Show trial against officer ends in acquittal.
May 24, 2016
A white Baltimore police officer accused of wrongdoing in the highly politicized death of black career criminal Freddie Gray last year that sparked days of rioting has been completely exonerated by the courts.
No matter what Baltimore's corrupt Democrat-controlled political machine tries, it can't manage to convict anyone in the unusual April 19, 2015 death of Gray, a 25-year-old man with a long arrest record. Gray passed away a week after his arrest after apparently suffering ultimately fatal injuries during transport in a police paddy wagon.
The non-conviction is also a stinging rebuke to Democrats like Barack Obama whose party has officially endorsed the violent, racist Black Lives Matter movement. The left-wing narrative that racist killer cops are on a rampage across the nation isn't getting any traction -- because it is a vicious lie and Americans know it.
And it is becoming increasingly obvious that the six Charm City police officers were charged solely for political reasons.
The acquittal of arresting officer Edward M. Nero yesterday morning comes after officer William Porter's trial ended in a hung jury and mistrial in December. He is expected to be tried again.
Nero, who wisely opted to avoid a jury trial in Baltimore's lynch mob environment, was found not guilty on all counts by Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams.
There have long been serious doubts whether the police officers in the Gray case can receive a fair trial in Baltimore City because the petit jury pool there isn't exactly filled with law-and-order enthusiasts. Making matters worse, activists have threatened to try to pack juries with cop-haters in order to guarantee convictions in the Gray case.
Nero had been charged with second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, and two counts of misconduct in office. The trial got underway May 12 and closing arguments were presented Thursday.
But the case against Nero was thin.
Noting that "the state's theory has been one of recklessness and negligence," the judge said "there has been no evidence that the defendant intended for a crime to occur."
This case and the cases against the other five officers were brought by Sharpton-esque prosecutor Marilyn Mosby (D), who plays to the Black Lives Matter crowd.
Mosby is more interested in so-called social justice than plain old justice.
On May 1 last year, which happens to be May Day, a celebration of Marxism, Mosby invoked the mantra of the mob, "no justice, no peace," to explain her actions. It is the battle cry of leftist rabble and racial arsonists hellbent on destruction that Americans became familiar with during the Los Angeles riots of 1992. Those riots appear to have been sparked by the acquittal of the police officers who beat Rodney King, a black man, after a high speed chase.
Mosby has also said all six police officers engaged in misconduct by their "failure to perform their duty regarding the safety of a prisoner."
After Gray's death renowned criminal lawyer Alan Dershowitz accused prosecutors of "overcharging" the three white men, two black men, and one black woman, in order to appease the rioters. Charging a defendant with an excessively serious crime makes it more likely the jury will acquit and when that happens there will be more riots, he said.
Since then angry mobs, racial-grievance profiteers, and radical leftist agitators have turned Maryland's largest city into a Hobbesian jungle with the official encouragement of embattled Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, a nationally prominent Democrat. The mayor infamously admitted after riots began that she gave space "to those who wished to destroy."
A group of about 20 protesters showed up at the courthouse yesterday morning for the verdict and booed when it was announced.
The Rev. Westley West of Faith Empowered Ministries, a local street agitator, was on hand to gripe about the acquittal on TV.
"There should have been a jury trial," he said. "The community should have had a voice in this case."
In fact the Baltimore community did have a voice in the case and Baltimoreans continue to have a voice in it. Grand jurors from the community heard evidence against all six police officers and indicted them despite flimsy evidence.
"Of course a system works in a system’s favor, that’s how I look at it," West said, spewing vaguely Marxist-sounding politically correct drivel.
"That judge represents the system, and the police officer represents a system, but they’re all one system working together. And again I don’t think case was actually tried fairly when it comes down the community being involved.”
A Democrat, West ran unsuccessfully this year for Baltimore City Council.
In February he was acquitted of charges stemming from a protest related to the Gray case. West had been accused of damaging a pickup truck during a demonstration in September of last year.
West is awaiting trial Aug. 3 in Baltimore County on separate theft charges.
Interestingly, Gray family attorney Billy Murphy was conciliatory and seemed to think justice has been done.
“I have to commend Judge Williams on not being influenced by public opinion,” Murphy said. “It’s a very, very difficult job to sit as a judge under these enormously stressful conditions, and once again Barry Williams has shown he is a fair and impartial man ... He showed tremendous courage in ruling against public opinion.”
“I don’t think anybody should be upset with this verdict nor do I think anybody should have been elated about a guilty verdict,” he added. “Only the people who sat through this trial and heard all of the evidence have a right to have an opinion about whether his opinion was fair and whether or not it was warranted under the circumstances. So we should all understand that we all have opinions, but unless they’re based on the facts and all of the facts, those opinions are essentially irrelevant to this process.”
After a few more acquittals or hung juries in the Freddie Gray case such dispassionate reason seems unlikely to prevail. Brace yourselves.
