Lt. Brian Rice Acquitted in Freddie Gray Trial

Baltimore, MD — A judge found the highest-ranking police officer not guilty related to the in-custody death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray.

Lt. Brian Rice, 42, was charged with manslaughter, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment.

The judge announced Rice was not guilty of manslaughter, not guilty of reckless endangerment and not guilty of misconduct in office.

Rice is one of six officers charged in the case. Two have been acquitted in bench trials, with Judge Barry Williams presiding. Another went before a jury, which resulted in a mistrial.

Williams announced the verdict in Rice's case at 10 a.m. on Monday. He said he made the determination based solely on the evidence and would not assume things that prosecutors were trying to get him to believe without sufficient evidence, according to WBAL Radio. When the verdict was read, State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby was not present in the courtroom, the radio station reported.

Since the trial began, two charges were dropped against Rice — one misconduct charge was removed by prosecutors, and Williams dropped an assault charge last week, saying there was insufficient evidence to substantiate the claim.

Prosecutors alleged Gray suffered a fatal spinal injury inside a police van and died a week later, on April 19, 2015, arguing that Rice should have seat belted the detainee.

The lieutenant initiated the stop of Gray, who made eye contact with him on North Avenue, then ran.

Rice went after him, and two other lower-ranking officers followed the man on bicycles, officials said.

One of those officers, Edward Nero, reportedly testified last week that whether to seat belt Gray in the police van was never discussed, stating: "...we just had to move and get out of the area," where an unpredictable crowd had gathered around the scene of the arrest.

See Also:

• Judge Drops One Charge Against Lieutenant in Freddie Gray Case, Others Stand
• Freddie Gray Case: Lieutenant Chooses Bench Trial

Rice is the fourth officer to stand trial for his alleged involvement in the detainment of Gray and the third to opt for a bench trial.

One policeman — Officer William Porter — had a mistrial and will be retried in September.

Two officers in recent months have been acquitted in the Gray case in bench trials: Nero and Officer Caesar Goodson, who drove the police van.

In the months ahead, Officer Garrett Miller will stand trial July 27; Porter on Sept. 6; and Sgt. Alicia White on Oct. 13.

Photo from Baltimore Police