Officer Acquitted in Freddie Grey Case

[branford]

57. It depends.

First, although I'm an attorney (in NY and NJ), criminal law, no less in Maryland, is not my area of expertise, and my knowledge of the case is limited like everyone else to many media stories and reports about the judges' comments and various other interesting motions about the cases.

The biggest problem with the Nero prosecution was the district attorney's novel legal theory that the arrest itself, if found to be without probable cause despite any good faith by Nero, automatically is a criminal assault. That's not the law anywhere, it would have tremendous repercussions (and be a BIG issue on appeal), and the state's inability to justify the theory decimated the government's credibility with the court. I was shocked at how amateur and unprepared the prosecution appeared.

I would need to more closely examine the specific charges against the other officers, the relevant law, and the state's theory of the case before offering anything approaching a definitive legal opinion.

Nevertheless if it could be proven that some of the officers conspired to intentionally injure Gray during the van ride, and as part of that conspiracy, they intentionally didn't properly buckle him in knowing it would cause or aggravate any injury, I would surmise that it would be more than adequate to sustain fairly serious criminal charges. However, as with all criminal allegations, the government needs admissible evidence and bears the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Further, as we've seen many times, if they overcharge anyone to satisfy political sentiments and demands, judges and juries tend to disregard everything and acquit or hang (if a jury).