Dershowitz lamented that this is a very sad day for justice and told Steve Malzberg that Mosby acted out of a desire to prevent riots. It will be virtually impossible, he predicted, for the six officers involved to get a fair trial.
And as for murder charges, Dershowitz said theres no plausible, hypothetical, conceivable case for murder and this is a show trial. He predicted that Mosby might get removed as prosecutor and Baltimore citizens may get upset if and/or when they move to a place with a different demographic.
He concluded that its unlikely theyll get any convictions in this case and if they do theyll likely be reversed on appeal.
I'm sure they will get some low level convictions and some high dollar civil judgements against them. There is no denying that officers arrested without probable cause... and then violated policy by not seat belting this turd inside the transport vehicle... and then dragged their feet getting him medical attention for his self inflicted injuries.
All six are fuked... and so will Mosby's career after the DA doesn't hit the home run that racist set up today.
Toxicology report shows evidence of heroin and marijuana, further, he was observed making a drug sale.
Show me a case were possession IN THE BLOODSTREAM is chargeable for possession. One case where a conviction was upheld... even after appeal.
Secondly, a drug deal without evidence? Where's the other half of the transaction? Without the other half and no drugs found on the deceased... where's the PC? Kinda thin, isn't it?
Sounds like the bogus charge of a switchblade was the best they had.
Sounds like the bogus charge of a switchblade was the best they had.
Supposedly, they do have the switchblade as evidence.
The false arrest is apparently due to a police report on the arrest that they initially went after the perp solely because he averted his eyes from the police.
That seems to be the entire basis for the D.A. to allege false arrest, not that the perp didn't have a switchblade.
"The knife was not a switchblade, and it is lawful," Mosby said Friday
That was what she implied on "The Toady Show" this morning,but not exactly what she said.
The knife was "legal" if there was no probable cause for the search. That's the horse she is riding.
That is NOT what she "implied"....that is what she said and what the police report confirmed:
While news reports have described the knife Gray was carrying as a "switchblade," the actual police report (see charging documents at bottom of page) describes it as a "spring assisted, one hand opening knife," which has become among the most common on the market in recent years. (Update 5/1/14: At a news conference announcing that six police officers were being charged in Gray's death, state's attorney for Baltimore Marilyn J. Mosby confirmed that the knife was indeed "not a switchblade and is lawful under Maryland law.") source
The cops apparently had no reason to arrest him:
Baltimore police officers had no reason to arrest 25- year-old Freddie Gray in the first place, Baltimore's chief prosecutor, Marilyn J. Mosby, announced at a news conference Friday morning.
Shocking you'd use Mosby's words from her presser as evidence the arrest wasn't legal. Would anyone expect her to say anything else? The stop, pursuit & arrest for resisting is by far and away the easiest hurdle for the defense. Let's bookmark this thread and come back to it when the defense rips the charge apart.
The burden of proof is on the prosecutor, and she has a high bar "beyond a reasonable doubt." The defense can sit back and do absolutely nothing if they choose to. Actually Zimmerman's attorney considered this strategy after the State presented their "star witnesses" who proved to be a disaster.
The arrests will hold because Gray was known to the department (17 priors?) and he was in a drug prone location. When he ran upon approach he set in motion a "reasonable" possibility that he was engaged in criminal activity which green lights a stop/question. Upon apprehension he resisted which is a crime in and of itself.
Fleeing from police is not, by itself, illegal in America, and the U.S. Supreme Court has made clear that in safe neighborhoods, people not suspected of criminal activity can ignore a police officer who approaches them, even to the point of walking away.
But courts have set a different standard for places where street crime is common, ruling that police can chase, stop and frisk people if their location contributes to a suspicion of criminal activity.
I am still researching and have now come full circle.
The cops charged Freddie Gray with illegal possession of a switchblade. It has been confirmed that the knife was not a switchblade. This apparently was the ONLY charge. Unless I can find something else, or can be shown something .I have to go back to my original thought that the sops failed to establish probable cause for his arrest and no crime was committed. It was an illegal arrest.
Really? Please show me a "spring assisted knife" that isn't a switchblade.
You have YOUR definition, Pete....while there are many who differ with you.
Here is only one:
There are differences between a Switchblade and Assisted Opening Knives.
SWITCHBLADE A switchblade (also known as automatic knife, switch, or, in British English flick knife) is a type of knife with a folding blade that springs out of the grip when a button or lever on the grip is pressed. There are two basic types: side-opening and out-the-front (OTF). A side-opening knife's blade pivots out of the side of the handle (in the same manner as an ordinary folding knife). An out-the-front knife's blade slides directly forward, out of the tip of the handle. Many OTF (out-the-front) knives work with a dual-action mechanism that enables the user to extend and retract the knife in one press of the finger, with no cocking or priming action. However, some OTF (out-the-front) knives are single action, and require the user to manually retract the blade. A wide variety of blade designs may be found on switchblades, but the most common is the Italian stiletto style seen often in movies. However, the switchblade should not be confused with the butterfly knife (balisong), assisted-opening knife, or the non-automatic stiletto.
Assisted-Opening Knife / Spring-Assisted Opening Technology A spring-assisted knife is a knife that when you push on the thumb stud to open it a spring takes over and propels the blade open. Spring-assisted knives make a great alternative to automatic knives. A Spring / Torsion assisted knife is a type of knife which uses a spring assisted mechanism behind the blade. They open by the ambidextrous thumb stud on the blade with a slight bit of pressure. They are commonly confused with switchblades, but have one main difference. While a switchblade can be opened usually with the push of a button within the handle, the user of a spring-assisted knife must apply slight pressure to the thumb stud and the spring/torsion assisted mechanism does the rest. Once the knife has been opened about one-quarter of the way (45°), the mechanism will open the knife the rest of the way. A/O knives are Assisted - Opening which are also Spring - Assisted knives.
While a switchblade can be opened usually with the push of a button within the handle, the user of a spring-assisted knife must apply slight pressure to the thumb stud and the spring/torsion assisted mechanism does the rest.
Correct. A switch opens by the push of a button only. A spring assist opens by the combination of a spring and the power of a thumb pushing a stud on the blade. BIG DIFFERENCE... and to arrest for a spring assist as a switch is a bad arrest.