Freddie Gray's Death WAS Homicide: Baltimore State Attorney says Victim was Illegally Arrested and ALL Six Officers Will Face Charges Ranging from Murder to Assault
- Arrest warrant issued for all 6 officers who detained and drove Freddie Gray
- One officer charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter and assault
- Three other officers charged with manslaughter and assault
- Remaining two charged with assault and false imprisonment
- State prosecutor Marilyn Mosby said they did not see Gray's legal blade until after he was arrested
- She slammed the officers for placing him on his stomach on the van floor
Daily Mail UK, 1 May 2015
The State's Attorney has concluded Freddie Gray's death was a homicide, and there is probable cause to file criminal charges.
A warrant has been issued for the arrest of the six officers who 'illegally' detained the 25-year-old on April 12 for the lawful possession of a knife, not a switchblade as cops previously reported.
According to the state prosecutor Marilyn Mosby, Gray sustained his fatal neck injury by being shackled in the back of the police van without a seatbelt - a move that violated the police rules of conduct.
In an astonishing revelation, Mosby said the blade for which Gray was arrested was not found until after he was detained.
The officers face charges including murder, manslaughter and assault.
Freddie Gray was 'illegally arrested' and his death was 'a homicide', according to the State's Attorney
Defiant: State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby said she is working 'to deliver justice on behalf of this young man'
Police officers to face homicide charges in Gray case;
The driver of the van, Officer Caesar Goodson, 45, has been charged with second-degree murder, which carries a 30-year jail term.
Lt Brian Rice, Officer Garrett Miller and Officer Edward Nero illegally arrested Gray at 8.40am before finding the lawful knife in Gray's pocket, Mosby said.
Rice, 41, is charged with manslaughter, assault and other charges.
According to Mosby, he was the first to interact with Gray, by approaching him then chasing him. He faces 10 years or more in jail.
Miller, 26, and Nero, 29, are charged with assault, which carries 10 years, and other charges.
Sgt Alicia White, 30, the only female officer in the group, and 25-year-old Officer William Porter are both facing 10 years or more, charged with manslaughter, assault and other charges.
All six are charged with misconduct in office.
Mosby slammed the officers for placing Gray in an unsafe position: lying, shackled, on his stomach on the floor of the van with his head facing the back of the van.
She said the officers failed to adequately check on him, despite stopping the van and opening the back door multiple times as the 25-year-old wailed in pain for medical help.
'I heard your call for "no justice, no peace,"' Mosby said defiantly.
'Your peace is sincerely needed as I work to deliver justice on behalf of this young man.'
She made the decision to bring charges despite a plea from the Fraternal Order of Police local president Gene Ryan, who wrote to Mosby insisting none of the officers were culpable.
Caesar Goodson, 45, is twice-married and lives with his second wife, Paula, in Catonsville, Maryland. He is the grandson of a police officer and his nephew Antoine is a promising football player playing wide receiver for the Northwestern Oklahama State University Rangers.
Baltimore Police drag Freddie Gray to van during arrest;
Revelation: Police Commissioner Anthony Batts revealed a private security camera captured the van making an unknown stop. He refused to elaborate on the details of the new information
Pictured: The second stop which police failed to report in their paperwork after the van journey, during which Freddie Gray sustained a 'catastrophic' head injury. It was picked up by a privately-owned security camera
According to the latest police press conference, these are the stops the van made transporting Freddie Gray
These are the security cameras outside a grocery which picked up the secret stop
Brian Rice is the longest-serving of the group, having spent eight years with Baltimore Police Department. Goodson joined two years later in 1999. Alicia White has been with the force since 2010.
Porter, Miller and Nero all joined the force in 2012.
Within the next 24 hours, the six officers will be arrested and taken to Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center to have their bail set.
If they do not post bail, they will appear before a judge on Monday.
According to public safety spokesman Gerard Sheilds, those that remain in custody will be placed in a special facility, rather than the precinct jail, for 'security reasons'.
Mosby's press conference concluded to cheers and applause from the small crowd gathered at the steps of the building in Baltimore.
Across Baltimore, cars honked their horns and people waved flags in the air shouting and clapping.
Police officers and members of the Maryland National Guard remain stationed along the streets in anticipation of unrest.
Mosby assumed her role just four months ago, succeeding a long-standing white prosecutor, whom she accused of being too close to the police force.
Her quick and forceful response to the Freddie Gray investigation came as a surprise after authorities warned the public not to expect answers immediately.
Freddie Gray: The 25-year-old was poisoned by lead paint as a child growing up in Baltimore
Addressing police attempts to appoint a special prosecutor, Mosby explained she was elected by the people and will therefore be held accountable.
She rejected claims her judgement would be compromised by her ties with Bill Murphy, the Gray family lawyer.
Murphy was among Mosby's biggest campaign contributors last year, donating the maximum individual amount allowed, $4,000, in June.
Murphy also served on Mosby's transition team after the election.
Further, she added that her husband's role as a Baltimore City councilman does not pose a conflict of interest, insisting he makes the law and she imposes the law.
Ahead of the press conference, Mosby explained, she met with the Gray family.
'I told them no one is above the law and I would pursue justice upon their behalf,' she said.
Medical and law enforcement sources briefed on the police investigation told said Gray's 'catastrophic' head injuries were consistent with hitting a bolt 'in the back door of the van'.
They claimed there was 'no evidence' Gray sustained a fatal spine injury during his arrest, which was caught on camera on a street side on April 12.
According to ABC's sources, Gray was standing in the van, bent over with his hand cuffed behind his back and his head pointing towards the back door.
It is believed he fell into the door, breaking his neck.
The claims have been disputed by some who insist the bolts are too smooth to inflict damage or even leave a mark.
The suggestion was the latest dramatic development after Baltimore Police admitted the van transporting Gray made a previously unreported stop.
The mysterious detail was picked up by a privately-owned security camera, and will be integral to the police investigation into Gray's death, which was completed and handed to the state prosecutor on Thursday morning.
It is not known why the van stopped at the corner of North Fremont Ave and Mosher Street before it made another two stops then finally transported Gray to the hospital.
And police have yet to clarify why Gray would have been standing without a seat belt on. Just nine days before his arrest, the Baltimore Police Department issued a new policy, making it obligatory to belt all inmates placed in the back of a transport van.
Police Commissioner Anthony Batts refused to elaborate on the new information.
Quote:
FREDDIE GRAY: THE CHARGES
Officer Caesar R. Goodson Jr
1. Second degree depraved heart murder. Maximum sentence: 30 years
2. Manslaughter (involuntary). Ten years.
3. Assault / second degree. Ten years.
4. Manslaughter by vehicle (gross negligence). Ten years.
5. Manslaughter by vehicle (criminal negligence). Three years.
6. Misconduct in office. At court's discretion.
Officer William G. Porter
1. Manslaughter (involuntary. Ten years.
2. Assault / second degree. Ten years.
3. Misconduct in office. At court's discretion.
Lt Brian W. Rice
1. Manslaughter (involuntary). Ten years.
2. Assault / second degree. Ten years.
3. Assault / second degree. Ten years.
4. Misconduct in office. At court's discretion.
5. Misconduct in office. At court's discretion.
6. False imprisonment. At court's discretion.
Officer Edward M. Nero
1. Assault / second degree. Ten years.
2. Assault / second degree. Ten years.
3. Misconduct in office. At court's discretion.
4. Misconduct in office. At court's discretion.
5. False imprisonment. At court's discretion.
Officer Garret E. Miller
1. Assault / second degree. Ten years.
2. Assault / second degree. Ten years.
3. Misconduct in office. At court's discretion.
4. Misconduct in office. At court's discretion.
5. False imprisonment. At court's discretion.
Sgt Alicia D. White
1. Manslaughter (involuntary). Ten years.
2. Assault / second degree. Ten years.
3. Misconduct in office. At court's discretion.
|
2 Officers in Gray Case had Trouble Before
MORE > Witness Talks:
Second Man in Police Transport Van Speaks Out
Donta Allen describes what he heard in van transporting Freddie Gray
BALTIMORE —The other man who was loaded into the police transport van carrying Freddie Gray spoke out Thursday for the first time.
West Baltimore resident Donta Allen, 22, was the second man loaded into the police van near the end of the run on April 12.
He raised controversy with what he told police because he told them something he really he had to speculate on because he wouldn't have known for sure.
"On the morning of April 12, I went into a store right here at Penn/North Avenue to get a cigarette," Allen said.
Allen was picked up by city police at the corner of Pennsylvania and North avenues on a suspicion of stealing. The city's camera system recorded the van that arrived and picked up Allen. It was the same van that was carrying Gray.
Allen said he did not know a man was already in the van. Gray was on the right side and Allen was loaded on the left side with a divider separating them.
Allen described what he heard: "When I got in the van, I didn't hear nothing. It was a smooth ride. We went straight to the police station. All I heard was a little banging for about four seconds. I just heard little banging, just little banging."
Asked whether he told police whether he heard Gray banging his head against the van, Allen said, "I told homicide that. I don't work for the police. I did not tell the police nothing."
According to the autopsy on Gray, there is no evidence that Gray hit his head against anything on his own. His fatal neck and spinal injury was a kin to the type suffered in a car accident; it needed that amount of force and energy.
Allen Speaks Out:
By the time Allen was loaded into the van, Gray was unresponsive. Citiwatch camera video shows officers looking into the Gray's side of the van with the doors fully open.
Medical experts said as Gray's condition deteriorated after the injury occurred, he may have suffered seizures.
Allen told the 11 News I-Team what he heard when the van arrived at the Western District Police Station:
"When we got to the police station, they said he didn't have no pulse or nothing. They called his name, 'Mr. Gray, Mr. Gray.' And he wasn't responsive."
Allen said that once they got to the Western District, officers started to write out a citation for him but didn't even present it to him and instead took him down to the homicide unit.
The investigation was submitted Thursday to the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office. It focuses on a couple of very key questions:
1. Is there something that the driver of the police transport van did to cause Gray to slide into the back of the van to somehow injure his head with such force that it snapped his neck and caused that severe spinal cord injury?
2. Did the officers do what police are required to do? That is to maintain the care and safety of a prisoner in their custody. They were supposed to belt Gray in securely with a seat belt, but their own lawyer, the police union's lawyer, said that did not happen.
3. Officers are also required under policy to call for a medic when they think it is necessary or when they think it is requested. The Police Department has already acknowledged that Gray requested medical help two or three times along the 45-minute timeline of his arrest but did not receive it.
Police Officers to Face Homicide Charges in Gray Case;
Baltimore Police Drag Freddie Gray to Van
Freddie Gray in Hospital on Life Support