Judge orders separate trials for Gray officers

A judge on Wednesday ordered individual trials for six Baltimore police officers charged in the death of a black man from an injury in custody, a case that fed the U.S. debate on police treatment of minorities. Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams also rejected defense motions calling for charges to be dropped and State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby and her office to recuse themselves from the Freddie Gray case. The death of Gray, 25, in April from a severe spinal injury suffered in the back of a police van drew worldwide attention when it triggered protests and a day of rioting, arson and looting. Williams ordered separate trials for the defendants. He rejected a prosecution motion that Officer Caesar Goodson, the van driver; Officer Edward Nero, who had helped arrest Gray; and Sergeant Alicia White, who was an onduty supervisor, should be tried together and the other three separately. Major Crime Task Force Commander George Filenko told a news conference. Filenko called the suspects — described as two white men and a black man — “extremely dangerous.” An autopsy of Gliniewicz, 52, was conducted on Tuesday night, Filenko said, declining to offer details. Lake County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Christopher Covelli said the search for suspects has broadened and nearly 400 local police officers and federal agents, more than 45 canine units and at least six aircraft have been involved. Sheriff Susan Pamerleau said on Wednesday, citing a video she saw of the incident. Gilbert Flores, 41, was killed on Friday by two Bexar County deputies. A cell phone video of the incident, which was broadcast on a local TV station and different from the one mentioned by the sheriff, appeared to show the victim with his hands up in the air before being shot. “We believe that Mr. Flores had a knife in his hand and that video will help us have a better idea of exactly what he had in his hand,” Pamerleau said of the second video. She added the second video was longer and taken from a different angle than the one shown on broadcaster KSAT-TV. It was sent to crime investigators and has not been released to the public.