Baltimore judge refuses to drop charges in Freddie Gray case

[FuzzyLumpkins]

A Baltimore judge refused Wednesday to dismiss charges against six police officers accused in the death of Freddie Gray, a black man who died after suffering a spinal injury in custody.

During a hearing, Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams denied a defense motion for the charges to be dropped because of prosecutorial misconduct on the part of State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby.

Williams said that while he was “troubled” by some of the comments Mosby made during a May 1 news conference, they did not compromise the defendants' right to a fair trial.

The judge said prosecutors’ chief responsibility is to investigate and prosecute cases, and that the office conducted an independent investigation is not unusual.

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/9/2/pretrial-arguments-begin-for-officers-accused-in-the-death-of-freddie-gray.html

[Winehole23]

City settles wrongful death suit with Freddie Gray's family for $6.4 M:



Baltimore officials have reached a $6.4 million wrongful death settlement with the family of Freddie Gray, (http://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/local/baltimore-riots-recap/) the 25-year-old man who died in April from a neck injury he suffered in police custody.


The deal still must be approved by the city’s Board of Estimates, the governing body that oversees the city’s spending. That group, which includes Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (D), is expected to meet Wednesday.


The agreement comes a week after renewed demonstrations sparked by a court hearing in which a judge concluded that the six Baltimore police officers indicted in Gray’s death and arrest should be given separate trials. This week, the judge will consider whether those trials should be held in Baltimore or moved to another jurisdiction.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/baltimore-reaches-64-million-settlement-with-freddie-grays-family/2015/09/08/80b2c092-5196-11e5-8c19-0b6825aa4a3a_story.html?wpisrc=al_alert-COMBO-local%252Bnational