 21286
Re: Freddie Gray's death ruled a homicide
« Reply #150 on: May 23, 2016, 10:40:11 PM »
I'm mocking the idiotic defense by the officer "I didn't know I was supposed to use seatbelts, I must not have read the memo"

They arrested him for zero reason, they did that brake test thing, they denied him medical attention - they deserve prison.

Why are you mocking the victim, badgelicker?

Agnostic007

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 14890
Re: Freddie Gray's death ruled a homicide
« Reply #151 on: May 24, 2016, 09:03:28 AM »
So we can agree your comment that they "broke the law" and should be in jail was emotional and not based on facts. You do used to do really well in the political arena.. Don't know why you leave that to come here to basically piss all over yourself... but to each his own 

fixed for 240

Dos Equis

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 63566
  • I am. The most interesting man in the world. (Not)
Re: Freddie Gray's death ruled a homicide
« Reply #152 on: May 24, 2016, 11:26:55 AM »
I thought it was extremely amusing that Nero's defense basically boiled down to: "Officer Nero, a poor cop on a tough beat, shouldn't be held responsible for failing to secure Mr. Gray per department policy because he didn't read the e-mail that stated that prisoners being transported should be secured with seatbelts!" I was sure the jury would see through such a thin ploy. More evidence that impaneled jurors aren't the brightest bulbs.

All that said, the prosecution did a horrible job.

Freddie Gray Arresting Officer Edward Nero Found Not Guilty On All Charges
May 23, 2016

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Freddie Gray arresting officer Edward Nero was found not guilty on all counts by Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams Monday morning.

Nero faced second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and two counts of misconduct in office.

Nero waived his right to a trial by jury. His bench trial began May 12 and final arguments were heard Thursday.

. . .


Agnostic007

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 14890
Re: Freddie Gray's death ruled a homicide
« Reply #153 on: May 24, 2016, 11:31:36 AM »

Dos Equis

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 63566
  • I am. The most interesting man in the world. (Not)
Re: Freddie Gray's death ruled a homicide
« Reply #154 on: May 24, 2016, 11:33:48 AM »
details.. details..

Pesky little things.

Agnostic007

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 14890
Re: Freddie Gray's death ruled a homicide
« Reply #155 on: May 24, 2016, 11:35:07 AM »
always getting in the way of our preconceived notions...

Dos Equis

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 63566
  • I am. The most interesting man in the world. (Not)
Re: Freddie Gray's death ruled a homicide
« Reply #156 on: May 24, 2016, 11:35:54 AM »
always getting in the way of our preconceived notions...

Truth.

avxo

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 5605
  • Iron Pumping University Math Professor
Re: Freddie Gray's death ruled a homicide
« Reply #157 on: May 24, 2016, 02:56:28 PM »
I missed the Judge part. New culpa.

It doesn't invalidate the broader point: the defense basically was: "the Officer didn't do his job according to regulations and claims to not have even known the regulations or the basic fact that people being transported in vehicles should be buckled in according to state law. A man died, but let's not hold this incompetent officer responsible. I'm sure he'll know things next time he has to transport prisoners."

Let's recap: the officer's defense was "I don't know how to do my job so you can't blame me for this!"

What wil it take before a cop is found guilty?



Dos Equis

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 63566
  • I am. The most interesting man in the world. (Not)
Re: Freddie Gray's death ruled a homicide
« Reply #158 on: May 24, 2016, 03:14:56 PM »
I missed the Judge part. New culpa.

It doesn't invalidate the broader point: the defense basically was: "the Officer didn't do his job according to regulations and claims to not have even known the regulations or the basic fact that people being transported in vehicles should be buckled in according to state law. A man died, but let's not hold this incompetent officer responsible. I'm sure he'll know things next time he has to transport prisoners."

Let's recap: the officer's defense was "I don't know how to do my job so you can't blame me for this!"

What wil it take before a cop is found guilty?




Was that really his defense?  Don't you need to look at what is required to prove second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, and misconduct in office and then see if the evidence supported those charges? 

Dos Equis

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 63566
  • I am. The most interesting man in the world. (Not)
Re: Freddie Gray's death ruled a homicide
« Reply #159 on: May 24, 2016, 08:29:18 PM »
Dershowitz: 'BLM Is Endangering the Fairness of Our Legal System'
May 24, 2016 // 10:30pm
As seen on The Kelly File

O'Reilly: In Skipping Fox Debate, Hillary Misses Opportunity to 'Stick Up for Capitalism'

Alan Dershowitz says that the prosecutor in the Freddie Gray case acted irresponsibly and was politically motivated.

Dershowitz said that Baltimore's state's attorney Marilyn Mosby overcharged the six police officers linked to the case.

"These are officers who may have made a mistake, but they are not guilty of criminal conduct," Dershowitz said.

He said he understands Mosby tried to "stop the mob" but said that the criminal justice system must not be used to solve racial problems.

"She's a symptom of a larger problem. Black Lives Matter is endangering the fairness of our legal system because they're rooting for outcomes based on race."

He said the problem started in 1995 with the O.J. Simpson case (in which he served as part of Simpson's defense team), when many African-Americans wanted an acquittal.

Watch the full interview above.

http://insider.foxnews.com/2016/05/24/dershowitz-black-lives-matter-endangering-fairness-our-legal-system

avxo

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 5605
  • Iron Pumping University Math Professor
Re: Freddie Gray's death ruled a homicide
« Reply #160 on: May 25, 2016, 02:47:14 AM »
Was that really his defense?  Don't you need to look at what is required to prove second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, and misconduct in office and then see if the evidence supported those charges? 

Yes - that was it. His defense boiled down to "Your honor, there was no mens rhea here - Officer Nero was simply doing his job - transporting Mr. Gray. Unfortunately, he didn't know that it's department policy and common sense to use seatbelts to secure those being transported but that's the department's fault. And, although the use of seatbelts is common sense, unfortunately Officer Nero is a bit of a dummy." And that's what the Judge's ruling basically hinged on: he ruled that prosecutors failure to prove that Nero had received proper training and was aware of the policies on the transportation of detainees in police wagons.

Now, I agree that the burden of proof here is on the prosecution - and they botched this case horribly. But the defense arguments - and to a certain extent the Judge's reasoning - stretch the credibility of our Justice system. Here you have someone who gets gravely injured while in custody and in the back of a transport vehicle, and dies as a result of those injuries, and the officer in whose custody  all this happened says "well, nobody told me how to do my job, so if someone died while I was doing my job wrong ain't my fault" and then walks away.

A badge has, for all intents and purposes, become a proxy for a "not guilty" verdict in the extremely unlikely event that a cop is actually indicted.

Dos Equis

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 63566
  • I am. The most interesting man in the world. (Not)
Re: Freddie Gray's death ruled a homicide
« Reply #161 on: May 25, 2016, 09:23:18 AM »
Yes - that was it. His defense boiled down to "Your honor, there was no mens rhea here - Officer Nero was simply doing his job - transporting Mr. Gray. Unfortunately, he didn't know that it's department policy and common sense to use seatbelts to secure those being transported but that's the department's fault. And, although the use of seatbelts is common sense, unfortunately Officer Nero is a bit of a dummy." And that's what the Judge's ruling basically hinged on: he ruled that prosecutors failure to prove that Nero had received proper training and was aware of the policies on the transportation of detainees in police wagons.

Now, I agree that the burden of proof here is on the prosecution - and they botched this case horribly. But the defense arguments - and to a certain extent the Judge's reasoning - stretch the credibility of our Justice system. Here you have someone who gets gravely injured while in custody and in the back of a transport vehicle, and dies as a result of those injuries, and the officer in whose custody  all this happened says "well, nobody told me how to do my job, so if someone died while I was doing my job wrong ain't my fault" and then walks away.

A badge has, for all intents and purposes, become a proxy for a "not guilty" verdict in the extremely unlikely event that a cop is actually indicted.

Doesn't sound like you actually followed the case?  Did you? 

Here are a couple links that explain what the charges were and why the officer was acquitted, including a transcript of the judge's ruling. 

Why Officer Edward Nero was acquitted in the Freddie Gray case
By Emanuella Grinberg, CNN
May 24, 2016
http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/23/us/edward-nero-verdict-judge-ruling/

Full transcript: Judge Williams' ruling acquitting Officer Nero in Freddie Gray case
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/freddie-gray/bs-md-ci-williams-nero-transcript-20160523-story.html

avxo

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 5605
  • Iron Pumping University Math Professor
Re: Freddie Gray's death ruled a homicide
« Reply #162 on: May 25, 2016, 10:01:36 PM »
Doesn't sound like you actually followed the case?  Did you? 

Here are a couple links that explain what the charges were and why the officer was acquitted, including a transcript of the judge's ruling. 

Why Officer Edward Nero was acquitted in the Freddie Gray case
By Emanuella Grinberg, CNN
May 24, 2016
http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/23/us/edward-nero-verdict-judge-ruling/

Full transcript: Judge Williams' ruling acquitting Officer Nero in Freddie Gray case
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/freddie-gray/bs-md-ci-williams-nero-transcript-20160523-story.html

If by "followed the case" you mean a blow-by-blow, then no. I did however carefully read the verdict - although, admittedly, not Emanuella Grinberg's CNN piece.

Nero was facing multiple charges. Some were more of a stretch than others and I'm unconcerned with them. For me the most interesting charge was whether Nero was responsible for failing to secure Gray with seat dogs per department policy (and common sense). That is the specific issue and charge that I commented on.

I paraphrased Nero's actual defense on this charge: he didn't know it was department policy that prisoners had to be secure and that he didn't know that use of use of seat belts is a common sense precaution one takes when traveling in a vehicle. I left out the part that he claimed that some other officer should have strapped Gray in, but how does that matter? Was he not the person in whose custody Gray was during the drive and did he not owe it Gray (and himself) to deliver Nero safely to the jail? Are the police not responsible for those in their custody?

All that aside, let us look at what the Judge actually wrote - a quote which appears on the CNN piece you quote as well: "The Court is not satisfied that the State has shown that the defendant had a duty to seat belt Mr. Gray and, if there was a duty, that the defendant was aware of the duty."

On the charge in question, the Court basically adopted the position of Nero's counsel (which I paraphrased accurately). The Court, as a trier of both fact and law in this case, is perfectly within its rights to find this. It doesn't mean that the decision is right or that I have to agree with it.

I'm a dispassionate observer - the outcome of this case doesn't really affect me in any direct way and there are only de minimis indirect effects. My position is that:

a) Nero should be aware of the policies of his department that govern his conduct on the job and determine what he is and isn't responsible for;
b) Nero owes a duty to those in his custody;
c) Nero lacked the common sense to secure a prisoner in his custody in the vehicle that Nero would be driving, or to ensure that another officer had done so.

Now, you may thing that I'm wrong. You're entitled to your opinion as much as I am entitled to me. Ultimately neither of our opinions matters in this case.

Soul Crusher

  • Competitors
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39256
  • Doesnt lie about lifting.
Re: Freddie Gray's death ruled a homicide
« Reply #163 on: May 26, 2016, 04:30:15 AM »
The prosecutor should be fired, disbarred, and stripped of her pension and benefits.  Mobley or whatever the F her name is has to be one of the most ignorant, incompetent, and grossly inept DA's I have ever seen in my lifetime. 

avxo

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 5605
  • Iron Pumping University Math Professor
Re: Freddie Gray's death ruled a homicide
« Reply #164 on: May 26, 2016, 04:08:03 PM »
The prosecutor should be fired, disbarred, and stripped of her pension and benefits.  Mobley or whatever the F her name is has to be one of the most ignorant, incompetent, and grossly inept DA's I have ever seen in my lifetime. 

The prosecution mishandled this case horribly, no argument there.

Las Vegas

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 7423
  • ! Repent or Perish !
Re: Freddie Gray's death ruled a homicide
« Reply #165 on: May 27, 2016, 06:36:57 PM »
Good points, avxo.

Pray_4_War

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 15801
  • Thot Expert
Re: Freddie Gray's death ruled a homicide
« Reply #166 on: May 27, 2016, 07:30:00 PM »
"Black Lives Matter is endangering the fairness of our legal system because they're rooting for outcomes based on race." -Alan Dershowitz

This is a quote that every american citizen should read and consider.

The Ugly

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 21286
Re: Freddie Gray's death ruled a homicide
« Reply #167 on: May 28, 2016, 07:51:37 PM »
"Black Lives Matter is endangering the fairness of our legal system because they're rooting for outcomes based on race." -Alan Dershowitz

Precisely what social justice means. Free pass.

Dos Equis

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 63566
  • I am. The most interesting man in the world. (Not)
Re: Freddie Gray's death ruled a homicide
« Reply #168 on: May 31, 2016, 10:27:07 AM »
If by "followed the case" you mean a blow-by-blow, then no. I did however carefully read the verdict - although, admittedly, not Emanuella Grinberg's CNN piece.

Nero was facing multiple charges. Some were more of a stretch than others and I'm unconcerned with them. For me the most interesting charge was whether Nero was responsible for failing to secure Gray with seat dogs per department policy (and common sense). That is the specific issue and charge that I commented on.

I paraphrased Nero's actual defense on this charge: he didn't know it was department policy that prisoners had to be secure and that he didn't know that use of use of seat belts is a common sense precaution one takes when traveling in a vehicle. I left out the part that he claimed that some other officer should have strapped Gray in, but how does that matter? Was he not the person in whose custody Gray was during the drive and did he not owe it Gray (and himself) to deliver Nero safely to the jail? Are the police not responsible for those in their custody?

All that aside, let us look at what the Judge actually wrote - a quote which appears on the CNN piece you quote as well: "The Court is not satisfied that the State has shown that the defendant had a duty to seat belt Mr. Gray and, if there was a duty, that the defendant was aware of the duty."

On the charge in question, the Court basically adopted the position of Nero's counsel (which I paraphrased accurately). The Court, as a trier of both fact and law in this case, is perfectly within its rights to find this. It doesn't mean that the decision is right or that I have to agree with it.

I'm a dispassionate observer - the outcome of this case doesn't really affect me in any direct way and there are only de minimis indirect effects. My position is that:

a) Nero should be aware of the policies of his department that govern his conduct on the job and determine what he is and isn't responsible for;
b) Nero owes a duty to those in his custody;
c) Nero lacked the common sense to secure a prisoner in his custody in the vehicle that Nero would be driving, or to ensure that another officer had done so.

Now, you may thing that I'm wrong. You're entitled to your opinion as much as I am entitled to me. Ultimately neither of our opinions matters in this case.

You're obviously entitled to your opinion as is everyone else. 

I read the judge's opinion and it makes sense to me.

Also, not every mistake is a crime.  And from a common sense standpoint, I think Freddie Gray is responsible for his own death.  Sounds to me like the combination of his drug use, criminality, and throwing himself against the van are the reasons he's dead.

Dos Equis

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 63566
  • I am. The most interesting man in the world. (Not)
Re: Freddie Gray's death ruled a homicide
« Reply #169 on: June 14, 2016, 01:00:15 PM »
I'm not seeing evidence of murder here. 

Freddie Gray case:  Trial of Baltimore officer Caesar Goodson Jr. continues
By Kevin Rector and Justin Fenton - Contact Reporters
The Baltimore Sun
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/freddie-gray/bs-md-ci-goodson-trial-day4-20160614-story.html

Dos Equis

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 63566
  • I am. The most interesting man in the world. (Not)
Re: Freddie Gray's death ruled a homicide
« Reply #170 on: June 23, 2016, 10:12:37 AM »
Freddie Gray Van Driver Found Not Guilty On All Charges
June 23, 2016

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Officer Caesar Goodson, who was driving the police van inside which Freddie Gray incurred his fatal neck injury last April, has been found not guilty of second-degree “depraved heart” murder by Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams.

Goodson, 46, has also been found not guilty on charges of manslaughter, assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment.

Goodson waived his right to a trial by jury. His bench trial began June 9 and final arguments were heard Monday.

Gray, a 25-year-old black man from the Sandtown area of Baltimore, died of his injury on April 19, 2015. A week earlier, Baltimore City police officers put him in the back of Goodson’s van, handcuffed and shackled, but unrestrained by a seat belt.

His death set off more than a week of protests followed by looting, rioting and arson that prompted a citywide curfew.

After the verdict was read, protesters began chanting “Murderer!” over and over again outside the courthouse.

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE COURTROOM?

Inside court, with high security present, “People were quiet … There were a few people shaking their heads, some people who were emotionless,” WJZ’s Mike Hellgren reports.

“The judge said that the evidence simply was not there, that there was no way that Officer Goodson would have known that Freddie Gray was injured until that final stop at the Western district, and that’s when a medic was called. He chided the state for using the term ‘rough ride,’ he said that it’s a highly-charged term, they failed to define it.”

Hellgren says “the prosecution’s theory of the case did not fit the facts that they had presented to the judge and he was clearly troubled by this.”

“I find it hard to believe that he would convict any of the officers in any of the four remaining trials to come,” Hellgren says.

WJZ’s Ron Matz reports that Officer Edward Nero, who was found not guilty of all his charges by the same judge last month, was in the front row and was one of the first people to embrace Officer Goodson after the verdict was read, along with Goodson’s family and other officers.

Matz said Judge Williams spent a lot of time focusing on the state’s “rough ride” theory. He called that the centerpiece of the state’s case and also called that an inflammatory term that’s not to be taken lightly.

COMMUNITY REACTION

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake sent a statement out shortly after the verdict came down.

She urged city residents to “continue to respect the judicial process and the ruling of the court.”

Baltimore’s Democratic Mayoral candidate Catherine Pugh’s office made a similar plea.

“Protests are a vital part of democracy, but to destroy the homes and businesses many people have worked very hard to build is unacceptable,” the statement reads. “Although people may disagree with the verdict, it is important to respect each other and to respect our neighborhoods and our communities.”

Tessa Hill-Aston, president of the Baltimore City Branch of the NAACP, says she’s unhappy with the verdict.

“Everybody in Baltimore that lives in certain neighborhoods know exactly the definition of what a rough ride is…. A lot of them don’t die. But in this case, Freddie Gray is dead, and no one will pay for it,” she says.

NAACP president Cornell Brooks also weighed in.

“There is a long tradition, an ugly tradition of rough rides,” he said. “There’s a long tradition of a very troubled police department, and so the fact of the matter is this is a tragedy not found to be a crime by a judge, but it is a wake-up call to the city of Baltimore: With the new mayor, that police department has got to be upended.”

One local resident told WJZ’s Marcus Washington that he was really disappointed but not surprised, because the charges “required too much more evidence than they had.”

However, “something good came out of this,” he said. “And that’s the fact that it’s not going to be business as usual as far as the police department is concerned.”

Another resident told WJZ the charges were “a ploy” and that the system is rigged.

“Have you ever seen one of these officers on camera look nervous? No, because they already know what the outcome is.”

LEGAL EXPERTS WEIGH IN

“Depraved heart murder is an unusual thing, it’s a kind of murder that a lot of people haven’t heard of,” attorney Adam Ruther of Rosenberg Martin Greenberg, LLP tells WJZ.

“To sum it up, it’s murder without the intent to kill. Normally in order to prove second-degree murder you have to prove the intentional killing of one human being by another. If you don’t have the intent but you have acts that raised to the level of extreme disregard for human life, things like firing a gun into a crowd of people, even though you didn’t intend to kill one specific person, doing that is so reckless it’s so irresponsible that the law says we’re going to hold you accountable as if if you had the specific intent to kill an individual. And so that’s what the state was trying to use in this case. And it’s an unusual application of the law, so it’s not entirely surprising that Judge Williams didn’t agree with the state’s theory of the case of extreme disregard for human life under these circumstances.”

RELATED: Timeline: Freddie Gray’s Arrest to His Fatal Spinal Cord Injury

“This was a tragic event and I think the uncertainty about what really happened is what has given rise to these officers being charged,” Warren Brown, a well-known Baltimore defense attorney, tells WJZ. “These cases are being vetted in the court by a very experienced judge … and so everybody is getting their day in court for there to be some scrutiny. The state has [tremendous] resources applied to this, they’ve had time to delve into this and discover what may or may not have happened, and as the judge indicated in his opinion, they came up woefully short in presenting the evidence. What they offered is that this is a tragedy and therefore someone should be held responsible, but that’s just not the way it works.”

“I don’t think [the verdict] was a huge shock,” University of Baltimore Law Professor David Jaros said. “At the end of the day it’s important for people to recognize this was not a question in the legal sense about whether or not Officer Goodson was unreasonable. The critical question ultimately came down to what was he aware of, did he know the danger that he was placing Mr. Gray in. It is no way an endorsement of Officer Goodson’s actions that he was acquitted today. It doesn’t mean an egregious thing wasn’t done. It doesn’t mean the policies weren’t broken, it doesn’t mean frankly that massive reforms don’t mean to be made. But it just means it was not a crime.”

“Across the country, officers have generally chosen judge trials and there has been criticism for that in concern that judges are sympathetic to the police. I don’t think anybody can say that’s what happened here. If you look at Judge Williams’ history and the way he handled himself in this case, I think frankly he followed the law and followed it closely and this was not an incident where sort of insiders managed the case and took it out of the community’s hand inappropriately,” Jaros added.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Goodson is one of six officers charged in relation to Gray’s death, and the third to be tried. Officer William Porter’s trial ended in a hung jury and mistrial in December, and Officer Edward Nero was found not guilty on all charges in May.

Porter will be retried in September.

Three other officers — Officer Garrett Miller, Lt. Brian Rice and Sgt. Alicia White — have not yet been tried.

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2016/06/23/officer-charged-with-murder-in-freddie-gray-case-learns-his-fate-today/

The Ugly

  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 21286
Re: Freddie Gray's death ruled a homicide
« Reply #171 on: June 23, 2016, 03:37:23 PM »
This Robin Givens-looking DA kunt needs to resign.

Dos Equis

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 63566
  • I am. The most interesting man in the world. (Not)
Re: Freddie Gray's death ruled a homicide
« Reply #172 on: June 23, 2016, 03:39:30 PM »
The mayor too. 

Dos Equis

  • Moderator
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 63566
  • I am. The most interesting man in the world. (Not)
Re: Freddie Gray's death ruled a homicide
« Reply #173 on: July 18, 2016, 09:55:51 AM »
Highest-ranking officer charged in Freddie Gray case acquitted on all counts
Published July 18, 2016 
FoxNews.com

A judge in Baltimore Monday acquitted the highest-ranking officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray, marking the fourth trial that prosecutors failed to win.

Lt. Brian Rice faced charges of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office. He opted for a bench trial by Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams.

The judge previously dismissed a second-degree assault charge, and prosecutors dropped a second misconduct charge against the 42-year-old officer, who is white.

Gray died a week after suffering a spinal injury in a police van last year, touching off protests and rioting.

Rice's failure to seatbelt Gray, Williams said, may have been an error in judgment and a violation of updated policy -- but the judge found prosecutors failed to prove it rose to a criminal level.

"The state failed to show that the defendant, even if he was aware of the risk, consciously disregarded that risk," the judge said.

Three earlier trials resulted in two acquittals and a mistrial.

Officers Caesar Goodson and Edward Nero -- both of whom were found not guilty in bench trials -- were also present at the courthouse.

Gray was arrested after he ran from police officers in a high-crime area of the city. He was handcuffed and later shackled in the back of the police van, but officers never buckled him in.

Prosecutors had said Rice was most responsible of the six officers charged for following police procedures to fasten a prisoner in a seat belt, citing his 18 years of experience on the force.

The officer's attorney said police could use discretion, if they believe their safety is at risk. Rice attorney Michael Belsky said officers had concerns because Gray was not cooperative and they weren't sure what onlookers would do if extra time was taken to fasten Gray in the van.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys gave different characterizations of the onlookers. Prosecutors described them as concerned observers, while Belsky said officers heard threatening comments during the arrest.

Three of the charged officers are black, and three are white. Race has not been cited as a direct factor in Gray's death, but his arrest and deadly injury added momentum to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Gray's family received a $6.4 million settlement from the city.

Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby vowed to bring justice to an aggrieved citizenry when she announced the charges last year. But she has yet to find success in court, and is being sued for defamation by five of the officers.

Fox News' Varuna Bhatia and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/07/18/highest-ranking-officer-charged-in-freddie-gray-case-acquitted-on-all-counts.html

Soul Crusher

  • Competitors
  • Getbig V
  • *****
  • Posts: 39256
  • Doesnt lie about lifting.
Re: Freddie Gray's death ruled a homicide
« Reply #174 on: July 18, 2016, 10:13:49 AM »
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/freddie-gray/bs-md-ci-rice-verdict-20160718-story.html


Place the dumbest among us in the highest positions of power like Mobley - and this is what happens.