Freddie Gray trial prosecutors drop remaining charges against officers

Prosecutors on Wednesday dropped all remaining charges against the three Baltimore police officers who were still awaiting trial in Freddie Gray's death, blaming police for a biased investigation that failed to produce a single conviction.

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The decision means that no one will be held criminally responsible for the death of Gray, a 25-year-old black man whose neck was broken while he was unrestrained in the back of a police van in April 2015.

A judge had already acquitted three other officers, including the van driver who prosecutors considered the most responsible and another officer who was the highest-ranking of the group. A mistrial was declared for a fourth officer when a jury deadlocked.

Gray's death added fuel to the growing Black Lives Matter movement, set off massive protests in the city and led to the worst riots that Baltimore had seen in decades.

The case also led the police department to overhaul itsuse-of-force policy. All officers will soon be equipped withbody-worn cameras, and the U.S. Justice Department has launched aninvestigation into allegations of widespread abuse and unlawfularrests by police. The results are expected soon. The officers alsoface an internal investigation.

'I know they lied, and they killed him'

Shortly after the announcement that charges would be dropped, adefiant State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby held a news conference,saying there was "a reluctance" and "an obvious bias" among someofficers investigating Gray's death.

"We do not believe Freddie Gray killed himself," she said,standing in the neighbourhood where Gray was arrested, a mural ofhim on a wall over her shoulder. "We stand by the medicalexaminer's determination that Freddie Gray's death was a homicide."

She walked up to the podium as people chanted "we're with you,"and her remarks were punctuated by shouts of support.

Gray's mother, Gloria Darden, stood by Mosby, saying police lied."I know they lied, and they killed him," she said.

Officers sued Mosby

Attorneys for the officers said justice had been served andpraised the police department's thorough investigation. The officershave sued Mosby, saying she intentionally filed false chargesagainst them.

"The comments made today by Ms. Mosby were outrageous and nottrue," said Gene Ryan, president of the Fraternal Order of PoliceLodge 3.

Ivan Bates, an attorney for Sgt. Alicia White, said everyonewanted to know what happened to Gray.

"The Baltimore city police, they did the investigation and theysaid it was an accident," he said. "The Baltimore state's attorneyhad the opportunity to do an investigation and they did not. It isthe Baltimore city state's attorney's office that denied justice tothe Gray family and to these officers."

Gray's family received a $8.4 million settlement from the city.The day started with a pretrial hearing for officer Garrett
Miller, who had faced charges of assault, misconduct and recklessendangerment.

But instead of pretrial motions, Chief Deputy State'sAttorney Michael Schatzow told the judge that prosecutors weredropping the charges against Miller and the other officers.

Prosecutors had said Gray was illegally arrested after he ranfrom a bike patrol officer and that officers failed to buckle Grayinto a seat belt or call a medic when he indicated he wanted to goto a hospital. He was handcuffed and shackled when he was hurt.

Mosby in spotlight

After Gray's death, Mosby wasted little time in announcingcharges, waiting just one day after receiving the policedepartment's investigation while a tense city was still undercurfew. She did not shy from the spotlight, posing for magazinephotos, sitting for TV interviews and even appearing on stage at aPrince concert in Gray's honour.

The city's troubles forced Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to fireher reform-minded police chief and abandon her re-election campaign.She has taken a prominent role on the podium this week at theDemocratic National Convention.

Many feared that the acquittals could provoke more protests andunrest, but that never happened, and the streets appeared mostlycalm Wednesday.

The Gray case never fit neatly into the narrative of whiteauthorities imposing unfair justice on minorities.

For those that believe that I'manti-police, it'ssimplynot the case. I'manti-police brutality.- MarilynMosby, Baltimore State Attorney

Three of the officers who were charged are white and three areblack. The victim, judge, top prosecutor and mayor are allAfrican-American. At the time of Gray's death, so was the policechief.

No reputations hinged on the case's outcome as much as Mosby'sand that of her husband, Nick Mosby, a councilman for Baltimore'swest side who announced his mayoral candidacy shortly afterRawlings-Blake left the race. He later pulled out.

Marilyn Mosby spoke so forcefully when she announced the chargesagainst the officers that defence attorneys argued she should recuseherself for bias. She did not let up Wednesday.

"We've all borne witness to an inherent bias that is a directresult of when police police themselves," she said.