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All six Baltimore police officers in Freddie Gray case indicted by grand jury All six Baltimore police officers in Freddie Gray case indicted by grand jury
(35 minutes later)
The state’s attorney in Baltimore says all six officers charged in the police-custody death of Freddie Gray have been indicted by a grand jury. A grand jury in Baltimore has indicted all six police officers charged over the death of Freddie Gray, paving the way for a criminal trial in the Maryland courts.
State’s attorney Marilyn Mosby made the announcement on Thursday. The charges returned by the grand jury were similar to the charges Mosby announced about three weeks ago. Baltimore state’s attorney Marilyn Mosby announced on Thursday that some of the charges against the officers, whom she had already charged earlier in the month, had been amended.
Mosby has said Gray’s neck was broken because he was injured while being handcuffed, shackled and placed head-first into a police van. She says his pleas for medical attention were repeatedly ignored. The most serious charges – of second-degree murder against officer Caesar Goodson, and involuntary manslaughter against four of the officers – remained unchanged. But in some cases the existing charges laid down by Mosby were made more severe by the grand jury.
Gray was arrested on 12 April. He died in a hospital a week later and became a symbol of what protesters say was police brutality against black people. Officer Edward Nero now faces a charge of intentional second-degree assault, and all six officers now face charges of reckless endangerment. Three charges of false imprisonment, against the officers who made the arrest on Gray, will no longer be pursued, but the same officers face misconduct charges for performing an illegal arrest.
Here are the revised charges against the 6 Baltimore cops over Freddie Gray's death, as announced by @MarilynMosbyEsq pic.twitter.com/KBE06VoVSN “Additional information has been discovered and as is often the case during an ongoing investigation charges can and should be revised based on the evidence,” Mosby said.
She added that all six, who were freed on bail after posting bonds of several hundred thousand dollars each, would be arraigned in court on 2 July.
“Now that the grand jury has also found probable cause to charge the aforementioned officers based upon the evidence these officers who are presumed innocent until proven guilty, are now scheduled to be arraigned on July 2,” Mosby said.
Gray, 25, was arrested on 12 April after making eye contact with a Baltimore police lieutenant, who chased Gray and apprehended him with other officers and then placed him inside a police van.
Gray suffered a severe spinal injury at some point during an extended journey in the back of the van. He died a week later, sparking a wave of protest and civil unrest in Baltimore.
Unlike the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson and Eric Garner in Staten Island – where the officers responsible were not charged by a grand jury – Thursday’s announcement in Baltimore was largely expected following Mosby’s announcement of charges on 1 May. No defense case was presented to the grand jury, which consisted of up to 23 people.
The grand jury decision is likely to strengthen Mosby’s positioning, following calls for her to step aside from the case over allegations of a conflict of interest.
The state’s attorney’s office ran an independent investigation into Gray’s death at the same time as Baltimore police conducted their own inquiry. Mosby announced the charges one day after police handed their findings to her office.
Mosby has faced a barrage of litigation from lawyers working for the six officers, arguing she suffers conflicted interests in the case and that the argument Gray was illegally arrested is false. Lawyers acting for the officers have also threatened to sue Mosby if the charges are not dropped.
Mosby has repeatedly declined to step aside from the case, arguing she has no conflict of interest. She has also refused to present any evidence before a trial starts.
Revised charges against Baltimore police officers
[bold = revised charge;
strikethrough
= eliminated charge]
Officer Caesar Goodson
Officer William Porter
Lt Brian Rice
Officer Edward Nero
Officer Garrett Miller
Sgt Alicia White