Summary: Six officers face lengthy prison sentences for the death of Freddie Gray, who died from injuries he suffered while in police custody last month.
Marilyn J. Mosby, the state’s attorney for Baltimore City, announced that a Baltimore grand jury has indicted six cops for homicide and assault charges stemming from Freddie Gray’s death. The grand jury reviewed evidence for two weeks, CNN adds. Gray died last month while he was in police custody. The charges are similar to those that Mosby previously filed against the officers, the New York Times reports.
The officers were first charged on May 1.
Gray was arrested after he ran from the police. Upon apprehending Gray, officers found a knife in his pocket that they claimed was illegal. Gray was arrested, and a police van was called to pick Gray up. However, by the time Gray was transported to the police station, he had suffered severe damage to his spine and was not breathing. Officials said that the injury likely occurred as Gray was being transported. Mosby added that Gray pleaded for medical attention, but that the officers ignored him, according to Fox News.
Mosby has argued that the knife found on Gray was not illegal.
The grand jury’s decision to return an indictment is a major event in the case that sparked outcry across the country.
Gray, 25, was arrested and injured on April 12. He died just a week later, on April 19.The incident was just the latest in a series of events that involved a black man dying in altercations with the police. As a result of the deaths, protests, racial tension, and frustration with police forces nationwide were rampant.
After Gray died, the Justice Department launched a civil rights investigation into the Baltimore Police Department.
Read about the investigation here.
After Gray’s funeral service, looting and rioting was widespread, and the city implemented a curfew. National Guard troops also patrolled the city.
Mosby declined to comment on the indictment, except to explain that it was standard for a list of charges to manifest with a criminal case.
Attorneys for the six officers, who remain out on bail, have argued that the prosecution is fighting a weak case. They filed for the charges to be dismissed and further protested that Mosby has conflicts of interest, and that she should be taken off the case.
Protests in Baltimore affected three law schools’ final exam schedules.
The indictment states the following charges:
Officer Caesar R. Goodson, the officer driving the van, is charged with second-degree “depraved heart” murder, which carries up to thirty years in prison.
Officer Goodson, Officer William G. Porter, Lt. Brian Rice, and Sgt. Alicia White have been indicted for manslaughter, which carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison.
All of the officers, including Officer Garrett E. Miller and Officer Edward M. Nero, face second-degree assault charges, which also carries up to ten years in prison. Some counts have been dismissed. Additionally, the officers were all indicted for reckless endangerment and misconduct in office.
At first, three of the officers were charged with false imprisonment, after Mosby claimed there was no legitimate reason for Gray’s arrest. However, those charges were not included in the indictment. Experts claimed such charges would raise issues regarding the discretion the police have to detain individuals.
Source: New York Times
Photo credit: New York Times