Baltimore will pay 6.4 million to Freddie Gray's family (illegal, racist, school)
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Your explanation might make sense if there isn't a criminal trial. In this case, the city can't hide anything. Not legally.
That's not true at all. In the criminal trial, the City is only obligated to disclose evidence that might exculpate these specific officers from the accusations against them, i.e., the killing of Freddie Gray. In the civil case, discovery makes a much broader universe of information available--there is a broad standard for the information that can be discovered, and it would certainly cover, for example, a pattern of "rough rides" in the department, past similar incidents involving these officers and their supervisors, complaints to the police department about brutality, testimony from officers around the department about explicit and implicit policies and guidance on the treatment of arrestees, etc. There would be a lot of opportunities for damaging information to arise that do not exist in a criminal trial.
That's not true at all. In the criminal trial, the City is only obligated to disclose evidence that might exculpate these specific officers from the accusations against them, i.e., the killing of Freddie Gray. In the civil case, discovery makes a much broader universe of information available--there is a broad standard for the information that can be discovered, and it would certainly cover, for example, a pattern of "rough rides" in the department, past similar incidents involving these officers and their supervisors, complaints to the police department about brutality, testimony from officers around the department about explicit and implicit policies and guidance on the treatment of arrestees, etc. There would be a lot of opportunities for damaging information to arise that do not exist in a criminal trial.
Everything you mentioned will be relevant in the criminal trials, at least the homicide charges.
The officers had NO say in this, it was all the city "leaders" and in my opinion TOTALLY done for political/social reasons that have nothing at all to do with justice.
Municipalities and police officers get sued all the time for negligence and police misconduct. I doubt if there's a city with more than 5,000 people that hasn't been sued in the whole U.S. The city has attorneys who represent it and they usually represent the individual defendants as well. The attorneys look at the evidence, which I'm sure includes much that has not been made public, and decides whether to settle the case or try it. There must have been fairly compelling evidence against the officers or the attorneys would not have advised a settlement.
Also, the standard of proof in a civil action is a "preponderance of the evidence," or 51%, whereas in a criminal case it's "beyond a reasonable doubt," which is a much higher burden to meet. A civil case will often settle even when a criminal defendant might decide to go to trial.
It doesn't matter what kind of life he lead. Police are supposed to be the bigger people. Every night, cops bring people who are hurt, high, drunk, whatever to the ER. They help people who don't necessarily help themselves. These cops in Baltimore deliberately tried to hurt the man.
A better result could have been obtained if the cops had simply done their job.
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