The top prosecutor in Baltimore said Friday that Freddie Gray’s death in police custody last week had been ruled a homicide, and announced criminal charges against six police officers involved in his arrest.
State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby, 35, who has been on the job less than four months, made the announcement to an assembled crowd across from Baltimore’s City Hall.
Cheers broke out when she announced that criminal charges would be filed, including a murder charge against the driver of the police van in which Gray sustained a spinal injury.
The announcement was a stunning, swift turn in the Gray case, which has riveted Baltimore and fueled protests and riots over the past two weeks.
The charges against the officers included false imprisonment, assault and manslaughter. Officer Caesar R. Goodson Jr. faces the stiffest charge, second-degree depraved-heart murder, for which he could face 30 years in prison. The other officers named in the case are Officer William G. Porter, Lt. Brian W. Rice, Officer Edward M. Nero, Officer Garrett E. Miller and Sgt. Alicia D. White.
Warrants have been issued for the arrests of the officers, who were “not cooperative” with the investigation, Mosby said.
What happened to Freddie Gray?
Gray, a 25-year-old black Baltimore resident, died in police custody on April 19 after being arrested a week earlier. He sustained injuries including a smashed voice box and a severed spine, though police initially claimed they arrested him “without force.”
Officers put Gray in handcuffs after Gray made eye contact with them early on the morning of April 12 and fled. A video of his arrest appears to show Gray screaming in pain, and at least one of his legs seems to dangle from his torso.
It’s unclear what happened inside the police van, but Gray did seem able to talk when officers put him inside the vehicle. By the time they took him out, he was unresponsive. The Baltimore Sun reports that police found Gray’s head was injured inside the van, and residents who witnessed officers handling Gray said they treated him roughly.
Police officials acknowledged that officers did not buckle Gray into a seatbelt, and that they should have called for medical help soon after they arrested him.
Police drove Gray around to four different stops before pulling up at the Baltimore Police Department’s Western District station. There, officers said Gray was having a “medical emergency,” and they transferred him to Shock Trauma at the University of Maryland Medical Center, where he underwent surgery.
Police had planned to hand over their investigation to the the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office on Friday, but did so a day early. They didn’t release much new information on Thursday, but did say that the police van transporting Gray had made a previously unreported stop. That raised eyebrows among those skeptical of how truthful the arresting officers have been, but did little else.
The officers had been suspended with pay.
People protested against police brutality in Baltimore throughout the week after Gray died, but those protests boiled over into what many consider full-blown riots on April 25 and 27. Residents looted stores and burned buildings on April 27, and police arrested at least 235 people.
The Department of Justice has also opened a federal investigation into how Gray died.
Prosecutor in the spotlight
Mosby has faced what is certainly the biggest challenge of her career: deciding whether evidence supports criminal charges against police officers in the death of Freddie Gray.
Mosby ousted an established white opponent by promising to hold police accountable. She accused him of being too cozy with officers and too out of touch with the citizens of Baltimore. Mosby and her husband, a Baltimore city councilman, are black and live just blocks from the poverty-stricken community where riots broke out Monday following Gray’s funeral.
On Thursday, her office announced it had “received the hardcopies of the Baltimore Police Department’s investigative file” but noted its results were “not new to us.”
“We have been briefed regularly throughout their process while simultaneously conducting our own independent investigation into the death of Freddie Gray,” Mosby said in a statement. “While we have and will continue to leverage the information received by the Department, we are not relying solely on their findings but rather the facts that we have gathered and verified. We ask for the public to remain patient and peaceful and to trust the process of the justice system,” she said.”
Baltimore police organization calls for independent prosecutor
Moments before Mosby spoke, Baltimore City’s Fraternal Order of Police released a letter it sent the attorney asking she appoint a special independent prosecutor to look into Freddie Gray’s death.
“While I have the utmost respect for you and your office, I have very deep concerns about the many conflicts of interest presented by your office conducting an investigation in this case,” the police group’s president, Gene Ryan, writes in the letter. He cites Mosby’s “relationship” with the Gray family attorney, and prosecutors’ “connections with members of the local media.” Ryan also says Mosby’s husband’s political future — he’s a city councilman — “will be directly impacted, for better or worse, by the outcome of your investigation.”
“In order to avoid any appearance of impropriety or any violation of the Professional Rules of Professional Responsibility, I ask that you appoint a Special Prosecutor to determine whether or not any charges should be filed.”
Source: mashable.com