Baltimore officer acquitted on all counts in Freddie Gray case

BALTIMORE - A judge found police officer Edward M. Nero not guilty of all criminal charges in the case of Freddie Gray, whose death last year in police custody sparked riots and widespread anger in the city.

The acquittal by Judge Barry Williams, announced Monday in a packed courtroom, is the first verdict reached in the Gray case. Nero is the second officer to face trial on charges related to Gray's arrest and subsequent death. The first officer's trial ended in a hung jury.

The 30-year-old Nero hugged his lawyers and wiped away tears after Williams read his decision, which came after a trial held over six days. After court was adjourned, friends and fellow officers lined up to offer Nero congratulations. Nero had opted for a bench trial rather than have his case heard in front of a jury.

Nero is among six Baltimore officers to face charges in the case of Gray, 25, who died in police custody a week after suffering injuries in the back of a police van. Gray's death sparked rioting and arson in Baltimore and brought additional scrutiny to the deaths of young black men at the hands of police officers across the country.

Nero was acquitted of second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and two counts of misconduct in office.

Tessa Hill-Aston, head of the Baltimore NAACP, said outside the courthouse that she was disappointed in the verdict.

"It's not a good day," she told reporters. "Freddie was fine until they stopped him ... and they had no reason to arrest him." She said she expected an "emotional" reaction from many city residents, having been in court with people "from all walks of life" who were upset by the verdict.

In a statement, Lt. Gene Ryan, the president of the Fraternal Order of Police, applauded the resolution. "The State's Attorney's office responded to the riots and violence in Baltimore by rushing to charge these officers rashly and without any meaningful investigation," Ryan said.

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Nero will now face an administrative review by the police department.

"This is our American system of justice and police officers must be afforded the same justice system as every other citizen in this city, state and country," Rawlings-Blake said in a statement. "We once again ask the citizens to be patient and to allow the entire process to come to a conclusion. In case of any disturbance in the city, we are prepared to respond."

Gray was arrested April 12, 2015 and then placed in the back of a police van with his hands cuffed behind his back and his legs shackled. Prosecutors say that Gray suffered a neck injury and lost consciousness as he was being transported in the van. He died about a week later without ever regaining consciousness.

The prosecution has argued that Nero had no probable cause for arresting Gray after a chase in Gray's West Baltimore neighborhood and that the very act of arresting him amounted to an assault. The state also argued that Nero's failure to put Gray in a seat belt in the back of the police van made him guilty of reckless endangerment.

But Nero's defense attorney, Mark Zayon, successfully made the case that his client, who responded to a call to chase a fleeing suspect, acted as any reasonable Baltimore police officer would during the incident.

The prosecution pointed to a general order emailed to all Baltimore police officers from the city's police commissioner just days before Gray's arrest that called for the seatbelting of all prisoners being transported, without exception. But Zayon said there was no evidence that his client saw or read the order; and other officers testified that it was not common practice to seat belt detainees.

The verdict is a blow for Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby who brought charges against the six officers on May 1, 2015. Mosby sat in the front row for much of the trial but was not in court when the decision was announced. Prosecutors Michael Schatzow and Janice Bledsoe handled the case.

"This is a real shot across the prosecution's bow," said Tyler Mann, a Baltimore defense attorney who previously served as a prosecutor in the office of the Baltimore City State's Attorney. "When you can't even convince one person that he broke the law, that's not a good sign."

Mann said he doubted the result would change the way prosecutors handle the other officer's cases.

"I think they're going to move forward with every case - they've made their bed and now they have to lie in it," Mann said.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said at a news conference Friday that the trial had exposed what appeared to be gaps in police training.

"We really have to learn from this incident, the idea that maybe officers were not trained in something that they should have been trained in," he said. "Hopefully we will learn."

Baltimore police said an outside agency will conduct the investigation to determine whether Nero's actions in the Gray case conformed to department policy.

A city police spokesman said it will not be completed until the criminal cases against all other five officers are completed. That is because the officers could be called as witnesses at each other's trials. Nero will remain on "administrative capacity" until then, the department said.

In an earlier case against the first officer to go to trial, Officer William Porter, jurors were unable to reach a decision and a mistrial was declared. Porter will face a retrial later this year.