COPS OFF THE HOOK
All raps dropped in Gray death Balt. decision‘ agonizing’ to prosecutor
THERE WILL be no justice for Freddie Gray.
Prosecutors have dropped all remaining charges against three Baltimore cops awaiting trial in the death of the 25-year-old black man — claiming the case was doomed by an inept police investigation.
The shocking announcement Wednesday marks a stunning end to a police brutality case that triggered widespread protests in Baltimore and added fuel to a fiery national debate over policing in minority communities.
A total of six cops were charged in the death of Gray, who was found unresponsive after being transferred handcuffed — but unsecured — in a police van in April 2015. He died a week later of a severe spinal cord injury. The medical examiner concluded his death was a homicide.
Prosecutors failed to secure a conviction against a single officer.
Three of the them — Edward Nero, Caesar Goodson and Lt. Brian Rice — had previously been acquitted of all charges.
The trial for a fourth cop, Officer William Porter, ended in a hung jury and mistrial.
Circuit Judge Barry Williams presided over the trials of the three officers who were found not guilty.
In an emotional news conference, state attorney Marilyn Mosby said charges were tossed for the three officers because of the “dismal likelihood of conviction.”
Mosby lamented the lack of an independent investigator and argued that there’s an “inherent bias” whenever “police police themselves.”
“After much thought and prayer, it has become clear that without being able to work with an independent investigatory agency from the very start, without having a say in the election of whether cases proceed in front of a judge or jury, without communal oversight of police in this community, without substantive reforms to the
current criminal justice system, we could try this case 100 times — and cases just like it — and we would still end up with the same result,” Mosby said.
“As a mother,” she added, “the decision not to proceed on these trials is agonizing.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton said the outcome highlights the need to bring in the feds — or at least an independent prosecutor — in police brutality cases.
“It was almost like a play that we already knew the ending,” Sharpton said. “This sends a wider message that state prosecutions even when you have a good state prosecutor are limiting and do not really delve into achieving justice.”
But Donald Trump wasted no time in lashing out at Mosby. The GOP presidential nominee lauded the “police officers who stuck it out.” “I think she ought to prosecute herself!” he said. “She is a disgrace!” The announcement was made at a hearing that was supposed to mark the start of a trial against Officer Garrett Miller. “All of our clients are thrilled with what happened today, and we’ll be making a comment later to address the details of what happened,” Miller’s lawyer Catherine Flynn said outside the courthouse. Besides Miller and Porter, the other cop awaiting trial was Sgt. Alicia White.
Charges against the six officers ranged from misconduct in office to second-degree murder with a “depraved heart.”
They still face possible administrative discipline, but could someday return to duty.
The head of the Baltimore police union said prosecutors made the right decision.
“Justice has been done,” Baltimore Fraternal Order of Police President Gene Ryan said, adding that Mosby’s comments were “outrageous.”
Mosby urged the public not to lose sight of the tragic death at the heart of the case.
“I need not remind you that the only loss — and the greatest loss — in all of this was that of Freddie Gray’s life,” Mosby said.