| Online: | |
| Visits: | |
| Stories: |
| Story Views | |
| Now: | |
| Last Hour: | |
| Last 24 Hours: | |
| Total: | |
Police sacrificial pawns in mob-based charges
Prosecutor appeases rioting mobs and looters in Democrat-run city
All six Baltimore police officers charged with homicide in the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray who died in a hospital after suffering a spinal injury while in police custody have posted bail. They were released on bonds ranging between $250,000 and $350,000.
In a lightening speed rush to judgment, Maryland State Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced the charges ranging from assault to murder Friday. Mosby has been practicing law for less than ten years —- three of which were spent at Liberty Mutual Insurance, reviewing dubious claims.
Anti-police protests, driven by tech savvy anarchists adept at social media, have simultaneously erupted in cities across the country including New York, Denver, Seattle, Chicago and Portland, Oregon. After the charges were announced, organizers billed their marches a “victory rally” and celebratory partying followed.
Charges against the Baltimore officers —- three black and three white —- are serious and carry heavy penalties:
Officer Caesar Goodson Jr. was charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, second-degree assault, two vehicular manslaughter charges and misconduct in office.
Officer William Porter, Lt. Brian Rice and Sgt. Alicia White were all charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault and misconduct in office.
Officer Edward Nero was charged with second-degree assault and misconduct in office, and Officer Garrett Miller was charged with those charges plus false imprisonment.
Goodson, facing the most serious charges, could potentially be sentenced to as much as 63 years of prison. The others face a maximum sentence of between 20 and 30 years.
Baltimore’s police union president, Gene Ryan, said none of the officers charged are responsible for Gray’s death. Michael E. Davey, an attorney who works with the union and is representing one of the officers, decried what he called an “egregious rush to judgment.”
Opposition to these charges transcend politics. Alan Dershowitz —- a nationally renown criminal appellate lawyer and self-described liberal Democrat who twice campaigned for Barack Obama —- noted that Mosley’s actions were motivated more by political expediency and short-term public safety than strong evidence. He called the charges “outrageous and irresponsible,” especially the second degree murder count filed against police van driver Caesar Goodson Jr. under a rarely seen legal principle known as “depraved heart,” which allows prosecutors in that jurisdiction to charge a person with murder without having to prove intent to kill.
“The decision to file charges was made not based on considerations of justice, but on considerations of crowd control,” Dershowitz said Saturday. “It’s a sad day for justice,” he declared.
Source: https://seeingredaz.wordpress.com/2015/05/03/police-sacrificial-pawns-in-mob-based-charges/
