Photo by Baltimore Police Department via Getty ImagesA Baltimore judge has handed down a familiar verdict in connection to the arrest and death of Freddie Gray last April. Judge Barry Williams found Officer Brian Rice not guilty today of involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment, and misconduct in office, the Baltimore Sun reports.
A 42-year-old lieutenant, Rice is the highest ranking official among six officers who were charged in the case. During his trial, prosecutors argued that Rice caused Gray’s death because he did not secure the 25-year-old man in a seat belt while he was riding in the back of the police van where he suffered severe spinal cord injuries, The Sun reports. Gray died a week after this incident. Williams said today that “prosecutors had not met their burden of proving Rice’s guilt.”
This is the third verdict and acquittal involving Gray’s death. Williams also handed not guilty verdicts to Officer Caesar Goodson, Jr. last month, who was charged with second-degree murder, and Edward M. Nero, in May, who was charged with second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, and two counts of misconduct in office.
A jury was unable to reach a verdict in an earlier trial of Officer William Porter, and a judge declared a mistrial in December.
Gray’s death sparked a week of peaceful protests in Baltimore, followed by riots that resulted in Governor Larry Hogan declaring a state of emergency and calling in the National Guard.
After Goodson’s acquittal, a Baltimore police union said that Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby should “reconsider her malicious prosecution” of the other officers in the case, according to The Sun. Lt. Gene Ryan, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3, said that the ruling showed Mosby’s cases against the officers “have no merit, and that continued prosecution of the officers would be a waste of taxpayers’ money.” Meanwhile, a George Washington University law professor said he planned to mail a complaint against Mosby to the Maryland Attorney Grievance Commission in hopes of having her disbarred. Maryland delegates and the Baltimore City chapter of the NAACP, however, have come to her defense.
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake responded to Rice’s acquittal this morning saying that “this has been a very difficult time for our city and I thank the community for their patience during this time and ask their continued respect for the judicial process as we move forward.” The lieutenant will now face an administrative review by the police department, she added.
Officer Garrett Miller is scheduled to go to trial on July 27; Porter is scheduled to be retried on Sept. 6; and Sgt. Alicia White is due in court for trial on Oct. 13. They’ve all pleaded not guilty.
