Baltimore Sun – by Pamela Wood and Scott Dance
The six Baltimore police officers involved in the arrest of Freddie Gray – who died last month after being injured in police custody – have been charged criminally, State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced Friday.
Mosby’s announcement on the steps of the War Memorial Building was greeted with cheers and applause. Mosby said she told Gray’s family that “no one is above the law and I would pursue justice upon their behalf.”
Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby has ruled that the death of Freddie Gray while under arrest by Baltimore police was a homicide.
“I did not expect this, but I prayed for it,” he said. “This day means that your actions bring consequences in Baltimore City.”
Word traveled quickly of the charges against the officers. In West Baltimore, cars honked their horns. A man hanging out of a truck window pumped his fists and yelled; “Justice! Justice! Justice!”
At the corner where Gray was arrested, 53-year-old Willie Rooks held his hands up in peace signs and screamed, “Justice!”
Officer Caesar Goodson Jr., 45, who was the driver of a police van that carried Gray through the streets of Baltimore, was charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, second-degree assault, two vehicular manslaughter charges and misconduct in office.
Officer William Porter, 25, was charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault and misconduct in office.
Lt. Brian Rice, 41, was charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault and misconduct in office.
Sgt. Alicia White, 30, was charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault and misconduct in office.
Officer Edward Nero, 29, was charged with second-degree assault and misconduct in office.
Officer Garrett Miller, 26, was charged with second-degree assault, misconduct in office and false imprisonment.
If convicted of all charges, Goodson would face up to 63 years in prison. Rice would face up to 30 years and Porter, Nero, Miller and White would face up to 20 years.
Warrants were issued for the arrest of all six officers. It wasn’t immediately clear where the officers were Friday morning.
“We’re not sure what time they are coming in. They will go through the process like anyone else,” said Gerard Shields, a spokesman for the department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.
After the officers are arrested they will go to Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center downtown to be processed and where they will have their bail set by a court commissioner within 24 hours. If they are not released or cannot post bail, they will go before a judge in District Court the next business day.
If they are held, Shields wouldn’t say where they would be placed in the jail, citing “security reasons.”
Gray, 25, was chased down and arrested by Baltimore officers on April 12 and died a week later. His family has said he suffered a spinal cord injury and a crushed voice box.
Just before Mosby announced the criminal charges, the Fraternal Order of Police defended the officers involved.
“Not one of the officers involved in this tragic situation left home in the morning with the anticipation that someone with whom they interacted would not go home that night,” Gene Ryan, president of FOP Lodge 3, wrote in a letter to Mosby. “As tragic as this situation is, none of the officers involved are responsible for the death of Mr. Gray.”
After bystander video of the April 12 arrest surfaced, showing Gray dragging his feet as he was put in a police transport van, there have been cries for charges against the officers.
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.
In a detailed recounting of the events, Mosby described Gray being repeatedly denied medical attention by police officers, even as he asked for medical help and later was unresponsive in a police van.
Gray suffered a “severe and critical neck injury” as a result of being handcuffed, shackled and being unrestrained in the van.
Mosby said an investigation found officers placed Gray in wrist and ankle restraints and left him stomach-down on the floor of a police van as they drove around West Baltimore. Despite his repeated requests for medical attention, they did not provide it and continued to drive without securing him in the van, she said.
Officers on at least five occasions placed Gray in the van or checked on him and failed to secure him, she said. By the time they reached the Western District police station, he was not breathing and was in cardiac arrest, she said.
Mosby said her office did a “comprehensive, thorough and independent” investigation that began April 13, the day after Gray was injured.
“My team worked around the clock, 12- and 14-hour days,” she said.
Mosby worked quickly in filing charges. Baltimore Police handed over their investigation to her office Thursday, one day earlier than they had promised.
The Fraternal Order of Police asked Mosby to appoint an independent prosecutor in the case, citing her ties to the Gray family’s attorney, William Murphy, as well as her lead prosecutor’s connections to members of the local media. Murphy donated $5,000 to Mosby’s campaign and served on her transition committee.
“While I have the utmost respect for you and your office, I have very deep concerns about the many conflicts of interest presented by your office conducting an investigation in this case,” Ryan wrote in his letter.
The FOP letter also expresses concerns regarding Mosby’s marriage to Baltimore City Councilman Nick Mosby.
“Most importantly, it is clear that your husband’s political future will be directly impacted, for better or worse, by the outcome of your investigation,” the letter states. “In order to avoid any appearance of impropriety or a violation of the Professional Rules of Professional Responsibility, I ask that you appoint a Special Prosecutor to determine whether or not any charges should be filed.”
Mosby responded to that request by saying: “The people of Baltimore City elected me and there is no accountability with a special prosecutor.”
“I will prosecute any case within my jurisdiction,” she added.
Following Gray’s death, demonstrations and protests began peacefully but turned violent on Saturday and Monday. Monday’s events included rioting, arson and property damage in pockets of the city.
Officials responded by declaring a state of emergency, instituting a nightly curfew and calling in help from state troopers and the Maryland National Guard.
Mosby called on the public to remain calm.
“I heard your call for ‘no justice, no peace,'” she said. “Your peace is sincerely needed as I work to deliver justice on behalf of this young man.”
Demonstrations were planned in Baltimore for Friday night and Saturday, well before Mosby made her announcement of criminal charges against the officers.
A group called the Bmore United Coalition plans to meet at the state’s attorney’s office at 3 p.m. and march to City Hall. The People’s Power Assembly plans a protest at the Inner Harbor at 5 p.m.
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is expected to address the criminal charges against the officers at 1 p.m.
Gov. Larry Hogan, who has been in Baltimore all week, said he had no immediate reaction to the officers being charged. He said his sole job is to keep the peace.
Hogan said he has faith in the justice system and his primary goal is to urge people to react peacefully.
Baltimore City Councilwoman Helen Holton called Friday’s announcement of charges “a defining moment for Baltimore. We should all be proud.”
“This is a good day,” she said. “I’m excited for my city. This speaks to decades of problems we have faced in this city and we’re beginning a new chapter today into real justice. This will allow us to begin to address the systemic problems that make us a tale of two cities.”
The Rev. Jesse Jackson said Mosby deserves to be congratulated but cautioned the criminal charges are only a start to a “lengthy process.”
Reactions on the streets were a mix of celebration and lingering concern.
In Gilmor Homes, the neighborhood where Gray was arrested, things were quiet Friday, with a police helicopter circling overhead. At the intersection of North Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue, the focus of rioting Monday and demonstrations all week, traffic moved through with many motorists honking their horns.
Meecah Tucker, 23, wearing a T-shirt that read, “I Bleed Baltimore,” said: “If it was one of us doing that against a police officer, it would be first-degree murder.”
Waiting to catch a bus near the Western District Police Station, Joann El-Amin said her husband called to give her the news about the officers being charged. “Everyone should be punished if they did something wrong,” she said.
But she wasn’t keen on the protests that turned violent.
“I just wish they’d stop this foolishness; the people tearing up their own neighborhoods. It makes no sense. I told my son, who works downtown, to go home and not get caught up in it. …You don’t know if the crowd is peaceful or full of foolish people. I didn’t need to protest. I knew it would come out in the wash,” she said.
Dwayne Wright, 44, said: “An indictment is not a conviction. They had to do something. I definitely feel leaders could have done it in other cases.”
Michael Hall, 52, said he hoped the charges weren’t filed just in an attempt to calm violence in the city.
“I hope she doesn’t pin it on one of them when it’s time for trial,” he said. “Are they gonna stick by these charges?”
This story will be updated.
Baltimore Sun reporters Yvonne Wenger, Meredith Cohn, Erica L. Green, Jessica Anderson, Kevin Rector, Erin Cox, Justin Fenton, Mark Puente, Doug Donovan, Liz Bowie and Alison Knezevich contributed to this report.
pwood@baltsun.com
twitter.com/pwoodreporter
Copyright © 2015, The Baltimore Sun
The F.O.P and the Police Unions should either stop defending these rogue cops or be totally banned!
I guess no one bought the “he severed his own spine” hail mary pass.
“If convicted of all charges, Goodson would face up to 63 years in prison. Rice would face up to 30 years and Porter, Nero, Miller and White would face up to 20 years.”
Probation, and their jobs back upon completion.