Baltimore Grand Jury Indicts Six Officers in Freddie Gray's Death

[IDemo]

Source: NBC

A grand jury in Baltimore has indicted six officers in the death of Freddie Gray, the city's top prosecutor said Thursday.

In a hasty news conference, State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby reeled off the charges handed down by the grand jury against the officers, Garrett Miller, Alicia White, Edward Nero, Caesar Goodson Jr., Brian Rice and William Porter.

She did not explain the charges or take any questions from reporters.

In some cases the grand jury charges are more serious than the charges she filed May 1, the result of her office's independent investigation of Gray's death following his April 19 arrest. Gray sustained neck injuries while riding in a police van and died a week later.

Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/baltimore-unrest/baltimore-grand-jury-indicts-six-officers-freddie-grays-death-n362846

[misterhighwasted]

1. K & R

[BumRushDaShow]

2. I saw a NYT Breaking on this...

This was "step 2". Now to get through the trials (unless any of them try a plea deal)...

[Fournier]

3. This will discourage so called "nickel rides" in Baltimore.

Elsewhere too, I hope.

[BrotherIvan]

4. She's not backing down

JUSTICE! Go get it Ms. Mosby.

[peacebird]

5. Excellent news!

[calimary]

22. I hope she continues not backing down.

From everything I've heard and seen and read about, regarding this case, all six of those beasts indeed DID everything they're accused of doing.

[BrotherIvan]

23. The police union is trying to go after her

She should beat them back like the monsters they are. She is on the side of truth.

[azurnoir]

6. K&R 'bout time

[hrmjustin]

7. K&R!

[mountain grammy]

8. I'll never believe broke his neck and crushed his larynx in the back of that van.

I think the cops did it when they arrested him. It's obvious from the video, he couldn't move his legs when they threw him in that van.

Disgusting brutes.. they killed that man.

[LoisB]

11. I totally agree.

[awoke_in_2003]

14. I said it before...

but no one responded to it- cops love to kneel on people's shoulders. Should the knee slip up higher onto the neck, severing the spinal cord on crushing the larynx on the sidewalk would be easy.

[C Moon]

18. I noticed that. And when they do, it appears they drop down hard on that knee, too.

It looks like they intend on injuring the suspect with their knee.

[Fournier]

17. The prosecutor disagrees with you.

His legs were limp because they had just tased him. If you watch the video, you can see him move one leg as he is frog marched/dragged to the van.

The prosecution theory is that he was taken for a "rough ride" in the van. He had no seatbelt, and the driver made sudden stops and sharp left and right turns, tossing him around in the van like a ball in a spraypaint can. That's why the driver is charged with manslaughter and a second-degree "depraved heart" murder. The cops call this a "nickel ride," by analogy with amusement park rides. Obviously they've been doing this for a long time, even back when amusement park rides were a nickel.

But you are certainly entitled to your view.

[mountain grammy]

20. The prosecution does have a theory

but I expect the driver's attorney will have a vigorous defense based on the fact the man was beaten and abused before he was thrown into the van. His injuries could have happened then. A knee on the neck, perhaps?

[Fournier]

26. Your scenario is possible.

The key would be witnesses.

[TorchTheWitch]

21. that's what I believe as well

Seemed obvious to me that he was already injured when being dragged to the van... his head at an odd angle, his legs dragging uselessly, his screaming his head off in pain... seemed pretty obvious that the injury occurred long before he was put into the van like a sake of potatoes unable to climb in himself.

I don't know what happened as to how his injury occurred, but it happened when he was arrested long before the van ride. Could very well be his injury was accidental... no idea, and there's no video or any apparent witnesses to it. However, his being obviously injured and the cops dragging him off like that without getting medical attention or even risking moving him at all and then the van ride without his being secured... reprehensible.

I just can't understand why anyone believes he was uninjured until he was in the van with seeing that video. Could very well be that not being secured in the van exacerbated his injury/injuries, but he was most definitely already injured when the police were dragging him to the van.

[truth2power]

29. Thank you. I thought I was the only person

who rejected that scenario from the very beginning.

It didn't happen in the van. I expect the ME would have been able to precisely describe how his spine got severed and it's probably been known from the beginning (and I think S.A. Mosby knew) how it happened. I can't imagine how being thrown with great force against the door or side of a vehicle in a sudden stop would sever the spine and crush the larynx. Mash the vertebrae together, maybe.

But the way it's been described it's like if you put your foot (or knee) on a stick and then pulled the end of the stick laterally it would snap. One of those cops put his knee on Freddy's neck while he was handcuffed and then pulled his legs upward and snapped his spine.

I hope there is ME testimony at the trial. The cop who did it should get life in prison without possibility of parole. The only way justice can be served, IMO. This shit has GOT to stop!

[Major Hogwash]

33. It's possible to break one's neck and not sever the spinal cord.

It happened to one of my cousins about 38 years ago, and although he had been examined by doctors and released, it was later found that his neck was indeed broken.
He was extremely lucky, to say the least.

So, even though Gray's neck may have been broken during the arrest, the ride to the police station, while unrestrained in the back of the police van, most assuredly severed his spinal cord.

[Demonaut]

9. This appears less about racist white cop killing black youths but more the indifference to life

that all cops (black and white) show towards black youths.

it's ingrained in cop culture

[Larry Engels]

27. Not just black youths.

There's a lot of anti-Semitism among the cops. I know this from personal experience.

[diabeticman]

10. From my wife's experience on Grand Jury (indicting) Jurors tend to be police friendly.

Looks like all those idiots who claimed Mrs. Mosby was over reaching or had no case are going to be imploding.

[freedom fighter jh]

24. From my own experience on a grand jury,

jurors do tend to believe the police, but I think it's because prosecutors, who control the process, depend on cops' testimony, so they want to play it up. Also, in most cases there is no defense, so the prosecution, the only side the jury sees, looks reasonable.

This case is different. Unlike most cases, this one depended on the jurors being able to see a side other than that of the cops. It was the prosecutors' job to step out of their habitual role and show the other side of the story.

[lostnfound]

12. She is an incredibly brave woman.

Must have been a fan of Atticus Finch.

[C Moon]

19. I'm sure she's very much hated as well as loved, now.

[AuntPatsy]

13. Good news, also extremely sad that I have no doubt Mr Grays loved ones will never forget

The horrors he went through before he died, my thoughts are with them..

[samsingh]

15. why refer to it as a 'hasty news conference' - like its unorganized

bullshit writing.

[sakabatou]

16. Now, will they be convicted?

[Recursion]

25. Only one murder charge, and that's against a black cop

Sigh

[marym625]

30. K&R!

So very glad some prosecutor is FINALLY doing the right thing!

[LynneSin]

31. This is all we asked for in Ferguson - that Wilson stand trial for what happened

In the end who knows if these 6 will be found guilty or not. But first they need to have a trial with a Jury. In Ferguson, Wilson didn't even have that happen - they just brushed that aside thinking it wasn't important enough to allow a jury to hear the evidence.

Thank you for doing the right thing in Baltimore!

[Wolf Frankula]

32. Switchblades are legal in Maryland

If Gray was arrested for having a switchblade, the arrest was illegal.

Wolf