Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Freddie Gray Case Heats Up As Baltimore Prosecutor Responds To Officers In Court

Andrew Burton / Getty Images

Baltimore's top prosecutor has no intention of dropping her case against the six police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray, a strongly-worded court filing made clear on Tuesday.

In a document filed to the District Court of Maryland for Baltimore City, State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby called requests for her to step aside from the case "premature, frivolous, illogical, and unsupported by authority," and compared the "ridiculous allegations" against her to "a pinball on a machine far past TILT."

Gray, a 25-year-old black resident of Baltimore, died on April 19 from injuries sustained while in police custody. His death sparked widespread protests and unrest, some of which became violent. On May 1, Mosby announced her intentions to file criminal charges against six police officers in connection with Gray's death.

Tuesday's filing is Mosby's response to a motion to dismiss the case against the six officers. In that motion, the cops argued that Mosby should not prosecute the case because she is married to Baltimore Councilman Nick Mosby, whose district includes the area most affected by the violence.

In response, Mosby's office wrote that she had not sought charges against the officers to enhance her husband's political career, but rather because "Mr. Gray was a healthy young man when arrested without probable cause but died a result of hist treatment while in police custody."

The six police officers charged with felonies ranging from assault to murder in the death of Freddie Gray

Baltimore Police Department via AP

The accused officers had also claimed that the case should not proceed because the charges against them are based on the prosecutor's assertion that they arrested Gray without probable cause.

According to the cops and their attorneys, Mosby's charges are based on her belief that a knife that Gray was carrying at the time of his arrest was legal, which meant that the cops had no reason to arrest him. In their motion to dismiss the case, the officers argued that the knife was actually illegal, and so they were in the right to detain Gray.

Mosby's office replied that, setting aside the knife was issue, "Mr. Gray was arrested well before the arresting officers knew he possessed a knife."

An attorney for Caesar Goodson, one of the officers charged in the case, declined to comment on Mosby's filing.

A judge with the District Court of Maryland for Baltimore City will now decide whether to grant the officers' request to dismiss the case. If the judge decides to let it proceed, the officers are due in court on May 27 for a preliminary hearing, which will determine whether the case proceeds to trial.