Charge Dismissed at Trial for Lt. Brian Rice

Who is Lieutenant Brian Rice? Closing arguments are set for Thursday at 10:00 a.m.

BALTIMORE-A judge on Monday dismissed a second-degree assault charge against Lt. Brian Rice, the latest police officer to stand trial in the arrest, transport and death of Freddie Gray in April 2015. Two were acquitted and proceedings for another ended in a mistrial.

For this charge, the prosecution’s case centered around Rice’s failure to secure Gray’s seatbelt after he put him into the police transport van.

University of Baltimore law professor David Jaros said the state had to call Nero and Porter to testify to establish the chain of events surrounding Rice’s actions on the day of Gray’s arrest.

The judge acknowledged this is a “unique situation” when making this decision. He said the defense request was overly broad.

Porter was next to testify.

Court is now in a lunch break. Two other officers were acquitted after bench trials before Williams, and a third is scheduled to be retried in the fall after a jury in his case deadlocked in December.

“Lt. Rice had no conversation with you about whether to seat-belt Mr. Gray, did he?” Ammerman said it was, but that even with an incomplete injury, Gray would have been able to breathe. Officer Caesar Goodson remains suspended, but now his pay is being restored pending an administrative review. Arden said he would have classified the death as accidental, though admitted in cross-examination that there’s a difference between the medical and legal definitions of the word “accidental”.

The defense rested their case Tuesday afternoon.

But Belsky said that was not true, and that the prosecution had cross-examined Porter “a lot on stop 1 and 2” during his trial.

On Tuesday morning, both Schatzow and Belsky again presented arguments to Williams about Porter’s testimony. “Had he been restrained, the assault would not have happened”, said deputy chief state’s attorney Michael Schatzow.

Porter testified that Gray’s calm demeanor didn’t indicate that he was injured.

Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby is in the courtroom today, sitting in the front row behind the prosecution table watching the proceedings.

Rice, 42, is the fourth officer and highest ranking to go on trial in the case.

Rice now faces three charges, after one charge was dropped on Monday. Officer Edward Nero was cleared of misdemeanor charges in May. Judge Barry Williams called another of the remaining three charges “an extremely close call” but stopped short of dismissing it.

“The testimony of the officers either benefitted the defense or didn’t prove the elements the state needed to prove (a crime occurred)”.

Porter testified for the prosecution under limited immunity on Monday.

Nero said he, Rice and other officers rushed to get Gray into the van and leave.