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Bench Trial for Top Officer in Freddie Gray Case

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BALTIMORE (AP) - There will be no trial by jury for the highest-ranking Baltimore police officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray whose neck was broken inside a police van. Lt. Brian Rice has chosen to be tried instead by a judge, the same one who acquitted two fellow officers in Gray's death.
 
Rice faces charges of manslaughter, assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office.
 
Judge Barry Williams acquitted Edward Nero and Caesar Goodson after bench trials last month. The first of the six officers to go to trial, William Porter, faced a jury and ended with a mistrial. He'll be retried in September.
 
Gray's neck was broken after officers left him handcuffed and shackled but unrestrained by a seat belt inside a metal transport compartment in Goodson's van.

 

Don Rush is the News Director and Senior Producer of News and Public Affairs at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.