Hearings begin in Freddie Gray case

By Catherine Palmer

News & Features Editor

Prosecutors and defense attorneys convened in court Wednesday for the first hearing in the case involving the death of Freddie Gray.

Judge Barry Williams denied a motion brought by the defense to dismiss the charges against the six Baltimore Police Department (BPD) officers implicated in Gray’s death. He also denied a motion to dismiss State Attorney Marilyn Mosby, and other prosecutors in her office, due to perceived bias against the defendants.

Williams also ruled that the officers be tried separately. Officer Caesar Goodson, Jr., the driver of the van that transported Gray, is charged with second-degree depraved-heart murder as well as manslaughter, second-degree assault, two counts of vehicular manslaughter and misconduct in office.

Officer William Porter, Lieutenant Brian Rice and Sergeant Alicia White are charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault and misconduct in office.

Officers Edward Nero and Garrett Miller are charged with second-degree assault and misconduct in office.

Gray, 25, died in May from a severe spinal cord injury, one week after being arrested by the BPD officers. His death sparked more than a week of both peaceful protests and rioting.

Protesters began gathering outside the Circuit Court for Baltimore City on Wednesday, more than an hour before the hearing was scheduled to begin, for peaceful demonstrations organized by the People’s Power Assembly and other groups.

After the hearing began, protesters marched down to the Inner Harbor. Police, some in riot gear, gathered by the intersection of Pratt Street and Calvert Street, telling protesters to remain on sidewalks.

According to The Baltimore Sun, the BPD was assisted by officers from surrounding counties and Maryland State Police.

According to the BPD, one protester, identified through social media as Kwame Rose, was arrested for blocking traffic at the intersection of Pratt and Calvert after being told to get out of the street.

Interim Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said at a press conference Wednesday that Rose was charged with assaulting a police officer, disorderly conduct and making a false statement.

In a video posted by The Baltimore Sun, Rose repeatedly shouts that he was hit by a car and needs medical attention as he is held down and arrested by BPD officers.

In a video posted by RT America, Rose is shown lying on the street prior to his arrest and is helped up by another man. Rose then walks over to BPD officers standing nearby. The officers seem to grab Rose and throw him to the street.

One officer threatens Rose with a taser while another orders him to put his hands behind his back. According to the BPD, the taser was not deployed during the arrest.

Davis praised the demonstrators who protested peacefully.

“They worked collaboratively with the police department and we offered them the environment that they needed to express their feelings about the government quite frankly,” Davis said. “I don’t want the actions of one single person to serve as a distraction to an otherwise very productive day in Baltimore.”

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake also lauded the peaceful demonstrations.

“It is totally acceptable to have vibrant and energized protests but also to be respectful and to stay within bounds on the law. And that’s what we saw today,” Rawlings-Blake said at the press conference.

“Today’s actions were peaceful, respectful and an example on democracy in action. And it shows people what Baltimore’s really about.”

Correction: Officer Caesar Goodson Jr.'s last name was previously misspelled as Goodman.