POLICE BRUTALITY CASES: WALTER SCOTT MURDER & MORE

[HairOfTheDog]

well I am glad they got a handle on this one quickly. I knew that whatever happened to him happened in the van. The video of his arrest just didn't show the kind of violence it would have taken to break his neck.

Something happened to that man during the initial confrontation. I know you and some of the others don't agree with that but I'm standing by my comment.

I had CNN on for a bit late yesterday afternoon. There were a couple of top doctors on the panel; both of them thought that Marilyn Mosby boxed herself in by saying that the catastrophic spinal injury was incurred inside the van.

I don't think she did that though. I think Mosby has hard evidence that the police van was deliberately driven in a manner designed to rough up Freddie Gray. I think she knows from the ME's final report that the final and fatal injury was incurred during that ride and that's what she's gonna focus on - what she can prove.

Intentionally driving the van in a manner designed to injure passengers supports the Murder 2 charge against the driver; the driver who has still hasn't given police a statement. I bet the driver knew immediately upon seeing Gray's condition at the last stop that he was in deep shit, lawyered up, and refused to be interviewed. That's what I suspect.

The fact that the other cops checked on Freddie Gray at 4 different stops, denied him medical attention, and put him back in danger, supports the involuntary manslaughter charges. If any one of them had belted Freddie Gray at the start, he would still be alive. If any one of them had called for a medic and got him out of that van early on, he would still be alive. If either of those policies has been followed before the fatal head injury (which probably knocked him unconscious, IMO), Freddie Gray would still be alive.

Though the mayor and the BPD Commissioner acknowledged that Gray was injured and in need of a medic before he was ever hoisted into the van and medical professionals agree, the ME found that the fatal injury occurred in the van. We don't know what happened to Gray before the witness video of Gray's apprehension started rolling and I don't think we (or Mosby) can ever truly know. She's focusing on the "knowns", what she believes that she can prove.

I got the sense that Mosby, whose parents and many other family members are police officers, was truly incensed by BPD leaking a report that tried to make Freddie Gray appear responsible for his own death. BPD would like people to believe that the officers broke policy by not putting the seat belt on, but that Freddie Gray died due to his own actions. Just like Cleveland police suggested that Tamir Rice was responsible for his own death (and then retracted). Just like North Charleston police suggested Walter Scott was responsible for his own death (and then retracted when video surfaced).

Police shouldn't be relied upon to objectively investigate themselves, for obvious and proven reasons. I'm relieved that the Baltimore State's Attorney knew better than to rely on the police investigation of itself to determine if charges were warranted in the death of Freddie Gray. She had an independent investigation underway even before Freddie Gray died, separate from the police investigation. That was smart.

Those are my opinions.