Judge Finds Baltimore Cop Not Guilty in Charges Linked to Freddie Gray's Death

Baltimore police officer Edward Nero was acquitted on Monday of all charges filed in connection with the arrest and death of Freddie Gray last year, an incident that sparked widespread protests and rioting across the city and stoked the Black Lives Matter movement.

Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams was the sole decider in the case after Nero waived his right to a jury trial. Nero was charged with two counts of misconduct in office, reckless endangerment, and second degree assault. If convicted, he would have been sentenced to at least 15 years in prison.

In a packed courtroom, Williams ruled that Nero, 30, could not be held criminally liable for arresting the 25-year-old Gray and placing him in the back of a police van without a seatbelt last April. Gray did not receive prompt medical attention after he suffered several neck and spinal cord injuries in the van, and he died of his injuries a week later. Nero lowered his head as the judge announced the verdict, then stood and hugged his attorney and appeared to wipe tears away from his eyes.

Six Baltimore police officers have been charged in connection with Gray's death. The charges against the others range from misconduct in office to second-degree murder. The trial of the first officer involved in the case, William Porter, ended in a hung jury in December.

During Nero's week-long trial, his lawyers argued that Gray's arrest was justified and that the officer had little to do with it. He never touched Gray except when he tried to help him find an asthma inhaler and helped lift him into the van once he was shackled, they said.

Prosecutors painted a picture of Gray a cooperative suspect who posed no threat to officers but was nonetheless handcuffed and placed in the prone position after asking for his asthma inhaler.

They said two officers who joined the foot chase to apprehend Gray after being summoned by a radio call from their colleagues failed to take the crucial step of confirming why he was suspected of committing a crime.

The prosecutors argued that in detaining Gray, Nero and his colleagues botched what's known as a "Terry stop" — a brief detention where police are supposed to "confirm or dispel" their suspicions about a suspect before making an arrest. By not taking that step, the prosecution claimed, the officers' detention of Gray became a wrongful arrest.

Nero's attorney, Marc Zayon, countered in his closing statement that cuffing, detaining, and moving suspects following a foot chase is permitted in a Terry stop. "They may not like it," he said, gesturing toward the prosecution, "but it's the law."

Prosecutors argued that Nero's role in Gray's arrest amounted to criminal assault, but Williams rejected that theory in his verdict, saying the evidence showed that it was Nero's partner, Officer Garret Miller, who initiated the arrest by stopping Gray and handcuffing him. Police said Gray fled on foot after he made eye contact with officers in West Baltimore, and that he possessed an illegal switchblade knife.

Williams said testimony by Miller and Gray's friend Brandon Ross, who witnessed the arrest, along with Nero's own taped statement to detectives, all corroborated the narrative that Miller "was the one who detained and cuffed Mr. Gray."

Nero's defense attorneys sought to minimize his role in the arrest, but nonetheless argued that there was probable cause to detain Gray because he had run from police "unprovoked" in a designated high crime area.

Throughout the trial, Zayon sought to shift responsibility for Gray's death to other officers charged in the incident, particularly Caesar Goodson, the driver of the police van. Goodson will appear in Williams' courtroom next month on a murder charge for Gray's death.

The judge also concluded that Nero could not be convicted of assault for assisting Miller because there was "no evidence that Nero was aware" that a crime was taking place. Explaining the acquittal on the charges of reckless endangerment and misconduct in office, Williams cited testimony from a police academy trainer who said Nero did not receive required training on how to put a seatbelt on a detainee.

Williams said that under the circumstances, which involved Nero helping to load Gray into the police van as a crowd formed on the street, other officers would likely "do the same" and not secure the passenger. The judge said that despite the existence of a 1,500-page Baltimore Police Department guide to officer conduct, there "seems to be some ambiguity" about who is responsible for placing a detainee in a seatbelt.

Williams said he was "not satisfied that the state showed" that it was Nero's responsibility to place Gray in a seatbelt, and that even if it was, "the defendant was aware of the duty."

Outside the courthouse after the verdict, Billy Murphy, prominent Baltimore attorney who represents they Gray family, commended Williams "for not bowing to pressure" in making his decision. "Judges should have the ability to reject public opinion," he said.

Both Nero's and Gray's families were present in the courtroom on Monday, along with several Baltimore police officers, including Miller, who was forced to testify under limited immunity that prevents his comments from being used against him in his own upcoming trial.

In a statement, Zayon said the officer and his family are "elated that this nightmare is finally over." He also called for prosecutors to dismiss the charges against the other officers in the case.

"The State's Attorney for Baltimore City rushed to charge him, as well as the other five officers, completely disregarding the facts of the case and the applicable law," Zayon said. "Officer Nero is appreciative of the reasoned judgment that Judge Barry Williams applied to his ruling. His hope is that the State's Attorney will re-evaluate the remaining five officers' cases and dismiss their charges. Like Officer Nero, these officers have done nothing wrong."

Zayon added that Nero "remains a proud member of the Baltimore Police Department and looks forward to serving the city and the people of Baltimore."

Marilyn Mosby, the Baltimore state's attorney who brought the charges against Nero and the other officers last May, was not present for the verdict.

A small group of protesters gathered outside the courthouse ahead of the verdict, but the crowd much smaller than it was during Porter's trial in December. As the courthouse emptied out following the verdict, a woman shouted "Now you're gonna have problems in this city!"

In a statement, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake noted that Nero is still subject to an administrative review by the police department, and urged citizens to "be patient and allow the entire process to come to a conclusion."

"In the case of any disturbance in the city, we are prepared to respond," she said.

Baltimore agreed to a $6.4 million legal settlement with Gray's family in September.

Doug Colbert, a University of Maryland law professor who has been supportive of the prosecution, said the verdict was "well-reasoned" but that another judge may have reached a different conclusion.

"There are different judges who would have found that Officer Nero did not act reasonably," Colbert said. "I commend the prosecution for bringing these charges against the officers, for following the evidence and for providing the transparency that allows all of us to re-examine police practices."

David Jaros, a law professor at the University of Baltimore and a former public defender, said he was "not shocked" by the verdict, and that "prosecutors had a very steep hill to climb" to obtain a conviction of Nero. But, he added, "just because it doesn't rise to the level of being criminal doesn't mean that it's okay."

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