Lt. Brian Rice Acquitted On All Charges; Hogan, Others Think Remaining Cases Should Be Dropped

Friends and relatives of Tyrone West demonstrated outside of City Hall after the verdict. Credit: Robert Lang

Two protesters were outside of the courthouse as of 9:30 this morning Credit: Robert Lang

For the third time in two months, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams found one of the city police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray not guilty of all charges.

The verdict came at the trial of Lt. Brian Rice, a 42-year-old, 18-year veteran of the police department who was the highest ranking officer charged in Gray's death.

In a 30-minute court session this morning, Judge Williams said the state did not provide enough evidence to prove charges of manslaughter, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment.

The judge's rulings was similar to those in the trials of Officer Edward Nero and Caesar Goodson, who were also acquitted, but the judge said in this case he makes his ruling based on evidence, and "this court has an obligation to perform its duty without bias and is not swayed by public opinion or emotion."

Much of the prosecution's case centered on Rice's failure to put Gray in a seat belt when loading him into a police van, noting that led to Gray's injuries and death.

Williams said the prosecution did not prove Rice was aware of the policy requiring prisoners be put in seat belts, a policy which only took effect three days before Gray's arrest in April of last year.

There are a number of possibilities this court could entertain, some that are innocent and some that are not," Williams said. "However, the burden of proof rests with the state, and the court's imaginings do not serve as a substitute for evidence."

Like other trials, there were protesters outside of Courthouse East, though the number of protesters for this trial was fewer than 10, fewer than any other trials.

Among those outside the courthouse was Tawanda Jones, the sister of Tyrone West, who died three years ago today, while he was being subdued by police. None of the officers involved in that incident were ever charged.

"I'm heartbroken again with this so called bull crap judicial system," Jones told WBAL NewsRadio 1090.

"I feel I have no faith in the judicial system at all. I feel there is no justice, just us. Until we put in laws that protect citizens, this is going to continuously happen."

Still Jones praised Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby for pursuing this case.

After court, Jones led a demonstration at City Hall to protest police brutality, and calling for charges to be filed in her brother's death.

Gene Ryan, the president of the Fraternal Lodge of Police Lodge 3, says citizens should request an investigation into State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby's handling of the Freddie Gray cases.

"In each of four cases, Mrs. Mosby's office has been chastised by the court for their failure to follow rules of evidence as required by law," Ryan said.

He said the cases should raise questions about how they handle prosecutions "when the media is not around."

Ryan also repeated his demand that Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby drop the remaining cases against three other officers charged in Gray's death.

All of the accused officers are barred from commenting on their cases due to a gag order imposed by Judge Barry Williams.

Ryan said he has spoken to the four officers who have gone on trial.

"There's three out of the four who are completely happy, the ones that have been completely exonerated. Officer Porter is pretty confident, as time goes on, and the evidence is produced, they;'re gaining confidence, but I can tell you it was a real hard year for all of them, Ryan told reporters today.

A police department spokesman told WBAL NewsRadio 1090 that Rice, who had been suspended without pay had his pay restored this afternoon, and will be on administrative duty until a city police internal investigation into Gray's death is completed. That is not expected to occur until after the last of the criminal trials are completed. The last trial, that of Sgt. Alicia White, is scheduled to begin October 13.

Under the FOP contract with the state Rice will have his back pay restored, though the Board of Estimates has not yet scheduled a vote on that.

Last week, the Board approved nearly $88,000 in back pay for Officer Caesar Goodson, who was acquitted last month. Goodson also remains on administrative duty.

Meanwhile, Governor Larry Hogan weighed in on the case today.

Hogan says he doesn't see the point of moving forward with charges against three officers in the death of a black man who was fatally injured in the back of a police van, now that three other officers have been acquitted.



Matt Clark, a Hogan spokesman, said the governor responded to a question after Rice's acquittal. The Washington Post reported Hogan said: "It's a waste of time and money," adding "but that's up to the court system to decide."

University of Maryland School of Law Professor Doug Colbert talks about the verdict.

The court released a transcript of Monday's verdict, as local officials respond.

In his roughly 25-minute reading of the verdict, Judge Barry Williams, among other things, discussed gross negligence as applied under statute in the charge of involuntary manslaughter. That was the most serious charge faced by Lt. Brian Rice in the death of Freddie Gray.

"The court was not provided any evidence concerning what, if anything the officers told the defendant about Mr. Gray’s behavior and actions at stop 1," Williams said, according to the transcript. "What is in evidence is that the defendant, during the discussion, made the decision to have Mr. Gray shackled and transported to the Western District instead of Central Booking. There are a number of possibilities the court 16 could entertain, some that are innocent and some that are not. However, the burden of proof rests with the State, and the court’s imaginings do not serve as a substitute for evidence."

Rep. Elijah Cummings, who represents most of Baltimore in Congress, released a statement thanking Williams for ensuring a "fair process" and Baltimoreans for respecting his ruling.

“Like every city in America, Baltimore must continue to find ways to improve the relationships between our communities and police departments," Cummings said. "While recent attacks on law enforcement in Dallas, Baton Rouge and in our own city have been painful reminders of the dangers our officers face on the job daily, we must continue making reforms to our police department."

Cummings commended police Commissioner Kevin Davis for recent reforms in the department, including a refreshed policy on the use of force.

Both Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Democratic mayoral nominee Catherine Pugh released statements to reporters.

My statement on Judge's decision in the criminal trial of Lt. Brian Rice pic.twitter.com/1BlyYpKT9m — Mayor Rawlings-Blake (@MayorSRB) July 18, 2016

Lt. Brian Rice has been found not guilty of all three charges: involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office. His is the third trial in the Gray case to end in a full acquittal.

While three officers who have also faced or are facing charges in Gray's death were in the courtroom, State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby was not.

Judge Barry Williams said the state did not prove its case for involuntary manslaughter, and asked the court to make a number of assumptions. That charge carried up to 10 years in prison.

On the reckless endangerment charge, he said the statute would apply if the vehicle was moving, but he said simply putting someone in a van without a seat belt doesn't constitute reckless endangerment. He also said the failure to properly restrain Freddie Gray in itself doesn't constitute misconduct in office.

Officer Garrett Miller is the next to stand trial in Gray's death. His case begins next week. It's unknown how Monday's acquittal will affect whether the remaining prosecutions of Miller and Lt. Alicia White and the retrial of Officer William Porter.

A transcript of Williams' verdict should be made available later Monday.

9:40 a.m.

Lt. Brian Rice has arrived at Courthouse East for the verdict in his manslaughter trial.

Rice is the highest-ranking officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray.

Three other accused officers also arrived at the courthouse to watch the proceedings.

They are Officer Edward Nero, who was acquitted in May, Officer Caesar Goodson, who was acquitted last month, and Officer Garrett Miller, who is scheduled to go on trial next week.

Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby is also expected in the courtroom.

As of 9:30 a.m., there were two protesters outside of Courthouse East. Security was tight.

12:01 a.m.

A verdict will be handed down today in the trial of Baltimore City Police Lt. Brian Rice, the highest ranking officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray.

As he did at the trials of Officer Edward Nero and Caesar Goodson, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams is deciding this case.

The judge will arrive in the courtroom at around 10 this morning an announce his verdict.

Video

Since Rice only faces three charges, manslaughter, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment, today’s court proceedings will be relatively short, compared to other bench trials.

The proceedings will likely take no more than 30 minutes.

If there are any hints into how the judge might rule, it came last week, when Judge Williams dismissed a second degree assault charge due to lack of evidence.

At the time, he said the question of dismissing the reckless endangerment charge was a, "close call."

If convicted of all three charges, Rice could face more than 10 years in prison.

The prosecution has argued Rice, as the officer in charge on the day of Freddie Gray’s arrest, knew he had a responsibility to put Freddie Gray in a seat belt in the police van, and didn’t and that set off a chain of events that led to Gray’s death.

The defense argued that Rice acted property, Freddie Gray was an uncooperative prisoner, and his death was an accident.

This will be the third time in two months that Judge Williams will announce a verdict in one of the Freddie Gray related cases,.

In May, Williams found Officer Edward Nero not guilty of all charges.

Last month, Williams acquitted the van driver, Officer Caesar Goodson of all charges including second degree murder.

Nero attended Goodson's trial when the verdict was announced, and he attended the closing arguments in Rice's trial last week.

After this verdict is read, the next officer to go on trial related to Gray's death will be Officer Garrett Miller. His trial is scheduled to begin one week from Wednesday.