The first officer, the driver of the van. had a mistrial. This officer did the arrest. Both cases clearly were a mess, and arguments have been that all the officers have been overcharged in a heated political atmosphere. Remember when the announcement first happened? Well, it seems are concerns are coming true. An overzealous, political DA overreaching because… politics.
Officer Nero had waived his right to a jury trial, his was a handled by the judge. If there was wrong doing, I want those responsible to be dealt with, but from the start this whole process has been tainted, with these officers seemingly being used as pawns to push a liberal narrative. Horrible for all involved.
A judge in Baltimore Monday found a police officer not guilty on all charges against him in connection with the death of Freddie Gray in police custody, months after another officer’s trial ended in a hung jury.
Officer Edward Nero faced second-degree assault, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment charges. Prosecutors said the 30-year-old unlawfully arrested Gray without probable cause and was negligent when he didn’t buckle the prisoner into a seat belt.
In a lengthy analysis read from the bench, Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry Williams said Nero’s partner, Officer Garrett Miller, detained and arrested Gray himself. Williams said Nero did not act “corruptly” with an intent to commit a crime.
He also said the state failed to prove that Nero was informed and aware of an updated transport policy regarding seat belts.
“Although the criminal case against Officer Edward Nero has come to a close, the internal investigation has not. With that, Officer Nero’s status will remain unchanged. He will remain in an administrative capacity while this investigation continues,” Baltimore police spokesman T.J. Smith said.
Also:
Freddie Gray arresting officer Edward Nero was found not guilty on all counts by Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams Monday morning.
Nero faced second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and two counts of misconduct in office.
Nero waived his right to a trial by jury. His bench trial began May 12 and final arguments were heard Thursday.
WJZ’s Ron Matz says the trial was attended by a group of Baltimore City police officers, most in plain clothes. After the verdict was read, they came up to Nero one by one, embracing him and patting him on the back. Nero was seen with tears in his eyes.
And an interesting, and reasonable, response by the attorney for the family of Freddie Gray. Perhaps even they saw the lack of evidence:
Gray family attorney Billy Murphy also spoke with WJZ outside the courtroom.
“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.”
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This is good news for officer Nero . Now the charges should be dropped against the other officers & the Baltimore sideshow needs to end !
Excellent news! This whole ordeal in Baltimore, MD is such a politically agenda driven farce. It is so blatantly obvious (Al Sharpton showing up was one of the biggest clues). The charges against the other officers should definitely be dropped!
Minnie, you are correct, all charges need to be dropped, but not until I loot a new TV…