The Lt. was found not guilty on all charges.

7/18/2016 10:57:18 AM

Quote :

"Lt. Brian Rice faced charges of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office. He opted for a bench trial by Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams. The judge previously dismissed a second-degree assault charge, and prosecutors dropped a second misconduct charge against the 42-year-old officer, who is white. Rice's failure to seatbelt Gray, Williams said, may have been an error in judgment and a violation of updated policy -- but the judge found prosecutors failed to prove it rose to a criminal level. "The state failed to show that the defendant, even if he was aware of the risk, consciously disregarded that risk," the judge said."

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/07/18/highest-ranking-officer-charged-in-freddie-gray-case-acquitted-on-all-counts.html

[Edited on July 18, 2016 at 11:42 AM. Reason : ]

7/18/2016 11:42:09 AM

Remaining charges being dropped.

So guess no big deal eh? Nothing to see here move along please.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/freddie-gray/bs-md-ci-miller-pretrial-motions-20160727-story.html

7/27/2016 10:26:18 AM

apparently he killed himself

7/27/2016 10:48:37 AM

Yep, no one killed him. He just spontaneously snapped his own spinal cord

7/27/2016 12:26:48 PM

He was probably really upset about getting arrested.

7/27/2016 12:31:04 PM

The DA was too concerned with launching her political career to be bothered building a case against anyone.

7/27/2016 2:23:04 PM

^ Partly. Way too often in highly politicized or high profile cases like this the DA overcharges. This was clearly the case here.

I sometimes wonder if they overcharged on purpose. It serves the dual role of mollifying the public by saying, hey look we're pressing charges but keeps that cozy police/prosecutor relationship intact because they either don't zealously pursue a conviction or can't meet the burden of proof needed for the charges they sought.

It's a shame that none of these cops are going to see any prison time, but it's not the judge's fault. This goes squarely on the DA.

7/27/2016 8:45:50 PM

Quote :

"can't meet the burden of proof needed for the charges they sought. "

That speaks to the heavier charge of 2nd degree murder, but they couldn't prove reckless endangerment as charged? Involuntary manslaughter? This case seems to perfectly fit the definition of involuntary manslaughter. Only one officer was over-charged with murder, others were manslaughter at worst and down.

7/27/2016 8:51:56 PM

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/freddie-gray/bs-md-ci-rice-verdict-20160718-story.html

I mean, apparently not. I don't know the legal definition in Maryland for the various charges they presented, bit based on the fact that they lost every case and dropped the rest it seems like they overcharged. Also, is Maryland a state that does not allow convicting for a lesser charge (ie charged with assault and battery, but found guilty of simple assault) if that's the case then the prosecutors really fucked up. It seems like there was minimal physical evidence, no real eye witness testimony, and they were relying on circumstantial evidence. I think the cops should have been found guilty of something, but I am not sure what they could actually prove.

Prosecutors have a responsibility to charge what they can prove, there was no way the officers were ever going to plead to a lesser charge.

At an absolute bare minimum a couple of them should probably get fired but I'm sure that union protection will keep that from happening.

It looked to me from the cell phone video that he was fucked up before he was ever put in the van, the way he was moaning an dragging his legs is weird, but I guess that wasn't the case.

7/27/2016 9:49:31 PM

DA seemed like they prepared for a jury trial for the judge

7/27/2016 9:50:13 PM

Yeah, that too. Judge was clearly much more dispassionate and applied the strict legal definition of each charge, as he should, and wasn't swayed by emotional appeal the way a jury would be.

Here's a good summary of how they fucked up in earlier cases with assault charges for an arrest.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/freddie-gray/bs-md-ci-nero-verdict-20160521-story.html

Pretty good read. The guy wasn't even actively involved in cufflink Gray and was still charged with assault and a few other things.

[Edited on July 27, 2016 at 9:58 PM. Reason : Article]

7/27/2016 9:52:17 PM

^they needed white faces for the mugshot press releases, so 2 of the bike cops were just thrown in for good measure.

I always wondered if the judge believe the DA's office even met the burden of proof to proceed with a trial instead of dismissing it. A dismissal could have left the police officers open for being tried again. Instead, the judge issued a ruling that all but eliminated any chance at a appeal while shitting all over the DA for their horrible strategy and illegal withholding of evidence from the defense.

7/27/2016 11:12:52 PM

7/29/2016 5:38:48 PM

Do we get to discuss Korryn Gaines now?

8/2/2016 10:34:08 PM

Make a new thread. You know how this works

8/2/2016 10:39:11 PM

^

8/2/2016 10:43:18 PM