All charges against the remaining three Baltimore Police Department (BPD) officers implicated in the death of Freddie Gray were dropped yesterday morning. The decision by the office of Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby came after unsuccessful prosecutions of four of the officers between December 2015 and July 2016.
The decision to drop charges against Officer Garrett Miller, Officer William Porter and Sergeant Alicia White was announced by Chief Deputy State’s Attorney Michael Schatzow during Miller’s pre-trial hearing on Wednesday.
Gray, a 25 year old black man, was transported from the scene of his arrest in Sandtown-Winchester on April 12, 2015 to the Western District police station in a BPD van without being properly restrained. According to the state medical examiner’s office, Gray sustained a fatal spinal cord injury during the “rough ride.”
Gray’s death one week after his arrest sparked both peaceful and violent protests, garnering national attention. The state’s medical examiner’s office ruled the incident a homicide less than two weeks after Gray’s death, and State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby brought charges against the six officers involved in his arrest and transport the following day.
Social media exploded in the aftermath of the announcement, with #FreddieGray becoming a trending topic on Twitter. Supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement and many Baltimore residents expressed their surprise and anger, while supporters of the police commended the decision.
Mosby’s Passionate Plea
Mosby held a press conference in West Baltimore, across from the site of Gray’s arrest, shortly after the announcement was made and presiding judge Barry Williams’ gag order that had previously barred her from discussing the case was lifted. She first claimed that the BPD had interfered with the state’s investigation.
“There was a reluctance and an obvious bias that was consistently exemplified not by the entire Baltimore Police Department but by individuals… at every stage of investigation, which became blatantly apparent in the subsequent trials,” she said.
While commending Commissioner Kevin Davis as “extremely accommodating,” Mosby asserted that individual officers witness to the incident had been involved the investigation and that others had actively worked to dismantle the state’s case.
She described the decision to drop charges as “agonizing” but explained the reasoning behind it.
“As a chief prosecutor elected by the citizens of Baltimore, I must consider the dismal likelihood of conviction at this point, the judicial economy in proceeding further, and the divisive impact that continuing this prosecution could potentially have on our community,” Mosby said. “Without being able to work with an independent investigatory agency from the very start, without having a say in the election of whether our cases proceed in front of a judge or a jury, without communal oversight of policing… without real substantive reforms to the current criminal justice system, we could try this case 100 times [and] end up with the same result.”
She noted that the decision to drop charges did not reflect her own views.
“As officers of the court, we respect the verdicts rendered by the judge… no matter how much we may disagree with his rulings,” Mosby said. “We do not believe that Freddie Gray killed himself. We stand by the medical examiner’s determination that Freddie Gray’s death was a homicide.”
Mosby also affirmed the legitimacy of her office’s prosecution efforts, citing the approval of the charges by a court commissioner and a grand jury. She also noted that the prosecution had successfully fought numerous defense motions to drop charges and move the trials out of Baltimore and had succeeded in compelling some of the officers to testify for each other.
Three of the officers have filed lawsuits against Mosby. Rice brought suit on May 2, alleging false arrest, false imprisonment, and defamation, among other counts. White and Porter filed a joint defamation suit the same day.
Gray’s stepfather Richard Shipley also spoke at the press conference, expressing his disappointment in the lack of convictions, but praising Mosby.
“We stand behind Marilyn and her prosecuting team, and my family’s proud to have them represent us,” he said.
Police Union Criticizes Mosby
The Baltimore Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) held a press conference later in the day Wednesday, supporting the decision to drop to charges but denouncing Mosby’s conduct.
“Justice has been done,” FOP President Lieutenant Gene Ryan said. “Our union will continue to support our officers during their administrative hearings and believe these good officers will be returned to fulfilling their duties with the Baltimore City Police Department and serving the citizens of Baltimore City.”
Ryan then defended the allegations that Mosby made during her earlier press conference.
“The detectives assigned to the case conducted a very thorough investigation into the tragic death of Freddie Gray, but the state’s attorney simply could not accept the evidence that was presented,” Ryan said. “She had her own agenda.”
Ryan expressed gratitude to the attorneys who defended the officers. Ivan Bates, White’s attorney, then spoke on behalf of the entire defense team.
“Baltimore, it’s time to heal,” he said. “We also have to recognize that on May 1, 2015, that’s when the nightmare began for all these officers. And that is when we saw the State’s Attorney for Baltimore City… announce to the world the charges, announce to the world what they felt, what they wanted the evidence to be.”
Bates asserted that Mosby had unjustly charged the officers, and then he defended the BPD’s investigation.
“Over 30 officers were involved, everyone from the current commissioner on down. These individuals and officers were neutral. They were independent. They looked at what the evidence was and their investigation viewed it as an accident,” Bates said.
Though no one will now be held criminally responsible for Gray’s death, the city of Baltimore announced plans in September to pay $6.4 million to his family. In the settlement, the city accepted all civil liability in Gray’s arrest and death. It was independent of the criminal proceedings and was reached without Gray’s family having filed a wrongful death suit.
The Charges
Officer Garrett Miller and Sergeant Alicia White were set to be tried in July and October, respectively. Miller was charged with second-degree assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment. White faced involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment charges.
Officer William Porter, who was the first officer tried back in December, faced a retrial in September. His original trial ended in a hung jury on the charges of involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment.
Officers Edward Nero and Caesar Goodson, Jr. and Lieutenant Brian Rice were acquitted in May, June, and July, respectively. All opted for bench rather than jury trials, meaning that presiding judge Barry Williams determined the verdicts. Goodson, the driver of the van, was acquitted of second-degree, “depraved heart” murder, manslaughter, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment.
Nero was charged of second-degree assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment. Rice, the highest ranking officer implicated in Gray’s death, was charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment.
