Officer Trials In Freddie Gray Case Resume After Delays
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- An officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray is set to go to trial this week. Edward Nero, unlike Officer William Porter, is charged with misdemeanors and not felonies. His fate could lie in the hands of the judge and not a jury.
Investigator Mike Hellgren has the latest on what we could expect in this trial.
More than one year after State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced charges, the Freddie Gray cases are again moving forward. Officer Edward Nero is set to stand trial this week. He's one of the officers who arrested Gray.
This time, the state's case hinges on a new, unusual legal premise: the arrest was illegal and an assault.
"Basically, the state's theory in this case would turn those officers not into police officers but into everyday citizens who just went and put their hands on somebody else without legal justification. That's the position that they're trying to put the officers in and there's not a lot of precedent for that," said former prosecutor Adam Ruther.
All of Nero's charges are misdemeanors: second degree assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office.
Unlike in the first trial of Officer William Porter, the focus won't be on Gray's broken neck but instead on the half hour of Gray's arrest.
Porter faced felony charges for not getting Gray medical help. In Nero's trial, the question is whether the arrest was legal.
The state contends that it wasn't, that the knife police found Gray carrying was legal.
You can expect lawyers to argue the seat belt policy. As with Porter, prosecutors believe Nero should have ensured Gray was buckled in the van.
"Not only does the state have to prove that Officer Nero recognized the risk of not seatbelting Freddie Gray in but to have to prove that what Officer Nero did when he recognize that risk was outside what a normal, reasonable person would have done," Ruther said.
Different this time: it's likely Judge Barry Williams alone will decide the case, no jury. It's a risky decision that's Officer Nero's to make.
It will certainly be faster if it's a bench trial and there will certainly be a verdict. One other item of note: the state's attorney's office is asking that the trial be delayed by a day because of a power outage this weekend. There will be a hearing Tuesday morning to hash out last minute motions.
