Op-Ed
The Augusta Chronicle
December 22, 2015
It's not looking very good for prosecutors in the racially explosive Freddie Gray case.
They managed only a mistrial last week of the first police defendant to stand trial -- which is all the more remarkable when you consider all the societal pressure in Baltimore for a pound of flesh.
Experts say the mistrial -- jurors deadlocked in the case of Officer William Porter -- indicates potential problems for prosecutors down the road. They may not have the strength of evidence so vociferously touted by Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby.
Moreover, experts say, the mistrial itself may weaken the prosecution's hand: Porter cannot now be compelled to testify in the other five officers' cases, since he faces a possible retrial himself; and, given the mistrial, Porter and his co-defendants may resist any temptation to take a plea deal and testify against their colleagues.
That's not collusion -- it's just the realities of the American judicial system. These officers have rights.
Though you wouldn't know it from the mob mentality in the streets of Baltimore. Even the mistrial -- essentially a tie in the case, which can be reheard -- brought out angry protesters whose notion of "justice" seems to be convictions regardless of the evidence.
Americans being the scrupulous folks that they are, often to a fault, it's rarely necessary to move a trial -- called a "change of venue" -- in order to find a fair and impartial jury. But let's be honest: With those mobs in the street, how can jurors be completely fair to these officers?
It's probably time to move all the trials resulting from Gray's April 12 death after his arrest and ride in a police van.
Look at the reaction to a simple mistrial. What mayhem might befall Baltimore if there's an acquittal?
And would any citizen-juror want a part in that?
1 comment:
I will never forget the blood in the prosecutor's eyes when she announced the charges against the officers. She was grandstanding to try cement herself politically in Baltimore and appease BLM and similar groups.
Sadly, with help from the President, media figures and minority groups who don't pay attention to valid statistics relating to police shootings, the Ferguson Effect has taken over in urban areas.
Pro-active policing in areas that need it the most is a thing of the past.
The catalyst was Ferguson, Missouri.
The irony is that Officer Darren Wilson didn't do anything wrong and he was thrown under the bus.
Silver Bullet
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