DOes Freddie Gray have History

[Manonthestreet]

of trying to hurt himself in police custody. Defense says he does and Mary Moseby is covering it up among other things......
The Baltimore Sun

 

[waltky]

US policeman cleared over custody death...

Freddie Gray death: Officer acquitted of four charges
Mon, 23 May 2016 - Baltimore police officer Edward Nero is cleared of four charges in the case of Freddie Gray, who died in 2015 in police custody.

A police officer has been acquitted of charges related to the death of a black man in police custody in Baltimore. Edward Nero was cleared by a judge of second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and two counts of misconduct in office. Freddie Gray, who was 25, died after sustaining a severe spinal injury in the back of a police van during his arrest in April 2015. His death caused days of massive protests and unrest in Baltimore. Last year, a jury failed to reach a verdict in the case of another officer connected to Gray's death, William Porter. Officer Porter was the first of six officers charged in Gray's death to be tried, with four more trials still to come.

The most serious charges have been made against Officer Caesar Goodson, the driver of the van. In Officer Nero's trial, a judge said he "acted as any reasonable officer would" and did not touch Gray until he was in handcuffs. Officer Nero helped load Gray back into the police van after police said he was kicking, screaming and shaking inside of it. "The state's theory has been one of recklessness and negligence," said Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry Williams. "There has been no evidence that the defendant intended for a crime to occur."

Analysis - Rajini Vaidyanathan, BBC News, Washington

Compared with some of the other police officers who await trial, Officer Nero's charges were less serious - and didn't directly link him to Gray's death. Other officers who face trial have been accused of second-degree murder and manslaughter. The speed with which authorities in Baltimore arrested and charged the officers involved in the arrest and detention of Gray was held up as an example of a criminal justice system acting swiftly at a time of high tension between young black men and the police. But protesters who are demanding justice for Gray say the real measure will be if anyone is in the end held accountable for his death. Mr Nero said he was "relieved" that "this nightmare" was nearing an end.

Baltimore's police union called the trials "baseless prosecutions". "None of these officers did anything wrong," said Gene Ryan, the union's president. "The state attorney's office responded to the riots and violence in Baltimore by rushing to charge these officers rashly and without any meaningful investigation." The prosecution had been hoping to use Officer Porter as a witness in the other officer's trials. He will face another trial in June. Gray's death helped spur a national debate over police use of force, especially against black men. In Baltimore, protests raged for days and even turned violent, prompting officials to declare a state of emergency and deploy national guard troops. A post-mortem report found that Gray sustained a neck injury slamming into a van wall during the ride. He was not restrained with a seatbelt. During Officer Porter's trial, prosecutors said he ignored Mr Gray's pleas for medical help, describing the van as a "coffin on wheels".

Freddie Gray's death - in depth

See also:

Baltimore police officer acquitted in Freddie Gray death
May 23, 2016 - Baltimore police officer Edward Nero was acquitted on Monday of four charges in the 2015 death of black detainee Freddie Gray, the second setback for prosecutors in a case that triggered rioting and fueled the Black Lives Matter movement.

Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams, who heard the case in a bench trial, told a packed courtroom that Nero, 30, had acted as any officer would during Gray's arrest in April 2015. Nero is the second officer to be tried and faced misdemeanor charges of second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and two counts of misconduct in office. The first trial of an officer in the 25-year-old Gray's death ended in a mistrial. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake issued a statement urging calm. The only incident in the immediate aftermath of the verdict involved protesters chasing members of Nero's family into a parking garage, yelling, "No justice, no peace." State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby had charged Nero with arresting Gray without probable cause when he ran from him and other officers unprovoked in a high-crime area. She also contended Nero did not secure Gray in a police transport van. Gray died from a spine injury suffered in the van.

Nero's lawyers had argued that Gray's arrest was justified and that the officer had little to do with it. He never touched Gray except when he tried to help him find an asthma inhaler and helped lift him into the van, they said. During a 25-minute reading of his decision, Williams said Nero acted as a "similarly situated" officer would and that prosecutors had failed to prove their case. He said Nero's partner, Garrett Miller, had testified that Nero had done little during the arrest. "Miller stated unequivocally that he was the one who detained and handcuffed Mr. Gray," he said. Nero still faces an internal department investigation. There was no response from Mosby's office since those involved in the case are under a court gag order.

In a statement, defense attorney Marc Zayon said Nero appreciated "the reasoned judgment" of Williams in his verdict and called on Mosby to dismiss charges against the five other officers accused in the case. Gray's death a week after his arrest had sparked a day of rioting in which nearly 400 buildings were damaged or destroyed in the majority black city of 620,000 people. The case helped stoke the Black Lives Matter movement and national debate over policing in minority communities. Baltimore paid Gray's family $6.4 million in a settlement reached last year. William Porter was the first officer tried in the case and his trial ended in a hung jury in December. The charges against other officers range from misconduct to second-degree murder.

The hashtag #FreddieGray began trending on Twitter after news of Nero’s acquittal. Some black activists expressed their disappointment. "#FreddieGray should be alive today,” wrote DeRay Mckesson, a key figure in the Black Lives Matter movement who unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Baltimore in April. Tim Maloney, a Greenbelt, Maryland, lawyer who has handled police misconduct cases, said if prosecutors had been successful, any officer who made an arrest without clear probable cause would be subject to criminal prosecution. "That would have an incredible chilling effect," he said.

Baltimore police officer acquitted in Freddie Gray death

 

[bucs90]

Yes. His family has filed lawsuits over it in the past too.

Problem is....lead poisoning as a child caused his bones to be very weak and brittle. And he ended up breaking his own neck.