Prosecutors drop charges in Freddie Gray case
July 27, 2016
Prosecutors in the US state of Maryland on Wednesday dropped all charges against the three remaining police officers suspected of involvement in the death of Freddie Gray, an unarmed black man who died after sustaining an injury in police custody.
In May 2015, Maryland state's attorney for Baltimore, Marilyn Mosby, announced six police officers involved in the case would stand trial for charges related to Gray's death, including second-degree murder, manslaughter, assault and misconduct.
However, three of the six law enforcement officers have been acquitted of charges, while another had his case thrown out by the judge, calling it a mistrial due to a hung jury.
"At the motion's hearing for State v Garrett Miller this morning, the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office decided not to prosecute the remaining cases related to the arrest and death of Freddie Gray, including State v White and State v Porter," said a spokesman for Maryland's judiciary.
Gray, a 25-year-old unarmed black man, was arrested in April 2015 after running away from police who made eye contact with him and another man.
He suffered a fatal neck injury in the back of a police van while being transported to a station, prompting mass riots in the city of Baltimore.
That year, human rights watchdog Amnesty International said US state laws governing the use of lethal force were "overly broad and unclear."
"There must be a statewide review of police policies to ensure that cases like Freddie Gray's will not be repeated," the organization said.
'A homicide'
Shortly after Wednesday's announcement, Mosby held a press conference where Gray was arrested, saying there was "an obvious bias" among officers investigating the case.
"We do not believe Freddie Gray killed himself. We stand by the medical examiner's determination that Freddie Gray's death was a homicide," Mosby said.
"The decision to prosecute six police officers was not and has never been an indictment of the whole Baltimore police department. For those that believe I'm anti-police, it's simply not the case. I'm anti-police brutality," she added.
Gray's parents, who received a $6.4 million (5.8 million euros) settlement from the city, backed Mosby's remarks. Gloria Darden, Gray's mother, claimed that the police "lied, I know they lied, and they killed him."
His case fueled the "Black Lives Matter" movement against police brutality in the US, which has called for law enforcement officers to be held accountable after a series of high-profile deaths of blacks committed by white officers.
ls/kms (Reuters, AP, AFP)