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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Grand Jury Transcript|Likely in Freddie Gray Case

BALTIMORE (CN) - State prosecutors said they have no problem giving the Baltimore police officers facing criminal charges connected to the death of Freddie Gray a transcript of grand-jury testimony.

"It is a long-standing practice in the circuit court for Baltimore City that all grand jury witness testimony is transcribed," the answer State's Attorney for Baltimore City Marilyn Mosby filed Thursday states, with emphasis in original.

"The state has not, and will not, treat this case differently from any other case that has been presented to the grand jury; that is the testimony of all witnesses who appear before the grand jury in this case will have the entirety of their testimony transcribed," the filing continues. "To that end, the state does not oppose defendants' motion for issuance of an order directing the preservation of grand jury testimony in the case."

Mosby's filing comes in answer to the motion filed by the six officers she charged in connection to the death of 25-year-old Gray, whose April 27 funeral set off riots in the streets of Baltimore. More than 20 police officers were injured in chaos, which also saw 200 businesses looted and more than 200 arrests.

Ceasar Goodson, Garret Miller, Edward Nero, William Porter, Brian Rice and Alica White all face assault charges in connection to Gray's death. Four in the group face manslaughter charges. Goodson alone faces an additional charge of second-degree murder.

All the officers are out on bail and moved to dismiss the charges against them. They have also asked the court to remove Mosby as prosecutor because of a purported conflict of interest.

Their motion for a court-appointed stenographer in the grand jury proceedings also requested preservation of any comments and instructions that the prosecutor gives the grand jury.

In her Thursday reply, Mosby called this request a "poorly veiled attempt to do that which is patently note permitted by law; that is, to challenge the legal sufficiency of evidence in support of a grand jury indictment."

"There is absolutely no legal basis [for this request], nor does this Honorable Court have any legal authority for doing so," Mosby wrote.

She added that "it is black letter law that comments or arguments of counsel do not constitute testimony." (Emphasis in original.)

Any right that defendants have to inspect grand-jury testimony serves "to impeach the state's witness(es)," the filing continues (emphasis in original).

"There is no legal authority to support the proposition that a grand jury witness in this case or any case can be impeached with the comments or advice made by a prosecutor appearing before the grand jury," Mosby added.

Mosby said that the officers' bid to preserve her instructions to the grand jury "fundamentally misapprehends the very nature of a grand jury proceeding."

She said the court should also deny the officers a tape recording of said testimony.

A grand jury indictment of the officers could occur within the next two weeks. A preliminary hearing for the officers in district court is tentatively scheduled for May 27.

Deputy State's Attorney Antonio Gioia signed the Thursday transcript resonse.

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