Officer Acquitted in Freddie Grey Case

[branford]

28. Would you care to actually comment on the particular charges

and the evidence presented by the prosecution concerning this particular defendant? Do you have any evidence whatsoever that this long-standing African-American, judge who served in the Civil Rights Division, of the U.S. Department of Justice, was anything other than impartial? There's been ample analysis in the media, and little to none of it favorable to the prosecution.

Nero was, at best, an ancillary defendant in the Gray matter, and the prosecution gratuitously overcharged, including the legally outlandish argument that any arrest later found to be without probable cause constitutes an assault despite the good faith of the arresting officer.

Even if found guilty, an assault conviction quite likely would have been reversed on appeal. Nero was quite right to waive a jury trial, his constitutional right, lest people like you convict based on emotion rather than evidence.

This case is a perfect example of a state prosecutor overcharging to score political points, angering and losing credibility with judges and juries, and then being embarrassed at trial (see also, the Zimmerman prosecution).