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Police Charged in Death of Freddie Gray. Aired 15-15:30p ET

Aired May 1, 2015 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[15:00:01]

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And we continue on, hour two here. I just want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. You're watching CNN's special live coverage just outside of Baltimore City Hall. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you for being with me.

We are watching a lot today. I can tell you, the demonstrations are about to begin any moment now. Just walking around and talking to people, I can tell you this is a very different city today than what we have all felt really for the better part of the last week. There has been incredible frustration and anger.

And, today, you're hearing the honks. You're seeing these people there. And a number of them are breathing a sigh of relief, at least for now, many of who are satisfied. Some of them are celebrating in the wake of the news this morning from the state's attorney.

These calls for justice may actually be quieted after this swift action by the state's attorney Marilyn Mosby. We heard from her just a couple hours ago, in fact, steps from where I am now, just across from City Hall at the War Memorial. She stood on those steps flanked by some of her staff and investigators. And she announced that her office filed 28 -- 28 criminal charges against those six officers who Marilyn Mosby stressed wrongfully arrested Freddie Gray back on April 12.

Mosby detailed today how these officers repeatedly failed to help this 25-year-old as he was in that prison transport vehicle, as he suffered a fatal spinal injury in police custody. She detailed it all.

Here she was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARILYN MOSBY, BALTIMORE STATE'S ATTORNEY: The statement of probable cause is as follows.

On April 12, 2015, between 8:45 and 9:15 a.m., near the corner of North Avenue and Mount Street, Lieutenant Brian Rice of the Baltimore Police Department while on bike patrol with Officers Garrett Miller and Edward Nero made eye contact with Mr. Freddie Carlos Gray Jr.

Having made eye contact with Mr. Gray, Mr. Gray subsequently ran from Lieutenant Rice.

Officers Miller and Nero then handcuffed Mr. Gray and moved him to a location a few feet away from his surrendering location.

Mr. Gray was then placed in a prone position with his arms handcuffed behind his back. It was at this time that Mr. Gray indicated that he could not breathe and requested an inhaler to no avail.

Officers Miller and Nero then placed Mr. Gray in a seated position and subsequently found a knife clipped to the insides of his pant's pocket.

The blade of the knife was folded into the handle. The knife was not a switchblade and is lawful under Maryland law.

These officers subsequently removed the knife and placed it on the sidewalk.

Mr. Gray was then placed back down on his stomach, at which time Mr. Gray began to flail his legs and scream as Officer Miller placed Mr. Gray in a restraining technique known as a leg lace, while Officer Nero physically held him down against his will until a BPD wagon arrived to transport Mr. Gray.

Lieutenant Rice, Officer Miller and Officer Nero failed to establish probable cause for Mr. Gray's arrest as no crime had been committed by Mr. Gray. Accordingly, Lieutenant Rice, Officer Miller and Officer Nero illegally arrested Mr. Gray. Upon arrival of the transport wagon driven by Officer Caesar Goodson, Lieutenant Rice, Officer Nero and Officer Miller loaded Mr. Gray into the wagon, and at no point was he secured by a seat belt while in the wagon contrary to a BPD general order.

Lieutenant Rice then directed BPD wagon to stop at Baker Street. At Baker Street, Lieutenant Rice, Officer Nero and Officer Miller removed Mr. Gray from the wagon, placed flex cuffs on his wrist, placed leg shackles on his ankles, and completed required paperwork. Officer Miller, Officer Nero and Lieutenant Rice then loaded Mr. Gray back into the wagon, placing him on his stomach, head first, on to the floor of the wagon.

Following transport from Baker Street, Mr. Gray suffered a severe and critical neck injury as a result of being handcuffed, shackled by his feet, and unrestrained inside of the BPD wagon. From Baker Street, Officer Goodson proceeded to the vicinity of Mosher Street and Fremont Avenue, where he subsequently parked the wagon and proceed to the back of the wagon in order to observe Mr. Gray.

Despite stopping for the purpose of checking on Mr. Gray's condition, at no point did he seat nor did he render any medical assistance for Mr. Gray.

Officer William Porter arrived on the scene near Dolphin Street and Druid Hill Avenue. Both Officer Goodson and Officer Porter proceed to the back of the wagon to check on the status of Mr. Gray's condition. Mr. Gray at that time requested help and indicated that he could not breathe.

[15:05:04]

Officer Porter then physically assisted Mr. Gray from the floor of the van to the bench. Despite Mr. Gray's obvious and recognized need for medical assistance, Officer Goodson in a grossly negligent manner chose to respond to the 1600 block of West North Avenue with Mr. Gray still unsecured by a seat belt in the wagon, without rendering to or summoning medical assistance for Mr. Gray.

Once the wagon arrived, Officer Goodson walked to the back of the wagon and again opened the doors to the wagon to make observations of Mr. Gray. Sergeant Alicia White, Officer Porter, and Officer Goodson observed Mr. Gray unresponsive on the floor of the wagon.

After completing the North Avenue arrest and loading the additional prisoner into the opposite side of the wagon containing Mr. Gray, Officer Goodson then proceeded to the Western District Police Station where. A medic was finally called to the scene where, upon arrival, the medic determined that Mr. Gray was now in cardiac arrest and was critically and severely injured. Mr. Gray was rushed to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma where he underwent surgery. On April 19, 2015, Mr. Gray succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: All of those details laid out from the state's attorney this morning on the steps of the War Memorial here just across from City Hall. We wanted you to hear every second of that.

Now, these police officers' charges range from official misconduct all the way to second-degree murder. And that charge against the driver of the police van, he's officer Caesar Goodson. The mayor of Baltimore announced late this afternoon five of the six officers charged, they are now in police custody. So their next step is an initial appearance before a court commissioner.

Let's talk about all of this huge, huge news today with CNN's legal analysts, both Mark O'Mara and Sunny Hostin.

And, Sunny, let me just begin with you, because the most serious charges are filed against this prisoner transport van driver. What are the charges, and why against this officer?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, there are six charges against him, starting with second-degree depraved heart murder, also involuntary manslaughter, also second-degree assault, also manslaughter by vehicle gross negligence, manslaughter by vehicle criminal negligence, and misconduct in office.

Clearly, the prosecutor's office thinks that Goodson is the worst actor out of everyone. And that is because, as outlined by the prosecutor, he stopped to check on Gray more than once and didn't render assistance. And he chose to also on North Avenue pick up an additional prisoner. That is the problem for Officer Goodson, because as a result of not rendering aid, the government is alleging that Freddie Gray died.

And I think that when you look at depraved indifference, it is really significant to note that prosecutors charge that when they feel that someone deliberately acted in a reckless and indifferent manner to human life, causing their death. So the law looks at that the same way the law would look at someone who specifically intended to murder someone.

It is just one level below first-degree premeditated murder. And that is -- that, I think, tells us how seriously the government thinks his actions led to Freddie Gray's death.

BALDWIN: Because Marilyn Mosby never mentioned anything about a rough ride. So, it's simply the fact that they're alleging this driver continuously ignored the pleas, continuously didn't restrain him.

HOSTIN: Well, that's part of it. But because the government also charged manslaughter by vehicle, manslaughter by vehicle is sort of a catch-all here in Maryland which indicates that, by your reckless driving, you cause the death of another.

BALDWIN: There you go.

HOSTIN: So, she really -- some people, of course, are going to criticize her and say that she overcharged. We always hear that as prosecutors.

But when you look at the way she charged, it's very, I think, thorough and it covers all of the possible scenarios.

BALDWIN: OK.

HOSTIN: She made it very clear, Brooke, that she didn't tell us everything. We don't know all of the evidence. But just by looking at the charges, that tells me that she does believe in the way he not only checked on him and was negligent, but also the way he was driving.

BALDWIN: Mark O'Mara, from a defense perspective and thinking about these six different officers who are charged, how -- what happens next? Do they all appear in front of this -- a judge? Is there a trial, ultimately? Is it one trial? Is it six defense attorneys? What happens?

MARK O'MARA, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, the process goes like this.

They're going to appear before a judge today, I think they said, for what's called an initial appearance or a first arraignment on the charges. They will then get independent counsel. Each one will have at least one lawyer. It will be set for pretrial conference. Between now and that pretrial conference, they will undertake what is called discovery, the information flow between the state attorney's office and the defense.

[15:10:07]

They will be taking some statements from additional witnesses. There will be additional investigations. If, in fact, there's going to be a trial, and although 97 percent, 98 percent of all criminal cases resolve without a trial, certainly, the high-profile cases, and one like this, we can anticipate a trial. Then the question is, will they be tried together or separately?

My thought is that they are going to be tried separately, for a couple of reasons. One, they're going to end up pointing some fingers at each other. All six of these co-defendants now are going to look and say, what I did wasn't a crime, and wasn't negligent, though maybe what he or she did was.

So, I see six completely separate trials, rather than being tried together. And, plus, they are also different charges. Also, most likely, the state, as they often do and should, will try and have one or two of these co-defendants right now turn into state witnesses as part of a plea agreement and then bolster the case against the other, because even though the prosecutor has really focused on this and said this was basically a partnership to ignore, grossly ignore Freddie's civil rights and that led to his death, they're still going to have to sort of jump in bed with one or two of the co-defendants to sew up the case against the rest.

HOSTIN: And actually, you know, I think when you look at the charging document, quite frankly, if I'm the prosecutor, I know who I'm asking and who I want to cooperate with me.

BALDWIN: How do you mean?

HOSTIN: You have officer Edward Nero. He's been charged with second-degree assault, no murder charges. Officer Garrett Miller, no murder charges, just second-degree assault. Those were two out of the three arresting officers.

The other arresting officer, which would be Lieutenant Brian Rice, charged with voluntary manslaughter. So you want to get those other two arresting officers to cooperate with you to explain to you exactly what happened upon arrest.

BALDWIN: OK. So that was to Mark's point. Are they being held all separately, kept from one another?

HOSTIN: We're not sure, but that generally is the case. You don't want them all getting together, sort of getting their stories together. But, you know, they have been suspended initially with pay, now without pay. So my sense is they may have already spoken to each other.

BALDWIN: OK.

Mark O'Mara, what else just from your perspective? What else are you looking at, looking for as we move ahead? Because, by the way, we're looking at pictures, and these are live pictures of people honking and celebrating in the Baltimore city streets. But this is -- this is by no means over. This is just the beginning of this whole process, correct?

O'MARA: Well, look, and we have talked about this many times before. But, if nothing else, this is an example, a profile that we have systemic problems.

If six officers acted in concert or in ignorance of one person's civil rights, the way it happened here, we have to acknowledge they're undertrained, probably underpaid, and if we're going to hold cops responsible to be professionals, as we should and as we should expect, we're going to have to understand that we have to train them better. We're going to have to pay them better. Every one of them has to have a cop camera on. There should be a camera in every one of those vans, not just in Baltimore and not just in Ferguson, but everywhere, because now we know, thank God, to video that we're going to see more and more of this.

We have to hold our cops to a higher responsibility. And we have to pay them and train them to do so.

BALDWIN: Mark O'Mara, thank you so much. Sunny Hostin, your analysis invaluable, thank you.

I just want to go straight to ground level. We have been looking at some of these pictures here of people celebrating in the streets.

Brian Todd is in the midst of it.

Brian Todd, tell me what you're hearing.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here we go.

Brooke, this is a spontaneous celebration that's been going on now for more than four hours since the prosecutor made that announcement of the charges. My photojournalist Tom and I are going to kind of move along here. Excuse me, ma'am. I'm sorry.

There's been kind of a line of protesters extending along North Avenue here all day, really just expressing their joy at the announcement of these charges. These guys have been chanting. Here's the only person I have seen here who's not excited.

Come on in here, Tom. This is Toya (ph), 6 months old. I think she's done with this, but her mom is celebrating.

How do guys you feel about what happened today?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel a little -- it's OK. We got justice. So that's all that matters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.

TODD: Thank you, guys, for talking to us. All right.

Brooke, a lot of these people who we talk to have said that -- OK, we're -- the policeman is asking us to get out of the street. A lot of these people who we talk to, as happy as they are about

this announcement of the charges, have said that they -- that this is not over for them, that they will not be completely satisfied unless there are convictions.

Excuse me, sir.

(CROSSTALK)

[15:15:03]

TODD: All right. We're being moved out of here by police. And we probably have to toss it back to you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Yes, let's get you up on that sidewalk, Brian Todd. I don't want to get you in trouble here. I know we're trying to cover this lawfully in the thick of things.

And I know a lot of times in these locations I have been in, in the last couple of days, police are allowing crews and everyone else in parts of the streets. But it looks like he needs to get out of there, but, listen, huge crowds reacting to the news that you have these six police officers facing criminal charges.

We will check back in with Brian. I know we also have my colleague Ryan Young out as well.

So we're watching for reaction.

Speaking of reaction, strong reaction today from the mayor here in Baltimore after these charges were announced this morning. We will talk to a former Maryland congressman. This is a man who's served this state five terms, former head of the NAACP. He sat on the city council. He has just a -- just a really special perspective as far as what's happening here and what needs to happen here on out.

Also, we have been looking at these live pictures, people gathering in the streets. Marches are expected to start, organized demonstrations very, very soon.

And Don Lemon has sat down today with the woman who we have been talking about since this morning, the state's attorney, Marilyn Mosby, who had the power to charge these officers. As we have seen, she's done so. We will talk to Don Lemon about his interview with her.

You're watching CNN's special live coverage straight from Baltimore.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:20:50]

BALDWIN: I'm Brooke Baldwin. You're watching CNN.

The arrest of 25-year-old Freddie Gray was illegal, and his death was ruled a homicide. These were the explosive findings today that we learned from the state's attorney, Marilyn Mosby. The mayor here of the city very quick to respond to the charges leveled against these six officers. Here she was a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE (D), MAYOR OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND: As mayor, I have said from the beginning that no one is above the law in our city. I was sickened and heartbroken by the statement of charges that we heard today, because no one in our city is above the law.

Justice must apply to all of us equally. With today's official indictment, I have ordered police Commissioner Batts to utilize the full extent of his legal authority and immediately suspend all officers facing felony charges.

In fact, warrants have been executed, and five officers are in custody. Today's indictments are the next step in the legal process that is running its course. And, as mayor, I will continue to be relentless in changing the culture of the police department to ensure that everyone in our city is treated equally under the law.

There will be justice for Mr. Gray. There will be justice for his family. And there will be justice for the people of Baltimore. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Joining me now, I have former Baltimore city councilman, former Maryland congressman, and former president of the NAACP, Congressman Kweisi Mfume.

We keep meeting like this.

KWEISI MFUME (D), FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN: We do. We do. But it's good to see you. It's good to be back.

BALDWIN: Good to see you.

And I really wanted to talk to you because I so appreciate your perspective from here, representative of the state five terms. But, first, I have to ask just your reaction to Marilyn Mosby's filing criminal charges involving every single one of these officers involved in his arrest and death.

MFUME: Marilyn is a very fair, deliberate, and honest prosecutor who is doing this not for form or fashion, but because she believes in justice. She grew up in a police family.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Five generations, she said, this morning.

MFUME: Absolutely.

And she was a victim when her cousin was killed on her doorsteps when she was a teenager. That image in her mind drove her to want to go to college, to want to pursue law school, to want to become a prosecutor. And at the age of 35, I can tell you she is a person that possesses a deep sense of community. She lives maybe six blocks from where all the demonstrations are going on now, raising two little girls with her husband, and is just a firm believer that, no matter what you are, you're not above the law.

BALDWIN: On the flip side, just to be fair to police, police union wants her to recuse herself. They say, you know, the attorney for Freddie Gray was politically supportive. They have a relationship. Her husband sits on the Baltimore City Council. Despite her five generations of law enforcement in her family, that's what they say.

Obviously, I assume you say she should -- she's up to the task.

MFUME: Absolutely up to the task.

And I understand the police union. They have got to say what they have to say. But, in this case, I think most people were clear about how transparent she was, how she detailed every aspect of what happened.

BALDWIN: She did.

MFUME: How she went back and verified it, and how she's been working on this since around the 13th of April, and in parallel with the police department.

I don't think anybody knew that the state's attorney was also doing her own investigation.

BALDWIN: Thus, it appeared to so many people that it was so quick, but I was talking to Mark Geragos, an attorney, last hour. He was saying to me, Brooke, this is how the justice system is supposed to work.

MFUME: Yes.

BALDWIN: Stop saying swift. This is how it should be.

Bigger picture, you have been in the community. You are entrenched in this community here in Baltimore. I'm just curious how -- how people have reacted to this who you have spoken with, especially the youth.

MFUME: Well, I think this is so historic, because, usually, in these cases, there are no findings of guilt.

BALDWIN: Nonindictments.

MFUME: No indictments. People get slapped on the wrist or it goes away or there's a change of venue and you never hear anything else about it.

So, for young people on the ground, this has become something, I think and I hope, that has inspired and reignited their belief in the notion of justice for all.

[15:25:06]

They have been saying, look at me, here I am, I exist, I'm a human being. And they have been saying also that they would not rest until something was -- has happened here. Now, we know this is a long process. It's going to go on and on and on. But this is the right first step. So, there's this exhaling from the community, a sigh of relief, a sigh of satisfaction that at least we're on the right road to get justice.

BALDWIN: It's a historic moment for especially these young people and perhaps an exhale.

But, at the same time, I think, well, so what? I think on the streets today, you still have a number of the issues we spoke about the other day in terms of social inequity, poverty, lack of resources. And so this may be wonderful for them in the moment, but what really changes today?

MFUME: Well, that's the point that I mentioned to you a couple days ago when we did this interview.

This is the result, in my opinion, of 50 years of abject poverty, despair, disrespect, disillusionment, a belief that we didn't have to do anything as a nation for these communities, although they exist in every one of our cities. And when people are boxed in that long, things boil over and they explode.

So, the fact that you still can't find a job in Freddie Gray's neighborhood, where business incentives are not being put there to get businesses to locate there, where schools aren't efficient, and when there's very little hope except to be out on the streets, those things are going to stay with us until all of America recognizes that it's bigger than Baltimore.

It's about, what do we do with American citizens who have been here all their lives, generations, and who want some sense of worth, some sense of value, some sense of existence?

BALDWIN: Knowing that every single one of these officers has been charged criminally, especially the driver of this prisoner transport van, who, according to the state's attorney, repeatedly ignored every single stop, never restrained Freddie Gray, never called on those medics until it was sort of too late, what will change as far as community and police?

MFUME: Well, I hope what changes in terms of police is a structural reformation of the entire police department.

As you know, the Justice Department has been here for a couple of months, at the request of city officials, to look at this department and to see what's wrong. It's a department that has paid out almost $6 million in the last three years in cases that they have lost or they have beat up a deacon, they kicked a pregnant woman, they arrested someone falsely. BALDWIN: Settlements.

MFUME: Yes, a ton of settlements. And so that's the first thing. There's got to be structural reform in the police department.

What happens in the community is to continue the organization that elected officials, that pastors, that community leaders and others have been doing so far. I mean, the fact that you have rival gangs here working together is significant and ought not be lost in this moment. It doesn't make them right or wrong. It makes us realize that this is an issue so powerful that everybody believes they have got a vested interest in the community.

BALDWIN: I'm wondering, before I let you go, also, just we're surrounded by National Guard, police officers. Have you had a chance to talk to any Baltimore City police officers about the news today?

MFUME: I haven't. I went past a couple who were standing outside that I have known for a while.

And you know, what I said to them, I think, bears repeating. And Marilyn said this. This is not an indictment against every officer. They're good men and they're good women who get up every day, put on a uniform and a badge and go out and patrol the communities. They feel a part of those communities. And they bring with them respect.

This is an indictment of all the bad police, the bad apples, who do bad things and then hide behind the blue shield, never to be prosecuted. So, I hope, if this says anything else, is that we recognize that there are two types of police officers, those who understand their job and bring respect with it and those who don't care.

And for those who don't care, instances like this will continue to repeat themselves over and over again until there is justice.

BALDWIN: Congressman Mfume.

MFUME: I thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Your voice is an important one in this city and nationwide. I really appreciate you talking to me again today.

MFUME: Thank you very much. And I appreciate it.

BALDWIN: Coming up next here on CNN, we have more insight on those six police officers who have been charged.

Plus, Don Lemon spoke one on one with Baltimore state attorney Marilyn Mosby -- part of that interview straight ahead here on CNN.

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