Freddie Gray case: Grand jury indictments expected soon

Legal Insurrection ^ | May 13, 2015 | Andrew Branca

[2ndDivisionVet]

Prosecutors may use Grand Jury proceeding to modify charges.

The Baltimore Sun is reporting that defense counsel for the six officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray anticipate that they will receive formal grand jury indictments within the next two weeks.

At present the officers are charged in District Court, which is a lower-level court not suited to the severity of the charges (which include second-degree depraved-heart murder.) Accordingly, it has always been anticipated that the charges would be moved to the Circuit Court, where jury trials are held, and where a probable cause hearing on those charges is already scheduled for May 27.

In the usual course of events an indictment would occur before that probable cause hearing, thus the expectation that the indictments will be handed down within the next two weeks.

The Grand Jury will hear evidence presented only by the prosecution, as is normally the case. Although the defense can challenge the evidence presented by the State, it may not present any evidence of its own. All parties therefore expect that the Grand Jury will, indeed, indict the officers.

The Grand Jury proceeding is secret, and the State Attorney’s Office is already declining to comment. Nevertheless, there are circumstances in which Grand Jury testimony may ultimately be revealed to the public; for example, if a witness’s testimony at trial differs from their testimony before the Grand Jury, their earlier statements can be used to impeach their trial statements.

Such inconsistencies in the State’s narrative may be particularly acute in this case. Prosecutor Marilyn Mosby is already being fiercely challenged on multiple public mis-statements of fact and law. It is for this reason, among many others, that defense counsel for all six officers have collectively filed a motion to have the charges against the officers dismissed, or alternatively, to have Mosby recused from the case.

It is possible that the State may choose to use the Grand Jury proceeding to modify the charges by presenting to the Grand Jury a set of alternative charges better supported by the evidence.

[NYer]

“There is another class of coloured people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs — partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs.”
― Booker T. Washington

[knarf]

(which include second-degree depraved-heart murder.)

If this is a real charge ... there is absolutely NOTHING on planet earth that can not be used to put someone in jail .... or at least cause a lot of grief

I bought my wife flowers on Mother's Day (we had had a fight the night before) and I really wanted her to know how much I love her

I forgot about the anger of a woman and I'm doing 30 days now for second-degree depraved-heart aggravated irritation.

[Tupelo]

In this case, I expect the Grand Jury to be a rubber stamp but with non-affirmative action lawyers cleaning up and clarifying the charges. Defense lawyers will have their work cut out for them.