Judge Drops One Charge Against Lieutenant in Freddie Gray Case, Others Stand

Baltimore, MD — A Baltimore City Circuit Court judge on Monday reportedly dropped the assault charge against one of the Baltimore Police officers on trial in the death of Freddie Gray.

Lt. Brian Rice, 42, was charged with manslaughter, second-degree assault, two counts of misconduct in office and reckless endangerment in connection with the in-custody death of Gray.

Prosecutors alleged Gray suffered a fatal spinal injury inside a police van and died a week later, on April 19, 2015.

After the 25-year-old Baltimore man's funeral, riots erupted in parts of the city and within days, six officers were charged.

Prosecutors argued that not seat belting Gray in the police van was grounds for assault, but Judge Barry Williams disagreed and said Monday afternoon that the state had presented insufficient evidence to make the case for an assault charge against Rice, according to WBAL.

It was the second charge dropped against Rice since his trial began last week.

The state dropped one misconduct charge at the outset of the proceedings on Thursday without any explanation, Fox 45 reported.

Who is Lieutenant Brian Rice?

The lieutenant is the highest ranking of six officers charged in connection with Gray's death and the one who initiated the stop of the 25-year-old Baltimore man.

Rice made eye contact with Gray on North Avenue, then gave chase, at which point two other lower-ranking officers took off after the man on bicycles, officials said.

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

Rice is the fourth officer to stand trial for his alleged involvement in the detainment of Gray.

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.

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

Proceedings for Rice, who is the third officer to opt for a bench trial, will continue on Tuesday, after the prosecution rested its case Monday.

• Lieutenant Brian Rice Seeks Dismissal of Charges in Freddie Gray Case
• In Gray Case, Lieutenant Brian Rice Asks for Bench Trial

As Trials Continue, Lawsuits Lodged

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

As the trials continue in the circuit court, the majority of the officers have filed civil suits claiming defamation of character. Only one officer — Goodson — is not suing State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby, ABC 2 News reported.

Miller, Nero, Porter, White and Rice have claimed they were not given due process, after Baltimore City Sheriff's Major Sam Cogen said the arrest warrants and charging documents for the six officers were drafted by the state's attorney's office and Baltimore Police Detective Dawnyell Taylor separately testified that prosecutors gave her a script to read to a grand jury.

Photo from Baltimore Police