Judge acquits police officer on all charges in case over arrestee Freddie Gray's death
A Baltimore judge on Monday acquitted police officer Edward Nero on all charges concerning the fatal injuries sustained by arrestee Freddie Gray in police custody last year.
It was the first case to go to verdict in the prosecution of six Baltimore police officers over Gray’s death, which led to rioting in Baltimore soon afterward. A previous trial, of officer William Porter, ended with a hung jury.
Lawyers for Nero, 30, argued that he had followed his training and had little contact with Gray, 25, who was arrested by Nero’s partner, according to the Baltimore Sun.
Reading his verdict from the bench, Circuit Judge Barry Williams said Nero lacked the intent to commit a crime, Fox News reports. The judge also said the state had failed to prove Nero knew of an updated policy requiring that those transported by police wear seat belts.
Gray, who was in handcuffs and leg shackles but was not belted, suffered a broken neck and a spinal cord injury at some point after his arrest. He was found unresponsive when a police van reached its destination and died a week later.
Nero, one of several bicycle officers involved in Gray’s arrest, was charged with four misdemeanors—two misconduct in office counts, assault and reckless endangerment, according to another Baltimore Sun story and USA Today.
He said his only contact with Gray during the arrest was helping him sit up after he was handcuffed and look for an asthma inhaler, Wall Street Journal (sub. req.).
The officers chased Gray after he ran from them in an area of the city known for drug dealing and arrested him after they found a knife in his pants.
The government said Nero had arrested Gray without probable cause and should have fastened his seat belt. However, criminal defense attorney Gerard Martin, who apparently does not represent defendants in the Gray prosecution, told the Baltimore Sun he thought the case against Nero was weak.
“That would mean every time a bad arrest happened, a policeman would be charged with assault? C’mon,” Martin said. “You can’t run a city that way.”
Nero at first was also charged with false imprisonment because, prosecutors said, Gray’s knife was legal under state law. However, that charge later was dropped, the Wall Street Journal article notes.
The Associated Press, CNN and the New York Times (reg. req.) also have stories.
Although the criminal trial is now over, Nero will remain on administrative status while an internal investigation proceeds,
Trials of the other five officers are expected to take place later this year. The most serious charge, second-degree murder, is faced by the driver of the van.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Baltimore agrees to pay $6.4M to family of Freddie Gray, who died in police custody”
Baltimore Sun: “State’s high court issues ruling detailing why Officer Porter must testify in Freddie Gray case”
