Judge won’t drop charges against cops in Gray case
A judge on Wednesday denied defense motions to dismiss charges against six police officers in the death of Freddie Gray, a black male who died while in a police van in April.
The ruling by Judge Barry Williams followed an hour and 15-minute hearing by the officers as protesters demonstrated in front of the courthouse.
Activists carrying yellow signs with slogans including, “Stop racism now,” gathered outside the Baltimore City Circuit Courthouse East. They chanted: “Indict, convict, send those killer cops to jail. The whole damn system is guilty as hell” and “Tell the truth and stop the lies, Freddie Gray didn’t have to die.”
The police department reported one arrest. “Most protesters are cooperating and not blocking roadways,” the department said on Twitter.
The six officers have pleaded not guilty to charges ranging from false imprisonment to involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of 25-year-old Gray, who died of a severe neck injury while handcuffed and restrained inside a police van April 12.
The judge also rejected a bid by defense attorney to have State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby removed from the case.
Williams said that while he was “troubled” by some of the comments Mosby made during a May 1 news conference, they did not compromise the defendants’ right to a fair trial.
The judge said prosecutors’ chief responsibility is to investigate and prosecute cases, and the fact that the office conducted an independent investigation is not unusual.
Williams also said the assertion that Mosby’s judgment was impacted by the fact that her husband, Nick Mosby, is a councilman in a district that experienced a disproportionate amount of violence during the riots that Gray’s death sparked is “condescending. Being married to a councilman is not a reason for recusal.”
In advance of the hearing, and a second one scheduled for next week, the city canceled all leave for officers.
The city was rocked by vandalism and looting after Gray’s funeral in April.