Prosecutors say Baltimore police mishandled Gray case
Search warrants not served; sabotage by detective alleged
BALTIMORE — The prosecutors who were unable to win convictions of police officers in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray sharply criticized the city police department Thursday, saying that its handling of the case undermined the prosecution, and rebutted defense claims that they rushed to file charges.
At a news conference the day after their boss, Marilyn J. Mosby, the state’s attorney for Baltimore, announced she was dropping charges against the three officers who still awaited trial, the two lead prosecutors said police failed to serve search warrants for the officers’ personal cellphones and repeated a charge made in court that a detective assigned to the case was sabotaging it.
“There was sufficient evidence for a rational juror to convict,” Michael Schatzow, deputy chief state’s attorney, told reporters in a conference room in Ms. Mosby’s downtown offices. “We believed in these cases, and we were prepared to fight very hard for these cases.”
He and Janice Bledsoe, a deputy state’s attorney, said prosecutors tried to get the personal cellphones of the six officers, which might have shown their communications during and after the episode, but could not because of a police department foul-up.
“The Baltimore Police Department did not execute those warrants in the correct amount of time, and they expired,” Ms. Bledsoe said.
The department has stood by its investigation. In a statement released Wednesday, Commissioner Kevin Davis said he wanted to remind residents that “over 30 ethical, experienced and talented detectives worked tirelessly to uncover facts” in the case.
Responding to defense lawyers’ claims that the prosecution was slow to turn over material, Ms. Bledsoe said, “We can’t turn over things we don’t have.”
Mr. Schatzow reiterated what he had said in court last month, that the lead police detective involved in the investigation, Dawnyell Taylor, had sabotaged the case. Detective Taylor claimed in testimony that a medical examiner had told her that Gray’s death was a “freakish accident,” which Mr. Schatzow suggested was false; the same medical examiner officially called it a homicide.