MD - Freddie Gray dies in police custody #3 *INDICTMENT*

[Boytwnmom]

recuse herself which she apparently won't do. Prosecutors have special duties under the Professional Responsibility rules. But a court can also order the "recusal" by dismissing/disqualifying her and her office on the basis of a proven conflict.

Remember there were calls for recusal in the Michael Brown case. Since there was no judicial case, it was up to the prosecutor to follow the ethics rules and determine whether recusal was warranted. (There was also some procedural rule there where the Governor could order a special prosecutor but that is not relevant to recusal.

I did not see any convincing evidence for recusal in the Michael Brown case. The alleged "conflicts" seemed to be he worked with the police for a long time (of course, as he was a consistently re-elected prosecutor) and that his father was a police officer killed by a black man, many years ago, maybe 40? These are pretty flimsy reasons for recusal. The current case with Mosby is very different and I do think an ethical prosecutor should have recused herself in this case. Ethical elected officials should be careful to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. She is a prosecutor but also essentially an elected official.

I haven't yet had a chance to read the Motion but I assume they use the Professional Responsibility rules and are asking the judge to find a conflict under those rules and order the prosecutor to be disqualified under those rules. There may also be Maryland case law that is on point.

The court will not specify who should prosecute. The city, or whoever is authorized under city procedural rules, would need to appoint someone to prosecute. It doesn't become a state case because of this and the state does not oversee local prosecutors or exercise authority over them. I think there may be confusion because Baltimore calls their prosecutor the Baltimore City State's Attorney. Where I live the Prosecutors are called District Attorneys. The "state" attorney as in state of Maryland is the state Attorney General. But Mosby is just the elected prosecutor for the city of Baltimore.

I did find an interesting older (2006) fairly plain English article http://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2543&context=llr

HIGH-PROFILE PROSECUTORS & HIGH-PROFILE CONFLICTS

Prosecutors, even more than other lawyers, must retain the role of advocate without becoming personally invested in a case.Prosecutors are
not allowed to permit their professional judgment "to be affected by his or her own political, financial, business, property,or personal interests," even though all high-profile prosecutors know that the cases they are handling can make or break their futures....It is easy for a prosecutor to end up as a
witness in his or herown case if the prosecutor is not careful. The ethical rules warn against a prosecutor taking too active a role in the investigative phase of a case.

CAVEAT: as always, please not I am NOT a criminal attorney!

So, where does this petition for recusal go next? If Mosby refuses to recuse herself, does it go to the State AG?

If it goes to the Attorney General of Maryland, And is approved to remove Mosby, would the AG then appoint a special prosecutor?

And if there is a special prosecutor, does he or she take over with the current Mosby charges in place, or would charges be dropped/ withdrawn, and the case evaluated to see if there are new or different charges?

(Brian E. Frosh, the MD AG, is a democrat, BTW.)

Boytwnmom, are you around to answer these procedural questions? What happens with this request for recusal? Can Mosby just ignore it?

 

[ohreally]

I care about the outcome. I want justice to be done. Whatever that looks like. The thought of a pound of flesh for the sake of appearances or putting whoever on notice does not appeal to me. The truth does. Nothing less than that.

Sent from my SCH-S960L using Tapatalk 2

Exactly. I want the truth. This whole case has so much politics in it that I don't think we will ever get to the truth, but I hope we will.

 

[Peliman]

Yes, well, the report states he was arrested without incident. According to LE, he didn't resist arrest.

Alright, I'll accept he wasn't under arrest when he ran from the officers who chased him down and detained him with a leg lace (on the ground) That they didn't place him under arrest until they found the knife. So as someone pointed out, he wasn't compliant.

 

[DebinGA]

"It is easy for a prosecutor to end up as a
witness in his or her own case if the prosecutor is not careful."

I think that's where Mosby's "parallel investigation" outside the BPD's might land her being called as a witness.

 

[ohreally]

Boytwnmom. Do you know if the SA will be allowed to change the charges? An example is if she figures out that she will not win on the knife being legal, can she change it to say it was a false arrest for some other reason?

 

[DebinGA]

Alright, I'll accept he wasn't under arrest when he ran from the officers who chased him down and detained him with a leg lace (on the ground) That they didn't place him under arrest until they found the knife. So as someone pointed out, he wasn't compliant.

FG's running caused the officers to have "reasonable suspicion" that he needed to be talked to. I seem to remember early reports that there was another fellow with FG and they took off running in different directions, but I don't believe Mosby's chronology mentioned that, so it might not be true.

 

[RANCH]

Alright, I'll accept he wasn't under arrest when he ran from the officers who chased him down and detained him with a leg lace (on the ground) That they didn't place him under arrest until they found the knife. So as someone pointed out, he wasn't compliant.

Freddie Gray may have been guilty of evading arrest or obstruction but wasn't arrested for it.

Evading arrest on foot (sometimes called flight) is committed by knowingly running away from an officer to escape capture, detention, or arrest.

Obstructing justice is committed when someone knowingly hinders or interferes with a police officer when the officer is performing official duties. The person does not need to use force to obstruct justice. Any conduct that prevents an officer from successfully performing an official duty could constitute obstruction.

Examples of obstruction include running away from an officer who is trying to make an arrest, going limp during an arrest, or drawing a weapon during a traffic stop.

Maybe the Officers figured the weapon charge was enough. JMO.

http://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/crime-penalties/federal/Evading-Arrest-on-Foot.htm

 

[Bravo]

This whole mess is so very sad. I pray the truth will be known one day. There are so many layers that lie beneath. I admit I feel for both sides. I am not a poor FG who has chosen to lead a life such as his. I am not a Police Officer who is thrown into another world dealing with folks who can harden you and take you places you never thought capable. Yet fear and anger are a guiding force. On both sides. I have no answer. As much as i wish i fear there isn't one. This will continue. Sadly. IMO

 

[RANCH]

The irony is the Officers who are now in trouble may have undercharged Freddie Gray and SA Mosby is overcharging them. JMO.

 

[Ausgirl]

Can't remember if this has been posted previously, apologies if it has. CCTV #2106:

[video=youtube;dBq_i9Jyf_Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dBq_i9Jyf_Y[/video]

09:53: Gray can be seen running (8:39:50 am) up the street in the opposite direction of the corner where the arrest is made.
10:12: Bike cop in pursuit
10:44: One of the bike cops can be seen slowly wheeling two bikes along the street toward the -empty- corner where the arrest will be made about a minute or so later.
11.15: Patrol car swerves onto the wrong side of the road, toward the corner.
11.36: Gray can be seen on the ground, with an officer standing, against a wall next to the smaller wall where he'd be placed later.

The officers then appear to move him toward the little wall, where the bikes were propped, and kneel both behind and beside him.

The witness who made the video appears, two minutes after the first sighting of the arrest.

Gray appears to spend the majority of his arrest face down on the ground.

 

[DebinGA]

SStarr33's post above about Atlanta's "Don't Run" campaign is very heartening to me. More initiatives like that, please.

 

[al66pine]

This ""arrested without incident"" is just so obserd to me He.Is.Dead.
If that does not qualify as an "incident" what does? Its laughable, IMO

Just jumping off ^ like others saying
~ how was he arrested w/out incident when detainee ended up dead?

109 page pdf of motion to dismiss incorporates several docs, including on Page 40,
Officer G. Miller's "Application for Statement of Charges"
describing events which occurred April 12, 2015. It's signed and dated April 12, 2015.
Is there a way Miller or any officer writing such a doc could
foresee into future that FG would die several days later? IDK.

 

[ohreally]

At the next stop he is shown on film standing next to the van, and even getting back into the van on his own abilities.

 

[Bravo]

The irony is the Officers who are now in trouble may have undercharged Freddie Gray and SA Mosby is overcharging them. JMO.

I agree, rich isn't it.

 

[Tawny]

The irony is the Officers who are now in trouble may have undercharged Freddie Gray and SA Mosby is overcharging them. JMO.

I agree, rich isn't it.

Where is there any indication that they "undercharged" him? What would you have him charged with aside from possession of a weapon (if it IS illegal)?

Keep in mind they reported he was arrested without incident. So, tell me what charges we're missing.

 

[RANCH]

Where is there any indication that they "undercharged" him? What would you have him charged with aside from possession of a weapon (if it IS illegal)?

Keep in mind they reported he was arrested without incident. So, tell me what charges we're missing.

Read the post I made before this one about evading arrest and obstruction. It's just my opinion and I haven't researched Maryland statutes so I may be wrong.

 

[katydid23]

However, according to TOS, Freddy is a victim. We know your stance on LE, but I did review the rules again just today, and FG, as a victim is off limits.

This thread is about the charges against the police for his death. As such, I am allowed to discuss the events leading up to the arrest. Discussing him is not off limits. JMO

 

[al66pine]

What do PD manuals for LEOs - policy & procedure, General Orders, what-ev name -
say about LEO Use of Force?
Is there a designated form for that?
Or is LEO report re U/F supposed to be incorporated into the 'Incident Rpt'? Or other?

 

[RANCH]

This thread is about the charges against the police for his death. As such, I am allowed to discuss the events leading up to the arrest. Discussing him is not off limits. JMO

Carry on. Your not violating any TOS that I can see.

 

[Greater Than]

Freddie Gray may have been guilty of evading arrest or obstruction but wasn't arrested for it.



Maybe the Officers figured the weapon charge was enough. JMO.

http://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/crime-penalties/federal/Evading-Arrest-on-Foot.htm

Let's stick to the facts. He merely made eye contact and took off. He wasn't being detained, he wasn't under arrest...he & Rice just simply looked at each other. Running is not against the law.

BBM-

[Police Commissioner Anthony] Batts also said it is still unclear why Gray was stopped in the first place, saying only that officers “made eye contact” with Gray and another man, and the two took off running.

“That’s part of the question we have to dig into,” Batts said, “if there’s more than just running. There is no law against running.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...ae70c4-e736-11e4-8581-633c536add4b_story.html