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Title: Police Officer Is Acquitted of All Charges in Freddie Gray Case
Source:
NYTimes.com
URL Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/24/u ... reddie-gray-court-verdict.html
Published: May 23, 2016
Author: JESS BIDGOOD
Post Date: 2016-05-23 12:28:07 by Stoner
Keywords: None
Views: 618
Comments: 8
BALTIMORE — A police officer was acquitted of all charges on Monday in the arrest of Freddie Gray, a black man who sustained a fatal spinal cord injury while in police custody. The verdict is likely to renew debate over whether anyone will be held responsible for Mr. Gray’s death. The officer, Edward M. Nero, sat with a straight back and stared forward as Circuit Judge Barry G. Williams, who ruled on the case after the officer opted to forgo a jury trial, read his verdict on charges of second-degree assault, misconduct and of reckless endangerment. “The verdict on each count,” said Judge Williams, concluding his reading after about 30 minutes, “is not guilty.” “The state’s theory has been one of recklessness and negligence,” Judge Williams said. “There has been no evidence that the defendant intended for a crime to occur.” Officer Nero, who was implicated not in the death of Mr. Gray but in the opening moments of his arrest, then stood and hugged his lawyers as supporters pressed forward to congratulate him. He wiped away tears and, at one point, embraced Officer Garrett E. Miller, who is also charged in connection with the arrest of Mr. Gray. The verdict, the first in any of the six officers implicated, comes a little more than a year after Mr. Gray died in April 2015. The first trial, against Officer William G. Porter, ended with a mistrial in December. Mr. Gray’s death embroiled parts of Baltimore, which has a history of tension between the police and its residents, in violent protest and became an inexorable piece of the nation’s wrenching discussion of the use of force by officers, particularly against minorities. While the criminal case has been resolved, the internal review of Officer Nero, who remains on administrative leave, will not be resolved until after the trials of the other officers involved, the Police Department said in a statement. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, in a statement, asked residents to be patient as the legal process played out, but added that the city was prepared to respond to any disturbances. Baltimore reached a $6.4 million settlement with Mr. Gray’s family in September. The trial of Officer Nero, 30, had shifted the focus from the injuries that killed Mr. Gray, which was a crucial point in Officer Porter’s trial, to the opening moments of his arrest. It was never going to be the highest-profile prosecution in the case related to Mr. Gray; that will be Caesar R. Goodson Jr., the driver of the police wagon in which Mr. Gray is believed to have broken his neck. But, in a city that is already the subject of a federal civil rights investigation into whether officers use excessive force and discriminatory policing, Officer Nero’s trial renewed questions about when an officer can stop a private citizen and what an officer is allowed to do. “I would say the trial has engendered a wider conversation about how police operate in poor communities, particularly poor communities of color that raises critical issues about society,” said David Jaros, a law professor at the University of Baltimore. During the weeklong proceeding, prosecutors and defense lawyers agreed that the officers had the right to stop Mr. Gray, who had fled them in a high-crime area for no apparent reason. But prosecutors said Officers Nero and Miller exceeded their authority by handcuffing, moving and searching Mr. Gray without first questioning and frisking him, as the law requires. Any physical contact they made with him while doing so, prosecutors argued, amounted to second-degree assault. Officer Nero was also charged with misconduct related to those actions. “That’s what happens in the city all the time. People get jacked up in the city all the time,” Janice Bledsoe, a deputy state’s attorney, said during her closing argument on Thursday. “That’s a separate issue,” answered Judge Williams, who repeatedly pressed prosecutors on whether they believed that every arrest made without probable cause amounted to a crime. A lawyer for Officer Nero, Marc Zayon, said that the apprehension of Mr. Gray was legal, and that, even if it wasn’t: “Wrong or right isn’t the standard. The standard is, were they so wrong that it was unreasonable?” Mr. Zayon said. Defense lawyers had watched the procedures play out with awe, since it is usually they, not the prosecution, who raise issues of illegal search and seizure in court. What is more, they said, illegal stops rarely result in criminal charges. “If you’re going to go back and charge every police officer whose arrest was determined to be illegal with assault, or every search that’s deemed to be absent probable cause, you’re going to indict the entire police force,” said Warren Brown, a defense lawyer who has been watching the case. Officer Nero had also been charged for failing to restrain Mr. Gray with a seatbelt when he and other officers placed him in a transport wagon. “When you have custody of someone, you have a duty to keep them safe,” Michael Schatzow, the chief deputy state’s attorney, told Judge Williams. Mr. Zayon said it was the responsibility of the van driver, not Officer Nero, to secure Mr. Gray with a seatbelt, and that his client had not knowingly violated police procedure or the law. “This is an officer with two years on the force,” Mr. Zayon said. “He was a baby, still learning with regard to a lot of this.”
Better get out of Baltimore now. The riots / looting will commence in 3 - 2 - 1
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#1. To: Stoner (#0)
Another site mentioned this was a bench vs. jury trial. So if there is looting, they better head over the judge's house who heard and decided the case. And this is Judge Barry G. Williams:
Wise choice by the defendant. Will not matter to the hood rats. Si vis pacem, para bellum Those who beat their swords into plowshares will plow for those who don't Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God. There are no Carthaginian terrorists. President Obama is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people. --Clint Eastwood "I am concerned for the security of our great nation; not so much because of any threat from without, but because of the insidious forces working from within." -- General Douglas MacArthur
Baltimore Detroit planet sickening love If you ... don't use exclamation points --- you should't be typeing ! Commas - semicolons - question marks are for girlie boys !
He never should have been charged ...
Cops will opt for a judge over a jury trial 100% of the time because they know the judge will have their back no natter how egregious their crime.
The Zulus will be banging drums tonight in Baltimore.
Obama has played at being a president while enjoying the perks … golf, insanely expensive vacations at tax-payer expense. He has ignored the responsibilities of the job; no plans, no budgets, no alternatives … just finger pointing; making him a complete failure as a president
The first trial (of Officer William Porter) was to a jury. That did not result in a conviction either. In this trial of Officer Nero, the prosecution immunized fellow (yet to be tried) defendant Officer Garrett Miller and forced him to testify. Miller testified that he alone caught and cuffed Gray. One might conjecture that the prosecutors immunized Miller without knowing what he was going to say. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/freddie-gray/bs-md-ci-nero-verdict-20160521-story.html Justin Fenton and Kevin Rector [excerpts] Williams on Monday said there were "no credible facts" to show that Nero was directly involved in Gray's arrest, and said testimony showed Nero's role in putting Gray in the van was minimized by the actions of others and not unreasonable given his training. [...] The state's theory for the assault charge had been described by legal observers as "novel" or even "radical." When the constitutionality of a police stop is questioned, the typical remedy is for charges to be dropped or evidence suppressed. Officers can also be sued. But prosecutors sought to criminalize the interaction, with Deputy Chief State's Attorney Janice Bledsoe remarking that people were "jacked up all the time" and that officers must justify all of their actions. Williams closely questioned prosecutors on the theory in closing arguments, but made no conclusion on it in finding Nero had no involvement. Nero was the second of six city police officers charged in the case to stand trial. The first trial, of Officer William Porter, ended in a hung jury and mistrial last December. Officer Caesar Goodson Jr., who drove the transport van where Gray suffered fatal injuries, is slated to stand trial in two weeks for second-degree murder and related charges. [...] Miller, who faces the same charges as Nero, was given immunity and forced to testify by prosecutors. But on the stand Miller said he alone had caught and handcuffed Gray, minimizing the involvement of Nero, who he said went to retrieve their bicycles from another area as he handled Gray. Prosecutors pointed to Nero and Miller's use of the word "we" to describe the events as indication that both actively took part. Williams said "Miller stated unequivocally" that he had detained Gray, and noted that Brandon Ross, one of Gray's friends, also backed the account in his testimony. Prosecutors alleged Miller had twisted his story to help his "buddy" Nero, but Williams noted Ross had no such incentive to lie. Williams also said he believed that Miller and Nero had said "we" to describe their collective actions — but not assign joint responsibility. [...]
They should proceed carefully. They did not do too well at Roarks Drift. Si vis pacem, para bellum Those who beat their swords into plowshares will plow for those who don't Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God. There are no Carthaginian terrorists. President Obama is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people. --Clint Eastwood "I am concerned for the security of our great nation; not so much because of any threat from without, but because of the insidious forces working from within." -- General Douglas MacArthur
#2. To: redleghunter (#1)
" Another site mentioned this was a bench vs. jury trial. "
#3. To: Stoner (#0)
Better get out of Baltimore now. The riots / looting will commence in 3 - 2 - 1
of
the
... apes
boris
#4. To: All (#0)
Police Officer Is Acquitted of All Charges in Freddie Gray Case
#5. To: Stoner (#0)
#6. To: Stoner (#0)
#7. To: Stoner, redleghunter, Gatlin (#0)
Freddie Gray case: Baltimore Police Officer Edward Nero found not guilty of all charges
The Baltimore Sun
May 23, 2016, 2:16 PM
#8. To: no gnu taxes (#6)
" The Zulus will be banging drums tonight in Baltimore. "
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