[ad_1]
Edward Nero (L), a Baltimore police officer who was involved in Freddie Gray’s arrest, exits the Baltimore City Circuit Court with his attorney Marc Zayon (R), after the first day of his trial on May 12, 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland. This is the second trial related to the death of Freddie Gray, who died while in police custody.
Mark Makela/Getty Images
They’d hoped to prove that Officer Edward Nero had been properly trained in restraining detainees, but that wasn’t the case for the prosecution Friday in the trial of Nero, who is facing charges of second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office over the death of Freddie Gray.
Gray, who died while in police custody last year, wasn’t properly seat-belted in the van transporting him per Baltimore police policy. The prosecution wanted to show that Nero knew better when it came to how to properly transport prisoners and acted improperly, but that wasn’t exactly the case.
Retired police officer Brenda Vicenti, a witness for the prosecution who was in charge of training Nero, said there aren’t enough hours in the 8-week course to always complete the training.
In the training section on transporting prisoners, the sheet saying whether or not Nero passed was left blank, but was signed as completed by both Vicenti and Nero. Vicenti explained that she is required to sign whether it is complete or not, so that the academy can move on to “the next steps.”
During the trial the prosecution, whether intentionally or not, painted a picture of a largely dysfunctional police department.
One witness, Detective Edward Bailey, a Baltimore City Police officer, said that he was in charge of conducting seat-belt audits for the department as it related to transport vans for all nine districts on April 10, 2014 and Sept. 30, 2014. The Northwest District failed, which includes the Western District involved in the arrest of Freddie Gray.
Officers had at least two opportunities to seat belt Gray early on in the transport, which is required according to police policy. Gray could have been seat-belted when the three arresting officers, Lt. Brian Rice, Officer Nero, and Officer Garrett Miller initially loaded Gray into the van. And at the second stop the van made, out of five stops, where they pulled Gray out of the wagon, placed him on the ground and put leg shackles on him.
The defense argued that police officers faced danger in attempting to seat belt Gray, and that even though it is department policy, officers are allowed to use discretion.
The prosecution also argued that Nero “just didn’t care,” in that Nero was also responsible for not getting Gray medical help. Gray asked early on for his inhaler. Miller and Nero asked him if he had it with him and he responded that he didn’t. Despite this officers didn’t request medical assistance.
The defense argued that Nero helped Gray look for his inhaler and that with his medical training he saw no signs that Gray was having trouble breathing.
The defense strategy at times tottered dangerously around issues of victim-blaming, stereotypes that persist around poor neighborhoods and aggressive policing tactics that target these areas.
During one unusual exchange that happened during Nero’s trial the defense seemed intent on painting Gilmor Homes, the area where Gray was arrested, as “high crime area.”
“Is the area around Gilmor Homes a high crime area?” defense attorney Marc Zayon asked witness Ross, a friend of Freddie Gray who videotaped part of what happened to Gray last year.
“There’s crime everywhere,” Ross answered.
“Are there drugs being sold around Gilmor Homes?” Zayon persisted.
“There are drugs being sold all over the world,” Ross answered.
“You’ve been all over the world?” Zayon asked.
“Objection,” the prosecution announced emphatically.
“Sustained,” Judge Barry Williams answered. “Strike the question and don’t do that again,” he admonished Zayon.
For the second-degree assault charge against Nero the prosecution has to prove that Gray was unlawfully arrested. It’s a charge that could have ramifications for policing in Baltimore, and as the nation watches this case, for police precincts around the country.
“If that ever becomes the case officers are just not going to make an arrest if they feel they will be prosecuted after making a good faith arrest. Public safety will be jeopardized,” said famed defense attorney Warren Brown about if Nero is convicted of the charge.
“The assault charge will call into question so many arrests in our city where the police do not have probable cause. I think the prosecution is sending a message to police,” said Douglas Colbert, a University of Maryland law professor.
The reckless endangerment charge is one that Colbert thinks has some traction.
The prosecution is expected to finish their arguments Monday with the potential of testimony from Officer Garrett Miller and Officer William Porter, whose trial ended in a hung jury earlier this year.
“It’s a historic prosecution, all across the country, its like 1 or 2 percent of police killings, get charged with a crime,” said Colbert. “I think the prosecution is letting the police know when a life is lost, police officers will face accountability.”
[ad_2]
