Prosecutors say police investigating Freddie Gray officers failed to serve cellphone search warrants
Prosecutors who failed to win convictions against police officers in the death of Freddie Gray are criticizing how police investigated their colleagues.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Baltimore prosecutors Michael Schatzow and Janice Bledsoe said police failed to serve search warrants for the personal cellphones of officers involved in the arrest and transport of Freddie Gray, the New York Times reports.
Bledsoe said personal cellphones of the officers could reveal their communications, but the department “did not execute those warrants in the correct amount of time, and they expired,” she said.
Gray died after suffering a spinal injury during his arrest or during a police van ride in April 2015. Prosecutors argued officers should have used a seat belt to secure Gray during the ride. Prosecutors announced on Wednesday that they were dropping charges against the three officers awaiting trial in Gray’s death. Three other officers were acquitted in bench trials.
The complaints by Schatzow and Bledsoe echo a comment on Wednesday by Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, who said there is “inherent bias” when police investigate themselves.
Schatzow said his complaints led to the removal of the first detective leading the investigation. The detective “was doing things without notifying us, and doing things that were counter to what a primary detective should be doing,” Schatzow said. The police department has defended its investigation.
Officers for three of the officers said on Thursday that Mosby turned down help from the Maryland State Police and also could have asked other agencies for assistance, the Baltimore Sun reports. The State’s Attorney’s office responded in a statement that state police were willing to provide only minimal help.
Lawyers for two of the officers said their clients were willing to give a statement to prosecutors, but prosecutors indicted the officers without speaking to the officers.
