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Baltimore Cop Cleared Over Freddie Gray Death

Freddie Gray suffered a fatal neck injury last year while not wearing a seatbelt in the back of a police transport van.

Freddie Gray died after being arrested in Baltimore last year
Image: Freddie Gray being held by two police officers after they said he ran off unprovoked
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A police officer on trial over the death of a black man in police custody has been acquitted.

Lieutenant Brian Rice, the officer in charge, had ordered two police officers to chase Freddie Gray when he allegedly ran off unprovoked in a high-crime area of Baltimore, Maryland.

The 25-year-old subsequently suffered a fatal neck injury in April 2015 after being bundled into the back of a police transport van.

Lt Brian Rice was the most senior police officer involved
Image: Lt Brian Rice was the most senior police officer involved

Prosecutors said Rice was negligent in failing to secure Mr Gray with a seatbelt in the van.

But defence lawyers said the police officer had made a reasonable, split-second decision while Gray was being combative and a hostile crowd looked on.

Freddie Gray
Image: Freddie Gray died in April 2015

Presiding judge Barry Williams said prosecutors had failed to show the lieutenant was aware of a departmental policy requiring seatbelts for prisoners during transport.

"A mere error in judgment is not enough to show corruption," Mr Williams said.
 
The acquittal of officer Rice raises questions about the prospects for the remaining cases against three officers still awaiting trial in the case.

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Rice is the fourth of six officers to stand trial in the case.

Mr Gray's death triggered protests and rioting in the mainly black city and sparked a national debate about how police treat minority groups.

Demonstrators march in Baltimore in the Black Lives Matter campaign
Image: Demonstrators march in Baltimore in the Black Lives Matter campaign

Defence lawyer Warren Alperstein, who was observing the trial, said he was "not surprised by the verdict whatsoever".

He said: "At the end of the day, the state may have to say we're cutting our losses and moving on." 

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Law professor Doug Colbert insisted there was still value in having brought the prosecutions, even if they were unsuccessful.

"The police departments are now on notice that the legal community stands ready to prosecute in these types of cases," he said.

Tensions flared further this month with the deaths of African-American men at the hands of police in Minnesota and Louisiana. 

The controversy took a further tragic turn when eight police officers were shot dead in apparent reprisal attacks staged by lone black gunmen in and , Louisiana.