Crime & Safety

In Freddie Gray Case, Lawyers Want Officers' Phone Info Thrown Out: Report

The lawyers representing six officers charged in Gray case allege 'judge shopping' for warrant.

Lawyers representing police charged in connection with the death of Freddie Gray have reportedly filed for some evidence to be suppressed and raised questions about “judge shopping.”

The term refers to trying multiple judges in hopes of a favorable ruling.

According to court records obtained by The Baltimore Sun, the state’s attorney requested a warrant on April 24—more than a week before charges were brought against six officers in Gray’s detainment—to search the officers’ phones, and when the application was denied, the state’s attorney found another judge who signed off on it.

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A police officer reported that three days after a District Court judge denied the warrant application, the state’s attorney told him a Circuit Court judge had approved the warrant, according to Fox 45.

Lawyers representing the officers in the Gray case have said that going to two judges represents misconduct and requested evidence resulting from the warrant be thrown out, WBAL reported.

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In a separate filing, the lawyers representing the officers have asked that the trial be moved from Baltimore due to publicity about the case in the city, while the state’s attorney contends they should try to seat a jury in Baltimore before ruling it out, according to CNN.

The six officers are set to head to trial in October on charges ranging from misconduct to second-degree depraved-heart murder.

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