Police Officer Found Not Guilty In Freddie Gray Trial

A Maryland police officer has been found not guilty on all charges relating to the death of Freddie Gray who died last year from injuries sustained while being transported under police custody in a van. Gray, a 25-year-old African American man, died a week after his arrest from injuries sustained while in police custody Edward Nero is the first of six officers charged to receive a verdict since Gray’s death sparked uprising in the city more than a year ago. Russia Today reports: The verdict was delivered on Monday morning by Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams. Prosecutors had charged Officer Edward Nero, 30, with second-degree intentional assault, reckless endangerment and two counts of officer misconduct over the April 2015 incident. Prosecutors argued that Gray was arrested without justification, and that the spinal injuries that led to his death resulted from him being not secured in the transport van. Nero faced a maximum prison sentence of 10 years in prison for the assault charged and five years for the reckless endangerment charge. Nero opted for a bench trial, meaning that Williams determined his fate instead of a jury. Gray’s death resulted in mass protests in Baltimore last year, which culminated [...]