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Questions Arise Around Culpability in 2nd Officer’s Trial Over Death of Freddie Gray
Closing arguments concluded Friday after a weeklong bench trial for Officer Edward Nero in the death of Freddie Gray. The trial for Nero focused less on the facts of how Gray died and more on the particulars of laws regarding detaining, arresting and transporting prisoners, and general orders from the Baltimore Police Department on procedures…
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2nd Officer’s Trial Doesn’t Provide Many Answers to Mysteries Surrounding Freddie Gray’s Arrest, Death
As the defense finishes its arguments in the trial of Officer Edward Nero over the death of Freddie Gray, more questions have been raised than answers. On Wednesday, Officer Garrett Miller, who was one of the arresting officers with Nero, was compelled to testify as a prosecution witness. He was granted immunity, so his testimony…
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Poor Training, Dysfunctional Police Dept. Highlighted in 2nd Officer’s Trial in Freddie Gray’s Death
The prosecution had hoped to prove that Officer Edward Nero had been properly trained in restraining detainees, but that didn’t happen Friday. Nero is on trial and facing charges of second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office over the death of Freddie Gray. Gray, who died last year while in the custody of Baltimore…
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2nd Officer’s Trial to Begin in Freddie Gray Case
The trial of Baltimore Police Officer Edward M. Nero in the arrest and subsequent death of Freddie Gray is set to begin Thursday. It starts after months of delays over appeals involving whether officers will testify against one another. The state eventually ruled that officers are compelled to testify in the trials of other officers. Nero has…
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Catherine Pugh Wins Democratic Primary in Baltimore’s Mayoral Race; DeRay Mckesson Comes in 6th
Baltimore’s mayoral primary race was so close this year that as celebration music blared and people danced at former Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon’s headquarters, actual Democratic mayoral nominee Catherine Pugh was giving her victory speech. Dixon’s campaign headquarters were still waiting for the final results because the tally was so close. On the Democratic side, Pugh…
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Baltimore Mayoral Debate Lacked Fireworks, but Not Candidates
Baltimore has been in the national spotlight for the past year on issues of police brutality, civil unrest and an unprecedented court case in which Maryland’s highest court is compelling a police officer to testify against his fellow officers. As a result, local issues were laid bare on a national stage for all the world to…
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‘The Academy Is Biased’: Flawed Voting, Stiff Rules Cause Blacks to Miss Out on Nominations
The outcry surrounding the lack of diversity at the Oscars is almost as old as the Oscars itself. Before the most recent videos of Jada Pinkett Smith and the Twitter hashtag #OscarsSoWhite, there was Sacheen Littlefeather. She spoke out about the mistreatment of Native Americans when she appeared on the Academy Awards stage, standing in for…
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Caught on Tape, Caught in a Lie: 5 Times Video Proved Police Were Lying
For police officers, does caught on tape mean caught in a lie? You know the stories. The officer felt threatened, the suspect charged and the officer, claiming fear for his or her life, had to shoot. But when there’s video, these stories are not as cut-and-dried. In fact, in some cases, officers are caught flat…
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Grand Jury’s ‘Rare’ ‘No Vote’ in Tamir Rice Shooting Points to Bigger Issue
The process of a grand jury indictment is largely mystifying to the average citizen. When the grand jury decided not to indict Cleveland Police Officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback in the shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, the process of the grand jury fell under the microscope. When news broke Wednesday that the grand…
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‘We Need a Conviction’: Baltimore Reacts to Mistrial in Freddie Gray Case
“Indict! Convict! Send those killer cops to jail! The whole damn system is guilty as hell,” is what protesters shouted outside the courthouse in Baltimore Wednesday after the trial of Police Officer William Porter ended in a hung jury. Porter, the first of six officers facing prosecution in the police-custody death of Freddie Gray, had…
