Freddie Gray Officers Suing Prosecutor Marilyn Mosby
On Wednesday, Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced that charges against three officers still facing trial for the death of Freddie Gray, were being dropped. Now Mosby is going from prosecutor to civil defendant in connection with the case of the death of Freddie Gray.
The Baltmore State’s Attorney gave only a statement, but had to leave without taking questions because five of the officers in the case have filed lawsuits against her. The officers behind the lawsuit are officers Garrett Miller, Edward Nero and William Porter as well as Sgt. Alicia White and Lt. Brian Rice.
The lawsuit is against both Mosby and Maj. Samuel Cogen of the Baltimore Sheriff’s Office. Cogen was the law enforcement officer who filed charging documents against the officers.
The grounds of the lawsuits which were filed in the U.S. District Court of Maryland in 2015, are false arrest, false imprisonment, defamation or false light, and other assertions. They were filed in late April and early May which is around the time the officers were arrested.
Rice and Nero had already been acquitted in separate bench trials. Officer Caesar Goodson, who apparently has not filed suit was also acquitted of his charges.
Porter was the first to be tried but his case ended with the jury unable to reach a unanimous decision. On Wednesday Mosby’s office officially dropped the charges against Miller, Porter and White.
According to CNN an attorney for two of the officers said Wednesday that there were ulterior motives in charging the officers. Michael E. Glass said “Marilyn Mosby’s comments in her press conference today confirm that the charges brought against my clients, Sgt. Alicia White and Officer William Porter, as well as the other four officers, were politically motivated and not supported by evidence to establish probable cause.”
He continued by pointing out that his client suffered “extensive pain and suffering.” Both Porter and White had been suspended without pay until Wednesday. Both officers are now on desk duty after more than a year on leave.
According to court documents Rice, the highest-ranking officer charged in the case, depicts himself as minimally involved. According to the lawsuit he was the first to make eye contact with Gray but he was not involved in the arrest.
The lawsuit also states that Rice accuses Mosby of realizing the case would draw widespread media attention and speaking “in a divisive and inciting manner” while making false statements about him. Rice alleges Mosby’s remarks, broke the state’s code of professional conduct, which forbids lawyers from making “an extrajudicial statement” they know will prejudice a court proceeding.
The lieutenant “lost his freedom and dignity and suffered physical and psychological harm from being arrested and detained without cause,” the suit says. The litigants are asking for $75,000 per allegation, plus legal costs.
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