Friday, May 1, 2015

Six officers charged by the State's Attorney in connection with the death of Freddie Gray

State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby

The prosecutor filed a big set of charges today.

It looks like the driver of the van has been charged with second degree murder (I assume in relation to his "rough ride" driving of the van); two other officers were charged with involuntary manslaughter, and two others were charged with second degree assault.

Ok, then. Time to let the system play out. Judging from these charges, I would assume that the State's Attorney has more information that the general public does. Here's the part that I think is really interesting, and could be a big deal:
Mosby said Gray was improperly arrested because officers had no probable cause to detain him. Officers found a knife in Gray's pants, but it was not a switchblade, as police previously said, and was legal under Maryland law.
Wow. If that's true, then this story really takes a turn for the prosecution of these guys. If the police didn't even have cause to arrest Gray, then they are in big trouble. That's the kind of thing that is going to make a jury mad.

1 comment:

  1. The law applies to bad cops; the law applies to rioters too. Backing one or the other unreflectively is tribalism.

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