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Freddie Gray: Insight Into Acquittal

Freddie Gray: Insight Into Acquittal

Baltimore Sun editorial board calls for Mosby to reconsider “Freddie Gray” trials

Just a quick post here to add some additional insight into the acquittal of Office Caesar Goodson, first from an experienced trial attorney in Baltimore, then from two of the Baltimore Sun reporters who have most intensively covered these “Freddie Gray” trials, and finally an editorial from the Baltimore Sun editorial board urging Mosby to reconsider these “Freddie Gray” trials.

Baltimore Criminal Defense Attorney Warren Brown

First up is Baltimore criminal defense attorney Warren Brown:

For those not in a position to view the video, below is a transcript of the video provided by a “Friend of Legal Insurrection”:

Question: What do you think is next in the case? It’s kind of the questions everyone is asking, what’s going to happen next?

Brown: Well, you know, the State’s going to have to re-assess. One the things I’m certain they are going to have to reconsider is the most recent revelation from the Sheriff’s department that they did not do an investigation. And that’s important, because early on in this case the defense had attempted to subpoena Bledsoe, Janet Bledsoe, and Michael Schatzow, the prosecutors, but they were prohibited from doing that because they were just the prosecutors, they didn’t investigate the case. Now we’re finding out that they had done the investigation, presented it to the Sheriffs just for their signature, and so there may be another request on the part of the defense that these two become witnesses, and if that’s the case that might give the State an out, that might give them an opportunity to say, “Well, we’re not going to proceed any further.

Question: Overall, the verdict, do you think?

Brown: Oh, absolutely the right verdict. Keep in mind that you have an African-American judge who was in the Justice Department prosecuting police misconduct. So this is not someone that is going to be sympathetic on the face [of it] to the defendant who happens to be a police officer, on the contrary. His opinion was well-reasoned. He juxtaposed the law to the facts, and made it very clear that what you are asking me to do, States Attorney, I cannot do because you haven’t presented the evidence necessary for me to do that. And that’s justice, that’s what we expect from a judge or jury – to render the decision based on the evidence juxtaposed to the standard that the state is held to – which is proving their case beyond a reasonable doubt. To say that Goodson murdered Freddie Gray was absurd right from the start, but as I indicated before, they made their decision, the State’s Attorney office, to prosecute and then work backwards as opposed to getting all of the evidence, looking it over, and deciding where to go. And we know that because the police turned their investigation over to Marilyn Mosby’s office on a Thursday and on Friday morning she’s coming down the steps of War Memorial indicating what she’s going to do, and it left us all wondering, “How could you have decided that quickly?” So they made the decision to prosecute and work backwards and now they are having to pay the price for that because the evidence is just not there to support it.

Baltimore Sun Reporters Kevin Rector and Justin Fenton

Second, we have the contemporaneous tweets covering the verdict from Baltimore Sun reporters Kevin Rector (@RectorSun) and Justin Fenton (@justin_fenton):

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Baltimore Sun Editorial

Finally, we have an editorial from the Baltimore Sun calling for Mosby to reconsider the next schedules prosecutions of four more of the officers charged in Freddie Gray’s death, including the re-trial of Officer William Porter.  Here’s a taste, to read the whole thing click Goodson verdict should force Mosby to reconsider charges:

The acquittal of Officer Caesar Goodson on all counts in the death of Freddie Gray should prompt State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby to re-evaluate whether or how to pursue the cases against the four remaining officers charged in the case. Officer Goodson, as the driver of the van in which Gray was injured, was most responsible for his safety. If prosecutors’ evidence isn’t strong enough to prove he was criminally responsible, it’s hard to see how they could convict the others, particularly on charges of manslaughter and assault. Moreover, Ms. Mosby needs to ask whether her deputies’ courtroom tactics threaten to do irreparable harm to the crucial relationship between police and prosecutors. Things got ugly during the Goodson trial in a way that didn’t serve the public’s interest.

–-Andrew, @LawSelfDefense


Attorney Andrew Branca and his firm Law of Self Defense have been providing internationally-recognized expertise in American self-defense law for almost 20 years in the form of books, live seminars & online training (both accredited for CLE), public speaking engagements, and individualized legal consultation.
“Law of Self Defense, 3rd Ed.” /Seminars / Instructor Program / Twitter /Facebook / Youtube

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Comments

“Ms. Mosby needs to ask whether her deputies’ courtroom tactics threaten to do irreparable harm to the crucial relationship between police and prosecutors. Things got ugly during the Goodson trial in a way that didn’t serve the public’s interest.”

That is the stoned truth. Stop it. Stop now, while you still have any police officers in Baltimore.

    NavyMustang in reply to Ragspierre. | June 23, 2016 at 1:47 pm

    I can guarantee that every BPD officer spits when they hear her name. She broke that relationship irretrievably.

I can’t imagine why anyone would want to live in Baltimore much less be a policeman there.

    Valerie in reply to Old0311. | June 23, 2016 at 1:48 pm

    I used to live near Baltimore: it’s a lovely city with a great harbor. A lot of people have been working a long time to make it pleasant and livable.

    The problem with riots is that they will depress an area for decades, similar to what happened in DC. Nobody wants to live or work or invest in a business in an area that has rioters.

How could Mosby possibly move forward? The judge found the “rough ride” theory offensive. The only charge that possibly fit the evidence was involuntarily manslaughter under the theory that a reasonable police officer would have buckled in a cuddles and shackled suspect. Judge Williams while he was probably negligent in stop 4, it didn’t rise to the level of criminal negligence. Since the prosecution said Goodson was “most responsible” for buckling Gray as the driver, there is no way they can argue that an other officer not buckling Gray reaches the level of criminal negligence.
What possible case do they have to move forward?

Brown: Well, you know, the State’s going to have to re-assess. One the things I’m certain they are going to have to reconsider is the most recent revelation from the Sheriff’s department that they did not do an investigation.

And that’s important, because early on in this case the defense had attempted to subpoena Bledsoe, Janet Bledsoe, and Michael Schatzow, the prosecutors, but they were prohibited from doing that because they were just the prosecutors, they didn’t investigate the case.

Now we’re finding out that they had done the investigation, presented it to the Sheriffs just for their signature, and so there may be another request on the part of the defense that these two become witnesses, and if that’s the case that might give the State an out, that might give them an opportunity to say, “Well, we’re not going to proceed any further.”

The defendants should pursue the subpoenas as part of their own civil suits. The state has effectively waived any reason for them NOT testifying UNDER OATH.

Mosby should reconsider whether she is fit to keep being a lawyer. She is definitely not competent enough to by a city AG.

    Eastwood Ravine in reply to EBL. | June 23, 2016 at 7:52 pm

    She knows exactly what she’s doing. She’s going to eventually run for congress, and her implicit platform will be based on race resentment. She probably has more reasons to run now that she lost, rather than winning these trials.

    Exiliado in reply to EBL. | June 23, 2016 at 10:15 pm

    That should not be up to her.
    She should be disbarred.
    Everything she’s done is dishonest, unprofessional, unethical and un-American.

Remember that Mosby will analyze the criminal cases in conjunction with the civil suits and the political agenda. As reasoned as these analyses are regarding the criminal trials, Mosby is a political SJW first and a state’s attorney second or third. And, she does not want to be “Nifonged” if I can make up a word, although she may not be able to avoid it even with here two sets of armor. The criminal cases will continue to be used as tools for another agenda. “Doing what is right” will not be on the radar.

    meyou in reply to TX-rifraph. | June 23, 2016 at 7:29 pm

    IMO, she needs to resign and go away. Isn’t her husband going to run to run for some office this November?

      He was running for mayor of Baltimore but has dropped out, and some other Democrat has the nod, with the election being considered a mere formality.

The political class in Baltimore has just thrown Mosby to the wolves. Discarded her.

Only a fool would keep going now. That doesn’t mean that Mosby won’t go full steam ahead and beach the boat.

Any bets on whether she stops?

I think the White House and the Obama Just Us dept is behind this. Since President Stompey Feet is never wrong and he does not mind putting black females in embarrassing situations ,I believe Mosby will double down on dumb

    holdingmynose in reply to dmi60ex. | June 23, 2016 at 2:54 pm

    “Stuck on stupid” as Gen. Honore famously said.

    Twanger in reply to dmi60ex. | June 23, 2016 at 3:16 pm

    I agree. Mosby is not there to do what’s right. She’s an SJW there to punish, and will do so at any and all costs.

    JPL17 in reply to dmi60ex. | June 23, 2016 at 11:18 pm

    Given the timing — with trials scheduled one per month until just before the November 2016 election — I’ve long thought the White House was behind these baseless prosecutions. It’s a key element of their national GOTV drive.

Paul In Sweden | June 23, 2016 at 2:47 pm

Today is the confluence of so many matters that it is all I can do to keep my head from exploding. Across the world there are so many things that if individually they would be monumental but as so often if we look at history just happen at the same time and can overwhelm our ability to understand their significance. When this occurs I look for distractions and words of my seniors and betters.

At this moment in time, I go to ground and look to others that have weathered massive storms. I am not saying anyone needs it but I find solace in the words of the Great Satchmo:

Louis Armstrong – Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen (1962) – YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVKKRzemX_w

    Solomon in reply to Paul In Sweden. | June 24, 2016 at 12:53 pm

    Your observations bring to mind the opening passage of H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu:”

    “The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.”

    Maybe we should consider ourselves fortunate that this is the case.

If you read some of the articles in the Baltimore Sun today, opinions are mixed on how much this will hurt Mosby.

There’s a faction closing ranks behind Mosby and trying to protect her. To wit… (From the Sun)

“Attorney Richard C.B. Woods, a Mosby supporter, said continuing losses at trial could result in repercussions for Chief Deputy State’s Attorney Michael Schatzow, who was accused of not turning over exculpatory evidence to the defense team.

If there’s a failure in this case in overcharging, I don’t think that should be laid at her feet,” Woods said. “You don’t go after the State’s Attorney for that; you go after the trial team.”

I don’t buy it. She tried to pull a SJW move by forcing unfounded charges against these good officers. It’s all on her.

    Ragspierre in reply to Twanger. | June 23, 2016 at 3:33 pm

    Yeah. Total BS. She plunked herself in front of the cameras and mics, and she knew damn good and well what she was doing with that grandstanding.

    Now this idiot wants to apologize for her and put it on her employees’ “over charging”, as though she was out of that loop?

    She made herself the head duck, and if her “trial team” did anything, it’s all on her.

    ALL the conduct of everyone in her office is on her, or WTF is she there?

What is sad is that the SJW citizens of Baltimore would re-elect Mosby.

“Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan.” John F. Kennedy

Y’all be nice to lil orphan Mosby.

    If she had not metaphorically killed her metaphorical parents, I’d consider it, particularly if she would put down the metaphorical murder weapon and stop looking for more metaphorical victims.

If Mosby does drop the charges against the remaining 3 (or 4 with Porter) officers, how will that impact the civil suit? Do only the two acquitted officers have a civil case, or does dropping the charges have the same effect?

    Ragspierre in reply to clintack. | June 23, 2016 at 8:47 pm

    That’s a very good legal question, and it would depend on the case law in Maryland. It would only potentially bear on the malicious prosecution cause, IMNHO.

    If I were the judge, it wouldn’t matter, so long as there was no conviction.

Have all demorats studied Mussolini’s style? When I see pictures of Mosby or our dear leader they seem to be in that pose.

Mosby only needs one conviction on jay walking by one of the six to justify the effort. Her high ground will be on an ant hill but it’ll still be the high ground.