Freddie Gray: Arrest, Death, Trials and What’s Next

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Gray was arrested on April 12, 2015, after police said he ran from officers near Penn North for no apparent reason. When officers chased the 25-year-old, they found he had a switchblade clipped inside the front of his pants pocket. The arrest was partly recorded on a cell phone camera, prompting public outcry as Gray appeared unable to stand while police dragged him, wailing, into a police van. He died a week later from what prosecutors allege was a spinal injury he got during the ride to the police station.

The case gained attention after unrest rocked Baltimore at a time when national conversations were occurring about police brutality; after Gray’s funeral on April 27, 2015, riots erupted in parts of the city.

In what some speculate was a move to quell the unrest, State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced on May 1, 2015, that six officers were charged in connection with Gray's death.

More than a year later — with two acquittals and one mistrial on the books — some are suggesting that Mosby should reconsider prosecuting the four officers facing trial in the months ahead.

SEE ALSO:

• Police Van Driver Acquitted in Death of Freddie Gray
• Justice Department to Investigate Death in Baltimore Police Custody
• Man Dies Week After Mysterious Baltimore City Arrest

Questions About Arrest, Death Remain

An autopsy from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner showed that a spinal cord injury led to Gray's death, yet officials said they were unsure how he became injured and why he was arrested.

After three police trials, neither question has been definitively answered.

"Based on the evidence presented, the court finds that Mr. Gray was injured while riding in the van that the defendant [Officer Caesar Goodson] was driving," Judge Barry Williams said on Thursday, reading his verdict in Goodson's trial, which was not guilty on all counts. "There has been no credible evidence presented at this trial that the defendant intended for any crime to happen."

The state's own expert said that it was not clear when and how Gray was injured.

"There’s not a camera in the van, so we don’t know exactly how it happened," Assistant Medical Examiner Dr. Carol Allan said.

There was no evidence presented to show that the officer was intentional, knowing or deliberate in taking or not taking actions such as seat belting Gray, which prosecutors said may have prevented his death, according to Williams.

During the half-mile van trip from the place of Gray’s detainment to the western precinct, police said there were several stops:

• At 8:42 a.m., police requested a transport van. Gray asked for an inhaler.
• At 8:46 a.m., Gray was taken out of the van, put in leg irons and put back in the van.
• Between 8:46 and 8:59 a.m., there was a stop on Fremont at Mosher streets for unknown reasons.
• At 8:59 a.m., the driver requested someone check on Gray for reasons that remain undetermined.
• Before 9:24 a.m., a second arrestee was picked up and put in the van, with a metal barrier between them so they could not see one another.
• At 9:24 a.m., police requested an ambulance at the western precinct to take Gray to the hospital.

Somehow during the course of Gray’s detainment, about 80 percent of his spine was severed and he “clung to life” in a coma at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center until passing away at 7 a.m. on April 19, 2015, according to William Murphy Jr., the family’s lawyer.

Charges, Trials, Settlement and Suits

Murphy said this week that Gray's relatives feel "enormous frustration" because "no police officer has yet been brought to justice in this case," after the van driver was acquitted.

While the criminal proceedings have not yielded a conviction, Murphy represented the Gray family in a wrongful death case that resulted in a $6.4 million civil settlement from Baltimore City last year.

»Should the prosecutions proceed against the remaining police officers in the Freddie Gray case? Tell us your views in comments below.

Three officers have been tried, two of them acquitted by a judge.

Williams acquitted Officer Caesar Goodson June 23 of all charges in the death of Freddie Gray.

Officer Edward Nero was acquitted a month before, on May 23.

A mistrial was declared in the case of Officer William Porter on Dec. 16, 2015.

Four officers are slated to stand trial in the coming months: Lt. Brian Rice on July 5, Officer Garrett Miller on July 27, Porter on Sept. 6 and Sgt. Alicia White on Oct. 13.

Some have suggested that Mosby should drop the remaining cases or recuse herself.

"To continue this travesty is an insult to the taxpaying citizens of Baltimore who, at the end of the day, bear the full burden of the enormous cost of these trials that have no merit and continue to divide our city," Baltimore Fraternal Order of Police President Lt. Gene Ryan said in a statement.

He requested Mosby "reconsider her malicious prosecution against the remaining four officers."

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• Baltimore Calls for Change After Officer Acquitted in Freddie Gray Murder Trial

Others agree that the cases should be dropped.

"The evidence is not there," former Baltimore City prosecutor Tyler Mann told WBAL. "Legally...she can keep presenting these cases, but ethically, I think it's time to say no more." He also suggested that the state's attorney may seek a different judge to hear the remaining cases.

Meanwhile, five of the six officers charged in the case are suing Mosby for defamation; all but Goodson have filed suit.

The Department of Justice has been investigating the Baltimore Police Department to determine whether its patterns and practices violate civil rights. According to WBAL, a report from the justice department will be forthcoming by early July.

Photo Credit: Elizabeth Janney