Officers appear in court
All, six officers appear in court in Baltimore in front of Judge Williams, who will determine whether their still undisclosed statements will be allowed at trial. The officers who gave interviews want the statements thrown out, claiming were not read their rights. They say they feared they’d lose their jobs if they refused to talk to internal police investigators. They also saying the statements violate Maryland’s law enforcement officers’ bill of rights, which says police cannot be prosecuted for statements they were forced to give on the job. All officers except Goodson speak at length about the ride.
Leaked autopsy report condemned
Gray’s autopsy report is leaked to the media. The Maryland medical examiner and prosecutor’s office states they had refused to release the report. There are no details as to who the leak happened or who is responsible but the State’s Attorney condemns the leak. Mosby:
I want to make it very clear that the state’s attorney’s office did not release the Freddie Gray autopsy report. As I have repeatedly stated, I strongly condemn anyone with access to trial evidence who has leaked information prior to the resolution of this case.
Cause of death
Police announce that cause of death is determined to be an injury from the accident. Coroner bases conclusion on the results of the autopsy which indicates that a broken neck is the cause of death and not anything occurring during the arrest. Spokesman:
The medical examiner found Gray’s catastrophic injury was caused when he slammed into the back of the police transport van, apparently breaking his neck. [However, he added] We don’t do preliminary findings, and the investigation isn’t concluded.
Condemns violence
Obama condemns the violence in Baltimore and expressed condolences to the family of Gray.
There is no excuse for the kind of violence we saw yesterday. It is counter-productive…People are stealing and damaging their own communities and that is no statement on police brutality or any other kind of issue.