CNN Breaking News: Six police officers have been charged in the death of Freddie Gray

[brooklynite]

Six police officers have been charged in the death of Freddie Gray, Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby said today.

One officer -- the driver of the police van -- has been charged with several counts, including second-degree depraved-heart murder. Another officer has been charged with several counts, including manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter. Two other officers have been charged with several counts, including involuntary manslaughter. And two officers are charged with several counts, including second-degree assault.

Get complete coverage of breaking news on CNN TV, CNN.com and CNN Mobile.



One CNN Center Atlanta, GA 30303
(c) & (r) 2015 Cable News Network

[MoonRiver]

1. My faith in the justice system just got a shot of hope in the arm!

Marilyn Mosby is a hero!

[gordianot]

2. What is the world coming to CNN with the correct story but just wait they will screw it up.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. Greatest Page for this important story! n/t

[Dr Hobbitstein]

4. Excellent news!

Unlike Ferguson, I had complete faith in the city of Baltimore. Glad to see it wasn't misplaced.

[Vattel]

8. I have been saying that Mayor Rawlings-Blake and Commissioner Batts want justice here.

They have been trying to address police misconduct, but it is not easy.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

11. Yeah, after everything had gone down

I looked into Commissioner Batts, and realized he was cleaning up the corruption in the PD. A real life James Gordon, as it were. It takes time to rout out systematic corruption.

[Vattel]

13. I love Baltimore, and Batts is definitely on the side of Baltimore.

[Warren Stupidity]

5. So is anyone going to investigate the bullshit WaPo "leak"?

or is that going to be swept under the rug?

Plus "involuntary manslaughter"? fuck that. There was nothing involuntary about this. They murdered him and they are all accomplices in murder.

[jeff47]

14. Manslaughter vs murder is probably a legal definition vs common definition issue.

Not familiar with MD law, but there's probably something that makes involuntary manslaughter the legally correct charge despite the common definition.

Failing to obtain medical treatment, for example, may not count as murder under MD statutes.

[hamsterjill]

6. Can someone please explain what "second degree depraved-heart" murder is?

I'm not familiar with that term.

Thank you in advance.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

7. Callous indifference to human life.

You don't have to necessarily plan to kill someone, but if you intentionally do something that places them in a position that there's a high probability they would die, you are guilty of murder.

[hamsterjill]

9. Thank you.

n/t

[KingCharlemagne]

15. Was the real crime when they put him into the paddy wagon without securing him with a seat belt? I'm

just trying to make sure I understand exactly what Ms. Mosby's office will have to prove to get a verdict of guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

18. The "rough ride" is what gave cause for the 2nd Degree murder charge.

Hence that's why the driver got that additional charge.

The failure to seat belt Gray would be manslaughter, since at the very least, it is gross negligence and a violation of protocol.

[KingCharlemagne]

21. Thanks! I missed the opening few minutes of Ms. Mosby's press conference and so did not

hear her recapitulation of the full timeline. I got to it just as Ms. Mosby finished the timeline and began laying out the charges.

[Jackpine Radical]

42. Thanks. (nt)

[Ed Suspicious]

31. i love the term. the officers were depraved indeed.

[bananas]

33. Wikipedia has an entry on "Depraved-Heart Murder"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depraved-heart_murder

Depraved-heart murder, also known as depraved-indifference murder, is an American legal term for an action that demonstrates a "callous disregard for human life" and results in death. In most states, depraved-heart killings constitute second-degree murder.[1]

If no death results, such acts would generally be defined as reckless endangerment (sometimes known as "culpable negligence&quot and possibly other crimes, such as assault.

Contents

1 Common law background
2 Under the Model Penal Code
3 International equivalents
4 References

<snip>

[corkhead]

10. I wonder if this would have come down this way had the rioting not happened

I hope this sends a message far and wide to law enforcement that they are going to be held accountable for their "depraved-heart" actions culture.

[dumbcat]

22. That is a very good question

and I really wish I knew the answer for sure. I'd like to say justice would have prevailed eventually, but I really don't believe it.

[Jackpine Radical]

44. "Depraved-heart culture."

That is the most succinct description I have yet heard for cop culture, and as I think about it, it pretty much extends to the entire Republican contingent in Congress.

[heaven05]

45. apt description

of police culture....

[Jim__]

12. Great news!

[BlancheSplanchnik]

16. finally.

Finally, finally!

HALLELUJAH!

[Scurrilous]

17. Good!

[SunSeeker]

19. WOW

[cherokeeprogressive]

20. This is AWESOME news!

Now all we need is for them to be tried together, in front of 12 Black Ladies with children.

[brush]

30. Something close to that is likely to happen

Baltimore is a majority Black city.

Those prosecutors in Ferguson and Staten Island should be ashamed of themselves about now.

[jwirr]

23. Anyone know why the thread on this in Latest Threads was locked? It said it was off topic? Have

not idea why they would do that. Thank you brooklynite for this one. In that post most of them were also charged with false imprisonment.

[brooklynite]

25. Always look in the last post: this was a duplicate thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141082082

[jwirr]

27. Thank you. This old lady is not alway computer savvy.

[magical thyme]

34. it was a duplicate OP

same news was posted at 10:56 am. It's right near the top of late breaking news right now.

[MaggieD]

24. I hope the tide is turning

Now we will wait and see if they are convicted. A few good convictions would resonant through police departments everywhere!

[AgingAmerican]

26. In this case, perhaps

...in general, no. 90% of cops are FOX news watching Republicans.

[MaggieD]

28. I'm not overly optimistic

... just hopeful. I think one of the primary problems is that they have learned that in general they can get away with it. If a few of them get 20 to life maybe that will be instructional to some of the others.

[RiverNoord]

29. The time for establishing true professional standards for law enforcement

has come. In particular, state law enforcement must adopt and commit to formal standards for use of force, handling of prisoners, de-escalation, and oversight.

Unfortunately, just like any other line of work, to get truly professional work you need to pay professional level salaries. Just the opposite of what is happening with to teachers...

[fbc]

32. have they actually been arrested?

[grahamhgreen]

35. Good question!

[librechik]

36. gawd--can we stop hearing how he hurt himself now?

getting on my last nerve

[Takket]

37. does this have to go to a grand jury?

and if so, will we see a repeat of Michael Brown where the prosecutor withheld evidence and acted as the defense attorney so no charges would be filed.... because I can't take another round of that.

[Vattel]

46. no it doesn't

[Amishman]

38. good! and I am also glad to see that the level of the charges seems appropriate

Manslaughter against all and murder two against the driver seems about right. True murder charges against all would be a waste of time as it will be extremely difficult to prove intent (especially with the blue wall of silence). In general I can't support prosecutors overreaching and adding charges which they know won't stand up, and I'm not going to change my mind on that just for this case.

For murder charges to stick, the prosecution will need to prove intent. For the driver that might be possible as his activities behind the wheel could offer insight. But for the rest I cannot see how it can be proven unless someone speaks out or slips up.

Manslaughter should be much easier to prove for the rest. It pretty much comes down to the question 'did your reckless actions directly result in the death of another?'. That should be pretty easy to prove based on information we already know.

[gwheezie]

39. I'm just quessing

But the van stopped several times and Freddie begged for medical attention. They had to pick him up off the floor twice. If the van driver knew he was injured and continued the rough ride, yeah that's murder.

[Amishman]

43. i agree, thats why murder 2 against the driver is appropriate.

Intent can be judged by his driving. We don't have a measurable indicator of intent from the others (though we can certainly guess).

[Jackpine Radical]

47. There was clear, easily demonstrable intent to injure, if not to kill.

Gray is not the first person to come out of a Baltimore police wagon with serious injuries. Relatives of Dondi Johnson Sr., who was left a paraplegic after a 2005 police van ride, won a $7.4 million verdict against police officers. A year earlier, Jeffrey Alston was awarded $39 million by a jury after he became paralyzed from the neck down as the result of a van ride. Others have also received payouts after filing lawsuits.

For some, such injuries have been inflicted by what is known as a "rough ride" — an "unsanctioned technique" in which police vans are driven to cause "injury or pain" to unbuckled, handcuffed detainees, former city police officer Charles J. Key testified as an expert five years ago in a lawsuit over Johnson's subsequent death.

As daily protests continue in the streets of Baltimore, authorities are trying to determine how Gray was injured, and their focus is on the 30-minute van ride that followed his arrest. "It's clear what happened, happened inside the van," Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Monday at a news conference.

Christine Abbott, a 27-year-old assistant librarian at the Johns Hopkins University, is suing city officers in federal court, alleging that she got such a ride in 2012. According to the suit, officers cuffed Abbott's hands behind her back, threw her into a police van, left her unbuckled and "maniacally drove" her to the Northern District police station, "tossing [her] around the interior of the police van."

[samsingh]

40. kick

[G_j]

41. higher ups should also be held accountable!

In all these cases, there has been systematic criminal behavior. There is more responsibility that needs to be taken.

[Jackpine Radical]

48. Any superior who participated in a coverup was an accessory after the fact,

and equally culpable.