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Baltimore Police Officer Acquitted in Gray Case on Narrow Grounds
American Thinker ^ | May 25, 2016 | Jonathan F. Keiler

Posted on 05/25/2016 11:42:22 AM PDT by Kaslin

On Monday Judge Barry G. Williams acquitted Baltimore police officer Edward M. Nero of all charges stemming from the arrest, transport and death of Freddie Gray. While this is good news for those who regard the prosecution of police officers in the Gray matter little more than mob justice, Williams’s verdict as declared from the bench was on narrow legal grounds. In acquitting the officer, Williams (who has consistently tried to help out the prosecution) also did Baltimore’s State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby a huge favor by not throwing out her unprecedented and dangerous theory of the case. That theory, which second guesses and criminalizes police judgment on the street, can still be used against Nero’s colleague Officer Garrett Miller, and following that Lieutenant Brian Rice, who were also involved in the detention of Gray.

Williams could hardly do anything but acquit Nero given the extraordinary dearth of evidence that the officer did anything remotely unreasonable, or anything to harm Gray. In fact, Nero’s role in the arrest was according to fellow officers and independent witnesses marginal at best. Miller, forced to testify by Williams under a grant of limited immunity, declared that he and not Nero detained Gray before they both helped load him into a police van. Thereafter, neither buckled-in Gray, since a new policy that made this mandatory came out just a few days before, had not been disseminated, and the responsibility for buckling in passengers was on the van driver. Accordingly, Williams ruled that there were “no credible facts” that Nero was directly involved in the arrest.

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Government
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1 posted on 05/25/2016 11:42:22 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

Narrow grounds? You mean like elements of the alleged crimes?


2 posted on 05/25/2016 11:45:58 AM PDT by jimfree (In November 2016 my 15 y/o granddaughter will have more quality exec experience than Barack Obama)
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To: Kaslin

Translation: the sumb*tch shouldda been hung, but he got off ‘cause he had a sneaky lawyer.

When we lose, we lose. When we win, we also lose. Another reason why the populace is about to arise in its indignation, and dig in the nation.


3 posted on 05/25/2016 11:48:57 AM PDT by chajin ("There is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12)
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To: jimfree

What were those narrow legal grounds? Hum, probably something like lack of intent, no knowledge he did a crime, or perhaps that no crime was committed. Yes, narrow indeed!


4 posted on 05/25/2016 11:50:38 AM PDT by Mouton (The insurrection laws maintain the status quo now.)
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To: Kaslin

I really don’t understand the case against the arresting officers. They’re out doing ‘proactive community policing’ in a high crime area, try to approach Gray, and he runs. So they chase him, and arrest him...and get charged with assault by their own DA.

So what happens in Baltimore today? If a guy runs from police, do they just stand and watch him run off? Seems that if cops are getting charged for chasing people down and tackling them, all a criminal has to do is run.


5 posted on 05/25/2016 11:52:54 AM PDT by lacrew
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To: Kaslin
Baltimore’s State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby was on a stupid power trip for bringing those charges.

An IQ equal to her age.

6 posted on 05/25/2016 11:56:08 AM PDT by TYVets
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To: lacrew

The police in Baltimore just don’t engage anymore. They don’t even leave their cars or because they get attacked by thugs with cameras (who want the cops to do something so they can win the ghetto lottery).

That’s why the murder rate in Baltimore has spiked. Of course, the residents of Baltimore have all of those strict Maryland gun laws to protect them....


7 posted on 05/25/2016 11:58:22 AM PDT by Velvet_Jones
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To: Kaslin

Any rioting yet?


8 posted on 05/25/2016 12:08:17 PM PDT by IllumiNaughtyByNature (HTTP 500 - Internal Server Error)
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To: Kaslin

Most comments don’t seem to reflect reading the article. And the commenters didn’t miss much. The article tries to make something of the fact that the judge ruled on the case before him, rather than delving into other issues. But his conduct seems 100% appropriate, since Judge Williams was the trier of fact in a bench trial. His verdict was that the State had not proved any of the charges; he even went on to state that the prosecution’s novel theories had no basis in law.

I think he hopes the State gets the hint and drops their most idiotic claims. The van driver and Officer Porter are the only ones with a hint of culpability; the evidence suggests negligence without malicious intent.


9 posted on 05/25/2016 12:44:20 PM PDT by Chewbarkah
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To: lacrew
I really don’t understand the case against the arresting officers. They’re out doing ‘proactive community policing’ in a high crime area, try to approach Gray, and he runs. So they chase him, and arrest him...and get charged with assault by their own DA.

There's a lot of bootlicking on FR, but you just set some kind of record. Your little case summary just happened to leave out that the perp was arrested while healthy enough to ride a bicycle, and then died from a broken neck he got on his ride to the jail. Protecting cops is one thing, but you're arguing for a return to the Soviet Union by what you leave out of your narrative. Wake up!

10 posted on 05/25/2016 1:03:43 PM PDT by Talisker (One who commands, must obey.)
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To: Talisker

WHOA!!!

I’m no “boot licker”, my FRiend.

I’m specifically talking about the arresting officers. Not the officer who drove the van - and there very well may be a conviction in his future.

But lets just look at the arresting officers. Here they are doing their ‘community policing’...they approach Gray...and he runs.

What should they do?

Should they shrug, and turn away - wouldn’t want to be accused of going all ‘Soviet’ on him, I guess. But of course that’s not what they do. If you run from the police, they will chase you. And last I checked, they can’t coax most people into stopping...so the chase usually culminates with somebody getting tackled.

For this, the DA charged them with assault.

So really, what do you think the cops should do? Not chase and tackle people who run from them?

Notice, my...ahem...”little case summary” doesn’t mention a thing about van ride or broken neck. That’s a completely different issue. What I don’t understand is the prosecution of cops for making a very ordinary arrest.

Wake up!


11 posted on 05/25/2016 1:46:49 PM PDT by lacrew
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To: Velvet_Jones
There was an excellent op-ed in yesterday's Wall Street Journal about this--how the "Ferguson effect" has caused the police to cut back on "pro-active" policing with a rise in crime the result.

Another victory for the Community Organizer in Chief.

12 posted on 05/25/2016 3:00:57 PM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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To: lacrew

It is my understanding that the prosecution linked the severity of the arrest to the broken neck. Otherwise, it’s left to happening in the paddy wagon. Because when they dumped him out at the other end of the ride, his neck was broken.

Your leaving that tiny detail out reminded me of Pravda, circa 1960.


13 posted on 05/25/2016 3:41:31 PM PDT by Talisker (One who commands, must obey.)
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To: Talisker

Pravda, huh?

That publication that put out mis-information?

A little ironic.

Your ‘understanding’ that the ‘severity of the arrest’ led to a broken neck may be found in Pravda, but not the charging document:

“Following transport from Baker Street, Mr. Gray suffered a severe and critical neck injury as a result of being handcuffed, shackled by his feet and unrestrained inside of the BPD wagon.”

I hope you understand that not even the DA who charged these men thinks what your ‘understanding’ is. The charging document (quoted verbatim above) absolutely DOES NOT equate anything dealing with the arrest with the neck injury.

IOW your ‘understanding’ is false (and quite suitable for Pravda).

These are real people and very important matters. Why go with your ‘understanding’ when the real information is so easily accessible?

So I ask again - what was this guy’s crime? What little nugget have I left out of my narrative that is so damning?


14 posted on 05/25/2016 4:01:50 PM PDT by lacrew
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To: lacrew
These are real people and very important matters. Why go with your ‘understanding’ when the real information is so easily accessible?

Because DAs and cops lie. That's why the founders set up a country where stupid little people like me could ask questions about real people and very important matters, and condescending mockery like yours, about obvious flaws in charging documents that declare themselves to be easily accessible real information.

FYI, those charging documents you find so irresistibly satisfying ARE Pravda. But don't let it bother you - cops who break people's necks taking them down, or driving them around, or whatever, are heroes. The only people with a problem about such things are punks anyway. When a cop speaks, that is the truth. Questions prove the questioner needs an attitude adjustment.

Besides, everyone knows that it's more likely that the perp deliberately broke his own neck in the van, rather than having it broken in the take-down. And that his inability to walk in the video with the cops holding his head up after it flopped to the side was just him passively resisting arrest.

Jeez, what do you think - they broke his neck taking him down, tackling him, stomping on his neck, and then tried to HIDE it?! What part of that's completely impossible don't you get? Perps deliberately break their necks in police vans every day - check the FBI stats. So just shut your pie-hole, with that anti-American crap, you friggin communist.

15 posted on 05/25/2016 4:34:58 PM PDT by Talisker (One who commands, must obey.)
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To: Talisker

“...and condescending mockery like yours...”

First of all, please specify where I have been condescending or mocking - be specific. Then please re-evaluate your boot-licker, Soviet, and Pravda comments before you shatter the glass house.

“Because DAs and cops lie.”

I really don’t know what to say. That statement indicates to me that you have only a casual knowledge of the case. Do you really think that the DA is some sort of pro-cop shill, who reluctantly filed charges under pressure? Just to allay you of that opinion, here’s a quote from the press conference, when she announced the charges: “To the people of Baltimore and demonstrators across America, I heard your calls for, “No Justice, No peace. Your peace is sincerely needed as I work to deliver justice on behalf of this young man.” Trust me, she is wholeheartedly in favor of this prosecution, and most certainly didn’t lie to protect these officers.

“Jeez, what do you think - they broke his neck taking him down, tackling him, stomping on his neck, and then tried to HIDE it?! What part of that’s completely impossible don’t you get?”

All I can say is that you are completely ignorant of this case, from top to bottom. The autopsy states that a single high energy blow to the HEAD caused the neck injury (is the medical examiner is a liar too). In case you didn’t catch what that means, ‘stomping’ on his neck was not what broke it, rather it was a high energy impact (again to the HEAD and not the NECK) most often found in CAR ACCIDENTS. Gee, I wonder if maybe that’s why this prosecutor charged the DRIVER with manslaughter.

“...cops who break people’s necks taking them down, or driving them around, or whatever, are heroes.”

Wait a minute - is that condescending mockery? Lets establish some things (again).

1. My post dealt with my bewilderment as to why the arresting officers were charged with assault.

2. The arresting officers have absolutely nothing to do with the broken neck

So lets get back ON TOPIC: Specifically what crime did the arresting officers commit?

I think I deserve an answer - you’ve now called me a bootlicker and communist, associated me with the Soviets, equated me with Pravda, and called me condescending...because you disagree with me. So tell me why I’m wrong - what crime did Officer Nero commit?

p.s. - Notice that I haven’t called you any names. Weird huh? And I didn’t admonish you to ‘shut your pie-hole’. Gee I wonder whose losing the argument. I have a suggestion, my FRiend:

1. Learn about the case - get your facts straight
2. Get that chip off your shoulder about police. I don’t know what they did to you, but its never proper to let your emotions about a few paint a broad brush over an entire group.
3. Be more civil on this board. Seriously - re-read your posts and ponder whether or not they belong here or on DU.


16 posted on 05/25/2016 5:23:49 PM PDT by lacrew
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To: Velvet_Jones

In L.A. post Rodney King, they called it “driving and waving”.


17 posted on 05/25/2016 6:02:29 PM PDT by ArmstedFragg (Hoaxey Dopey Changey)
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To: lacrew

My “friend,” I’m not interested in playing your stupid game. If you don’t understand my position from my posts, tough, others do. What I said is not “like” other things that happen to occur to your mind. And I refuse to try to explain your imagination. You believe the cops in this case, I don’t. But your MOCKING of common sense, backed solely by your blind belief in every word out of the DAs mouth, is yours alone - not mine. I get it - you have a job to do. But a human life was taken unnecessarily, and for a short time, Americans can still protest the lies about it. Your criticism of my position is nothing more than that I’m making it at all. To me, the neck OBVIOUSLY was broken by the take-down and the THEORY of the neck being broken in transit is an OBVIOUS lie, backed by lying police and lying medical reports by multiple lying professional people in order to accomplish EXACTLY what is being accomplished - to get the cops off Scott free. Because you know why? In America, today, the number on every cop’s badge is 007. They know it, and we know it. The only one who pretends to not know it is you. Now go find out what the DA wants your reply to this to be, and post it. But I’m done answering you save one last word: read some history and learn what happens to the population when cops never answer for their mistakes. Hint - goodbye, America. Enabling that result is what your really working for, comrade. Cops don’t have to be bad if they have no negative feedback - they’ll get there on their own without any real-world applicable laws. It’s called human nature.


18 posted on 05/25/2016 6:03:07 PM PDT by Talisker (One who commands, must obey.)
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To: Talisker

I implore you - learn about the case. You are flailing in seven directions at once and completely unable to speak rationally about it.

Start with the DA. You are 180 degrees wrong about where she stands...I really can’t believe that you can have such strong opinions about a case you seem to know so little about...especially on this forum. Five minutes - thats all it would take to gain an understanding of the DA.


19 posted on 05/25/2016 6:21:53 PM PDT by lacrew
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To: TYVets

what is she 25?


20 posted on 05/25/2016 8:04:01 PM PDT by Nailbiter
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