Trials set to resume in Freddie Gray case
The first of five officers will return to court in May, after an appeals panel’s ruling.
BALTIMORE — The trials of the six Baltimore police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray are poised to resume in May, after the anniversary of the 25year- old’s death from injuries sustained in police custody.
Officer Edward M. Nero, one of the officers involved in Gray’s initial arrest, will be tried May 10, followed on June 6 by the trial of Officer Caesar R. Goodson Jr., the driver of the van in which prosecutors say Gray suffered the injuries that proved fatal.
The cases have been on hold in recent months, after Officer William G. Porter’s attorneys and prosecutors filed appeals to higher courts challenging rulings by Circuit Judge Barry G. Williams.
The Court of Appeals ruled on those challenges March 8, siding with prosecutors and ordering that Porter must testify against his fellow officers if prosecutors call him as a witness. Prosecutors are granting Porter limited immunity for his testimony.
The new schedule calls for Lt. Brian W. Rice to be tried July 5, Officer Garrett E. Miller on July 27, Porter to be retried on Sept. 6, and Sgt. Alicia White on Oct. 13.
A gag order on the cases remains in effect, and attorneys on both sides could not be reached or declined to comment.
With the new schedule, a year will pass since Gray’s death without any verdicts in the case. Porter was tried f irst in December, but his case ended in a mistrial with jurors deadlocked on all four charges against him.
“This is normal, where you have a case with good lawyers on both sides and complex issues,” said attorney Billy Murphy Jr., who represents the Gray family. “The family is not disappointed at all — we discussed the fact that these delays might take place, and they are conditioned to expect delay.”
Police chased Gray through a Baltimore housing project on April 12, 2015, and he was loaded into a transport van shackled but unrestrained by a seat belt. He suffered a catastrophic injury to his spine and died a week later.
His death came amid heightened attention to the deaths of unarmed black men in police custody across the country, and generated widespread protests. Looting and rioting broke out in the city April 27, the day of Gray’s funeral, with the National Guard summoned and a weeklong curfew imposed.
State’s Atty. Marilyn J. Mosby moved swiftly to charge the officers, announcing charges on the steps of the city’s War Memorial Building on May 1.
Gray’s family, before f iling a lawsuit, settled with the city for $ 6.4 million. The City Council has yet to approve that payment because of an unrelated dispute with the administration of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings- Blake. Administration officials say two of three installment payments have been made to the family nonetheless.
Porter went on trial in December on charges of manslaughter, second- degree assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office. Prosecutors said Porter failed to take action that could have saved Gray’s life. Porter took the stand and said he didn’t realize the extent of Gray’s injuries but had alerted others that he required hospital attention.
A mistrial was declared after jurors deadlocked on all four counts.
Next up was Goodson. Prosecutors won approval from Williams to call Porter as a witness at that trial, as well as the trial of White. But the proceedings were halted in January when Porter appealed to the Court of Special Appeals on the grounds that his rights as a defendant were being violated, saying it was unprecedented in Maryland for a defendant to be forced to testify against codefendants with charges still hanging over his head.
The state’s highest court ended up taking up all f ive cases on an expedited track, and in a brief order ruled in favor of the prosecution and sent the cases back to the trial courts.
‘ The family is not disappointed at all.... They are conditioned to expect delay.’
— Billy Murphy Jr.,
Gray family attorney