All,
This is the major lesson learned in the Freddie Gray case:
In order to successfully murder a human being and get away with it in the United Hates you must meet at least two major conditions beforehand:
1) You must be a police officer and 2) Your victim must be black...
Kofi
http://www.nytimes.com/…/charges-dropped-against-3-remainin…
U.S.
Charges Dropped in Freddie Gray Case Against 3 Last Baltimore Officers
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and JESS BIDGOOD
JULY 27, 2016
New York Times
Prosecutors in Baltimore on Wednesday dropped all remaining charges against three city police officers awaiting trial in the death of Freddie Gray, ending one of the most closely watched — and unsuccessful — police prosecutions in the nation.
The decision brought a stunning end to a sweeping prosecution that began with criminal charges against six police officers last May, announced with the city still in the grips of violent protest after the death of Mr. Gray, who was found unresponsive and not breathing after he rode unsecured in a police transport wagon after his arrest on a bright morning in April 2015. Mr. Gray later died of a spinal cord injury.
But prosecutors were unable to secure a single conviction during the first four trials, the first of which, for Officer William G. Porter, began in December and ended in a mistrial that led to months of delays. Officer Edward M. Nero, who participated in the initial arrest, was acquitted in May; Officer Caesar R. Goodson Jr., the driver of the vehicle in which Mr. Gray was transported, was acquitted in June; and another officer present for the initial arrest, Lt. Brian Rice, was acquitted earlier this month.
Timeline: Three of Six Officers in Freddie Case Acquitted of All Charges So Far
Lt. Brian W. Rice, the highest-ranking officer charged in the case of Freddie Gray, was acquitted of involuntary manslaughter.
OPEN Timeline
Mr. Gray’s death, and the protests that followed, catapulted Baltimore to the center of a national reckoning over race and policing. The announcement of charges by the city’s top prosecutor, Marilyn J. Mosby, drew praise from demonstrators but also criticism from those who said it was politically motivated.
The prosecutors’ decision to drop the remaining charges was disclosed during a pretrial motion for Officer Garrett Miller, whose trial was scheduled to begin this week. Lawyers from Ms. Mosby’s office announced that the state would not prosecute that case or the two remaining ones — against Sgt. Alicia D. White and against Officer Porter, the first officer to be tried.
There had been little public hint of the decision; Judge Barry Williams of the Baltimore City Circuit Court had imposed a strict gag order on all the lawyers, defendants and witnesses, seeking to tamp down publicity surrounding a death that had sparked violent protests and riots last spring.
A court spokeswoman said Wednesday that the gag order has now been lifted.
PHOTO: Six Baltimore police officers were charged with felonies ranging from assault to murder in the death of Freddie Gray in April. The officers are, top row from left, Caesar R. Goodson Jr., Garrett E. Miller and Edward M. Nero, and bottom row from left, William G. Porter, Brian W. Rice and Alicia D. White. Credit Baltimore Police Department, via Associated Press
This is the major lesson learned in the Freddie Gray case:
In order to successfully murder a human being and get away with it in the United Hates you must meet at least two major conditions beforehand:
1) You must be a police officer and 2) Your victim must be black...
Kofi
http://www.nytimes.com/…/charges-dropped-against-3-remainin…
U.S.
Charges Dropped in Freddie Gray Case Against 3 Last Baltimore Officers
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and JESS BIDGOOD
JULY 27, 2016
New York Times
Prosecutors in Baltimore on Wednesday dropped all remaining charges against three city police officers awaiting trial in the death of Freddie Gray, ending one of the most closely watched — and unsuccessful — police prosecutions in the nation.
The decision brought a stunning end to a sweeping prosecution that began with criminal charges against six police officers last May, announced with the city still in the grips of violent protest after the death of Mr. Gray, who was found unresponsive and not breathing after he rode unsecured in a police transport wagon after his arrest on a bright morning in April 2015. Mr. Gray later died of a spinal cord injury.
But prosecutors were unable to secure a single conviction during the first four trials, the first of which, for Officer William G. Porter, began in December and ended in a mistrial that led to months of delays. Officer Edward M. Nero, who participated in the initial arrest, was acquitted in May; Officer Caesar R. Goodson Jr., the driver of the vehicle in which Mr. Gray was transported, was acquitted in June; and another officer present for the initial arrest, Lt. Brian Rice, was acquitted earlier this month.
Timeline: Three of Six Officers in Freddie Case Acquitted of All Charges So Far
Lt. Brian W. Rice, the highest-ranking officer charged in the case of Freddie Gray, was acquitted of involuntary manslaughter.
OPEN Timeline
Mr. Gray’s death, and the protests that followed, catapulted Baltimore to the center of a national reckoning over race and policing. The announcement of charges by the city’s top prosecutor, Marilyn J. Mosby, drew praise from demonstrators but also criticism from those who said it was politically motivated.
The prosecutors’ decision to drop the remaining charges was disclosed during a pretrial motion for Officer Garrett Miller, whose trial was scheduled to begin this week. Lawyers from Ms. Mosby’s office announced that the state would not prosecute that case or the two remaining ones — against Sgt. Alicia D. White and against Officer Porter, the first officer to be tried.
There had been little public hint of the decision; Judge Barry Williams of the Baltimore City Circuit Court had imposed a strict gag order on all the lawyers, defendants and witnesses, seeking to tamp down publicity surrounding a death that had sparked violent protests and riots last spring.
A court spokeswoman said Wednesday that the gag order has now been lifted.
PHOTO: Six Baltimore police officers were charged with felonies ranging from assault to murder in the death of Freddie Gray in April. The officers are, top row from left, Caesar R. Goodson Jr., Garrett E. Miller and Edward M. Nero, and bottom row from left, William G. Porter, Brian W. Rice and Alicia D. White. Credit Baltimore Police Department, via Associated Press
