Maryland Defense attorney Kush Arora told Breitbart News he was at the press conference in Baltimore this morning where six police officers were charged in the death of a black man. He said his office believes the charges were appropriate.
State’s Attorney for Baltimore City Marilyn Mosby said, “No one is above the law” during her press conference Friday morning in which she announced that the six police officers involved in arresting Freddie Gray, who died while in police custody, will face criminal charges.
According to Eric Guster, an attorney appearing on Fox News following the press conference, one of the officers faces a charge that carries with it a 63-year sentence.
In response to Mosby’s announcement, Arora said, “This attorney seems to have done a thorough job.”
“I think that her office has taken their time to evaluate all of the information they were provided,” said Arora. “I think there are absolutely the facts to support these charges – one of the things that came to light yesterday was the issue of there being a second stop.”
Arora went on to explain that police officers are given training on how to identify if someone is well enough to go to the jail or should go to the hospital first to receive necessary medical attention.
“It’s absolutely not unusual for people to be taken by the police to the hospital,” said Arora.
He went on to say that it is difficult to prosecute these cases against police officers because usually the defense will argue that the police officer used the force necessary to do their job.
“When police officers are charged with criminal offenses, it’s very difficult to identify the difference between a criminal act or whether or not the officer was acting within the scope of their duties,” he explained.
“I’m actually very surprised,” said Arora, in response to the charges coming quickly. “I think a lot of it had to do with public pressure not only by the citizens of Baltimore, but also by civil rights leaders across the country.”
“It’s very early on and if I were the prosecutor, I wouldn’t be showing all my cards to everybody just yet,” Arora added.
“It wouldn’t be the most unusual thing for a prosecutor to over-charge a defendant,” he said. But Arora added that he believes the prosecutor was very careful not to do that in this case.
The next step in the process is for the prosecutor to present the evidence to a grand jury to see if it will issue an indictment against the six officers.
Arora added that the other option is the defense could request a preliminary hearing with a judge in the District Court who will hear the evidence without much detail to determine if the prosecutor has enough evidence to prosecute these officers from a probable cause perspective.
“These cases are very sensitive in nature and everybody should respect the process,” Arora added.