LF: Alan Dershowitz Rips Charges Against Baltimore Cops: 'Sad Day for Justice'

Title: Alan Dershowitz Rips Charges Against Baltimore Cops: 'Sad Day for Justice'
Source: [None]
URL Source: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/alan-der ... more-cops-sad-day-for-justice/
Published: May 1, 2015
Author: Mediate
Post Date: 2015-05-01 20:15:17 by Vinny
Keywords: None
Views: 32359
Comments: 115

Alan Dershowitz really went after Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby today for charging the six cops involved in the death of Freddie Gray, saying it was entirely based on politics and “crowd control.”

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 there’s “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 it’s “unlikely they’ll get any convictions in this case” and if they do they’ll likely “be reversed on appeal.”

Watch the video below, via Newsmax TV:

[image via screengrab]

– –

Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac

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?

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.

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:

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.

Does the prosecutor have to show the arrest was illegal, or do the police have to show the arrest was legal?

I am not as familiar with the law and all aspects of this case as you are, but I believe it is the latter....am I wrong?

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.

It may not have been an illegal arrest....I do not know Maryland law in this regard.

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.

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.

If not, then your "confirmation" that it's not a switchblade carrys no more weight than the cop's affirmation that it was.

But let's say that the cops were in error. Let's say that it was indeed a spring-assisted knife, which is a legal knife.

That doesn't make it an "illegal arrest". It means the defendant is not guilty of possessing an illegal knife.

"The knife was recovered by this officer and found to be a spring assisted one hand operated knife."

In the report you cited, the officer described it as a "switchblade" knife, which is also a spring assisted one hand operated knife.

Now, maybe later in a court of law, they will determine that this wasn't technically a "switchblade" but simply a spring assisted one hand operated knife. If so, then the case will be thrown out because that knife is legal.

Ever hear the expression, "Tell it to the judge"? That's because the cops don't want to try the case on the street.

How many arrests end in convictions? 10%? Does that mean 90% of the arrests were illegal?

My kind of switchblade:

The Super Talent CSB – SwitchBlade is a USB drive featuring a switchblade-type enclosure. With the push a button, the spring-loaded USB drive snaps out. Available in sizes between 2GB and 16GB, the SwitchBlade utilizes durable, solid-state storage to ensure data retention for up to 10 years.