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Baltimore Officer Found Not Guilty on All Counts in Freddie Gray Case
Officer Edward Nero was the second of six city police officers charged in the case to stand trial
May 23, 2016
This story may be updated.
Baltimore Police Officer Edward Nero was found not guilty of all charges by a judge Monday morning for his role in the arrest and subsequent death of 25-year-old black man Freddie Gray.
Nero, who is white, had faced charges of second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, and two counts of misconduct in office, all related to his role in Gray's initial detention and arrest on April 12, 2015. Gray died one week after being taken into custody, having suffered a broken neck and severe spinal cord injury in the back of a police transport van.
According to the Baltimore Sun:
Prosecutors alleged that Gray's arrest was an assault because it did not meet the standards of a legal detention. Legal analysts had called the theory unusual. Nero was also accused of endangering Gray by failing to secure him in the back of a police van with a seat belt.
Nero's attorneys, meanwhile, had sought to minimize his role in the arrest, saying that he had limited contact with Gray. They also argued that Nero followed his training.
Nero was the second of six city police officers charged in the case to stand trial; he chose a bench trial instead of a jury. The William G. Porter trial ended in a hung jury in December.
The Baltimore Sun is providing live updates here.
The outcry was swift on social media.
"In spite of today's verdict," the NAACP said in a statement, "we await justice for Freddie Gray."
Follow the response on Twitter:#NeroTrial Tweets
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Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
This story may be updated.
Baltimore Police Officer Edward Nero was found not guilty of all charges by a judge Monday morning for his role in the arrest and subsequent death of 25-year-old black man Freddie Gray.
Nero, who is white, had faced charges of second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, and two counts of misconduct in office, all related to his role in Gray's initial detention and arrest on April 12, 2015. Gray died one week after being taken into custody, having suffered a broken neck and severe spinal cord injury in the back of a police transport van.
According to the Baltimore Sun:
Prosecutors alleged that Gray's arrest was an assault because it did not meet the standards of a legal detention. Legal analysts had called the theory unusual. Nero was also accused of endangering Gray by failing to secure him in the back of a police van with a seat belt.
Nero's attorneys, meanwhile, had sought to minimize his role in the arrest, saying that he had limited contact with Gray. They also argued that Nero followed his training.
Nero was the second of six city police officers charged in the case to stand trial; he chose a bench trial instead of a jury. The William G. Porter trial ended in a hung jury in December.
The Baltimore Sun is providing live updates here.
The outcry was swift on social media.
"In spite of today's verdict," the NAACP said in a statement, "we await justice for Freddie Gray."
Follow the response on Twitter:#NeroTrial Tweets
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
This story may be updated.
Baltimore Police Officer Edward Nero was found not guilty of all charges by a judge Monday morning for his role in the arrest and subsequent death of 25-year-old black man Freddie Gray.
Nero, who is white, had faced charges of second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, and two counts of misconduct in office, all related to his role in Gray's initial detention and arrest on April 12, 2015. Gray died one week after being taken into custody, having suffered a broken neck and severe spinal cord injury in the back of a police transport van.
According to the Baltimore Sun:
Prosecutors alleged that Gray's arrest was an assault because it did not meet the standards of a legal detention. Legal analysts had called the theory unusual. Nero was also accused of endangering Gray by failing to secure him in the back of a police van with a seat belt.
Nero's attorneys, meanwhile, had sought to minimize his role in the arrest, saying that he had limited contact with Gray. They also argued that Nero followed his training.
Nero was the second of six city police officers charged in the case to stand trial; he chose a bench trial instead of a jury. The William G. Porter trial ended in a hung jury in December.
The Baltimore Sun is providing live updates here.
The outcry was swift on social media.
"In spite of today's verdict," the NAACP said in a statement, "we await justice for Freddie Gray."
Follow the response on Twitter:#NeroTrial Tweets
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