Individuals, agencies dodge blame on Gray

a spinal injury in the back of the detainee wagon while he was handcuffed and shackled, but not buckled in with a seat belt. Prosecutors alleged the officers involved in his arrest and transport were criminally negligent when they failed to use the seat belt, instead placing Gray face-down and head-first on the floor of a prisoner compartment. The state also said the officers erred when they chose not to call a medic after Gray indicated he wanted to go to a hospital.

Last May, Mosby said in announcing the charges that her decision to prosecute was based on both a police department investigation and a separate, independent investigation conducted by her office.

Three of the four officers who stood trial elected to have Circuit Judge Barry Williams hear their cases without juries. Williams then ruled three times in a row that although the officers may have exercised poor judgment, the state presented no evidence to prove they meant to hurt Gray. Without evidence or eyewitnesses to prove intent, he said, he could not convict. The other trial ended in a mistrial.

The city spent roughly $7.4 million on the trials, according to Anthony McCarthy, a spokesman for Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

The proceedings revealed deep fissures among the police, prosecutors and the people of Baltimore. During the trial of van driver Officer Caesar Goodson, Chief Deputy State’s Attorney Michael Schatzow accused a lead detective of trying to sabotage the investigation; in turn, the detective accused another prosecutor, Jan Bledsoe, of dismissing unfavorable evidence.

Police Commissioner Kevin Davis rejected Mosby’s accusations, saying that “while we are all entitled to our own opinions, we are not entitled to our own facts.”