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Judge
Refuses
to Drop
Charges
in
Freddie
Gray
Case
By
JULIET
LINDERMAN
Associated
Press
BALTIMORE
- A
Baltimore
judge on
Wednesday
refused
to
dismiss
charges
against
six
police
officers
facing
criminal
charges
in
connection
with the
death of
a black
man
seriously
injured
in their
custody.
He also
refused
to
remove
the
prosecutor
in the
case.
During a
pretrial
hearing,
Circuit
Court
Judge
Barry
Williams
denied a
defense
motion
for the
charges
to be
dropped
against
the
officers
in the
death of
25-year-old
Freddie
Gray,
who
endured
a severe
spinal
cord
injury
while in
police
custody
on April
12 and
died a
week
later.
Gray's
death
sparked
protests,
rioting
and
unrest
that
lasted
for
days.
Defense
attorneys
had
sought
to drop
the
charges
- which
range
from
second-degree
assault
to
second-degree
murder -
because
of
prosecutorial
misconduct
on the
part of
State's
Attorney
Marilyn
Mosby.
Williams,
however,
said
that
while he
was
"troubled"
by
Mosby's
public
comments
regarding
initial
statements
made by
the
officers
to
investigators,
they are
not
likely
to
prejudice
a jury.
Andrew
Graham,
an
attorney
representing
Officer
Caesar
Goodson,
had
unsuccessfully
argued
that
Mosby's
comments
after
filing
charges
against
the
officers
were
"reckless
and
unprofessional,"
and
violated
the
rules of
conduct.
He
likened
Mosby's
comments
on the
case to
a "pep
rally
calling
for
payback."
Williams
also
ruled
against
another
defense
motion,
one that
sought
to have
Mosby
removed
from the
case due
to what
the
defense
contended
were
conflicts
of
interest.
He
called
the
assertion
that
Mosby's
judgment
was
impacted
by the
fact
that her
husband
Nick
Mosby is
a
councilman
in a
district
that
experienced
a
disproportionate
amount
of
violence
"troubling
and
condescending."
"Being
married
to a
councilman
is not a
reason
for
recusal,"
he said.
Williams
added
that
allegations
of
prosecutorial
misconduct
must be
addressed
by the
Attorney
Grievance
Commission.
Williams
will
hear
arguments
about
whether
the
officers
should
be tried
together
or
separately
when
court
resumes
later
Wednesday.
Officers
Edward
Nero,
Garrett
Miller,
William
Porter
and
Goodson,
as well
as Lt.
Brian
Rice and
Sgt.
Alicia
White,
face
charges
in
Gray's
death.
They did
not
attend
the
hearing.
All the
officers
face
second-degree
assault,
reckless
endangerment
and
misconduct
in
office
charges.
Rice,
Porter
and
White
also
face
manslaughter
charges,
and
Goodson
faces an
additional
charge
of
second-degree
murder.
Dozens
of
protesters
rallied
outside
the
Baltimore
courthouse
to
express
their
anger
and
indignation
over
Gray's
treatment.
Many of
them
then
marched
in the
street
to the
city's
Inner
Harbor
area,
where
they
blocked
a main
road
briefly.
Police
lined up
behind
them,
and
directed
them out
of the
road.
Police
handcuffed
one
protester
while he
was on
his
stomach
in the
street.
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