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Baltimore Police Lieutenant Acquitted In Freddie Gray Case

Baltimore Police Lieutenant Acquitted In Freddie Gray Case

BALTIMORE (Reuters) – A Baltimore police lieutenant was acquitted of manslaughter and two other charges in the April 2015 death of black detainee Freddie Gray, dealing prosecutors another setback in their efforts to secure a conviction in the highly charged case.

Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams found Lieutenant Brian Rice not guilty in a bench trial. Rice, 42, was the highest-ranking officer charged after Gray’s death from a broken neck suffered in a police transport van.

His death triggered protests and rioting in the mainly black city and stoked a national debate about how police treat minorities.

The controversy flared anew this month with the deaths of African-American men at the hands of police in Minnesota and Louisiana. Tensions were heightened further after police officers were killed in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake asked the community to continue to respect the judicial process during “a very difficult time for our city.”

The scene outside the courthouse in Baltimore on Monday was calm, with only a handful of protesters.

Rice was the fourth of six officers to stand trial in the case. Williams previously acquitted Officers Edward Nero and Caesar Goodson Jr., both of whom were in court on Monday.

In a statement, Rawlings-Blake said Rice would still face a departmental review.

Officer William Porter faces a September retrial after a jury deadlocked.

Rice, who is white, ordered two officers on bicycle to chase Gray, 25, when he fled unprovoked in a high-crime area.

Prosecutors said Rice acted negligently by failing to place Gray in a seat belt.

But defense lawyers said Rice was allowed leeway on how to secure a prisoner. The officer made the correct split-second decision while Gray was being combative and a hostile crowd looked on, they said.

Williams, who heard the case without a jury at Rice’s request, said prosecutors failed to show the lieutenant was aware of a departmental policy requiring seat belts for prisoners during transport.

“A mere error in judgment is not enough to show corruption,” the judge said. Rice had faced charges of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office.

The verdict could renew calls from police union leaders to drop charges against the remaining officers.

In addition to Porter’s retrial, Officer Garrett Miller is scheduled for trial later this month, while Sergeant Alicia White’s trial is set for October.

Warren Alperstein, a Baltimore defense attorney who attended the trial as a spectator, said he was “not surprised by the verdict whatsoever.”

“At the end of the day, the state may have to say we’re cutting our losses and moving on,” he said.

 

(Writing by Ian Simpson in Washington and Joseph Ax in New York; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Jeffrey Benkoe)

Photo: A man participates in a protest in Union Square after Baltimore Police Officer Caesar Goodson Jr. was acquitted of all charges for his involvement in the death of Freddie Gray in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S., June 23, 2016.  REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

Baltimore Mayor Fires Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts

Baltimore Mayor Fires Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts

By Yvonne Wenger, The Baltimore Sun (TNS)

BALTIMORE — Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Wednesday that she has replaced Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts, citing “utmost urgency” to stop a recent surge in violence.

“We cannot grow Baltimore without making our city a safer place to live,” Rawlings-Blake said at a news conference at City Hall. “We need a change. This was not an easy decision, but it is one that is in the best interest of the people of Baltimore. The people of Baltimore deserve better.”

Rawlings-Blake named Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Davis interim commissioner, effective immediately.

Rawlings-Blake’s decision came hours after she lashed out at the city’s police union for its highly critical report of the Police Department leadership during last month’s rioting. She did not respond to a call for Batts’ resignation from faith coalition Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development.

She said the Fraternal Order of Police report did not play a role in her decision and that her motivation was instead the spate of murders that has erupted in the city over the past month.

Rawlings-Blake commended Batts for his service, citing improvements in transparency and accountability.

“Over the past three years, Commissioner Batts has served our city with distinction,” she said.

But she said new leadership was needed to stem a recent surge of violence, including the deaths of three people in a quadruple shooting near the University of Maryland, Baltimore, on Tuesday night.

The city’s homicide rate spiked soon after riots overtook much of West Baltimore on April 27. The city recorded 42 homicides in May, the deadliest month in 25 years. There have been 31 homicides in the past month.

Batts has led the city’s police force since October 2012. He last served as police chief in Long Beach, Calif., and Oakland, Calif. He earned more than $200,000 a year.

Delegate Curt Anderson, a Baltimore Democrat and co-chair of the state’s new working group on public safety, said the move was inevitable.

“I know there was a lot of frustration over what was going on in Baltimore,” Anderson said. “Clearly when the discussion about the police commissioner becomes more important than actual problem, the mayor has to remove that obstacle.”

Davis, who has most recently served as deputy commissioner, has a long history in law enforcement.

He previously served as police chief in Anne Arundel County and assistant police chief in Prince George’s County.

“It’s all about the crime fight, and it’s all about the relationships with our community,” Davis said at the press conference.

(The Baltimore Sun’s Scott Dance and Justin Fenton contributed to this report.)

(c)2015 The Baltimore Sun. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

File photo: Baltimore firefighters battle a three-alarm fire at Gay and Chester Streets on Monday, April 27, 2015, in Baltimore. (Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun/TNS)

Baltimore Mayor Seeks U.S. Probe Of Police; Governor Lifts Emergency

Baltimore Mayor Seeks U.S. Probe Of Police; Governor Lifts Emergency

By Sarah Parvini, Los Angeles Times (TNS)

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan lifted the state of emergency in Baltimore on Wednesday, shortly after Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said she has asked the U.S. Justice Department to investigate the city’s Police Department.

Hogan praised the National Guard and the police officers who “quickly brought calm and order back to the city.”

“We touched every corner of the city we could reach. We saw devastation and destruction, but we also saw incredible acts of kindness,” Hogan said during a televised news conference. “We saw neighbors helping neighbors. We saw a community that cares about each other.”

Rawlings-Blake, who also announced that Baltimore officers would have body cameras by the end of the year, told reporters that she aimed to ensure the department is not engaging in “a pattern of stops, searches, or arrests that violate the Fourth Amendment.”

“Baltimore continues to have a fractured relationship between the police and the community,” she said. “We have to get it right. Failure is not an option.”

The Justice Department said it is weighing the mayor’s request for a “pattern or practice” investigation.

“The Attorney General is actively considering that option in light of what she heard from law enforcement, city officials, and community faith and youth leaders in Baltimore yesterday,” Justice Department spokeswoman Dena Iverson said in a statement emailed to reporters.

Rawlings-Blake’s announcement comes one day after a visit by U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who pledged to improve the police department. Lynch met with members of Freddie Gray’s family, community, civic leaders, and police.

Gray died April 19, a week after he was arrested by Baltimore officers, who had placed him in a police van to take him to precinct headquarters. But Gray, handcuffed with feet shackled, arrived unconscious and with a severed spine.

His death set off days of rioting and tense standoffs between protesters and police. Hundreds of demonstrators set police cars and businesses ablaze, throwing rocks and looting stores.

Of that rioting, Hogan said he “will never forget the lawlessness and violence” but will remember the “individual acts of charity and forgiveness” he saw.

Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby last week announced criminal charges against the six officers involved in Gray’s arrest and transport. The six, who face charges ranging from assault to second-degree murder, are free on bail.

City officials last year requested the Justice Department’s help in examining police practices and procedures, a long-simmering issue in Baltimore that became more urgent after a Baltimore Sun series found the city had paid nearly six million dollars since 2011 in court judgments and settlements for lawsuits alleging brutality and other misconduct.

Photo: Stephanie Rawlings-Blake via Facebook

Attorney General Loretta Lynch Meets With Freddie Gray’s Family

Attorney General Loretta Lynch Meets With Freddie Gray’s Family

By Alison Knezevich and Mark Puente, The Baltimore Sun (TNS)

BALTIMORE — U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch met with members of Freddie Gray’s family Tuesday, part of a tour that included discussions with officials and community leaders about the 25-year-old whose death sparked rioting and looting around the city.

At her first stop, at the University of Baltimore, she met with some members of Gray’s family; they left without commenting to the media waiting in the lobby.

Lynch’s visit comes four days after Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced criminal charges against six officers involved in Gray’s arrest and transport. He died April 19 — one week after suffering a spinal injury during the arrest.

The Gray case could be viewed as a key test for Lynch, the first African-American woman to hold the attorney general’s position.

In a news conference last Wednesday, Lynch denounced the “senseless acts of violence” on Baltimore streets, and the unrest in Maryland’s largest city consumed her first week as the nation’s top law enforcement official. Although Mosby charged the officers, the Justice Department is still conducting its own investigation into Gray’s death, as well as a collaborative review of the Baltimore Police Department.

City officials requested federal help in October to curb police abuses after a multipart Baltimore Sun investigation found that the city had paid nearly six million dollars since 2011 in court judgments and settlements for lawsuits alleging brutality and other misconduct.

The Sun found that dozens of black residents received battered faces and broken bones during questionable arrests. In nearly all of the cases, prosecutors or judges dismissed the charges against the suspects.

Issues surrounding Gray’s arrest mirror those in cases highlighted in the Sun’s investigation. As soon as Gray died, Mayor Stephanie-Rawlings Blake questioned why police stopped Gray in the Gilmor Homes housing complex. He fled after he and an officer locked eyes, but Mosby said Friday that police had no probable cause to stop him.

The deaths of Gray and several other men have sparked a national debate over the way police departments treat minorities.

In North Charleston, S.C., last month, a white officer was charged with murder after a video surfaced showing that he fired eight bullets into a black man’s back as he fled. The deaths of Eric Garner in New York and Tamir Rice in Cleveland at the hands of officers have also stoked outrage in recent months.

In Missouri, the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, by Officer Darren Wilson, who is white, sparked months of protests.

After the uprising in Ferguson, President Barack Obama dispatched then-Attorney General Eric Holder to address the tension.

Photo: The Hill via Twitter