Baltimore finds cop arrests fueled by riots and media moralizing tough to turn into convictions

Back when the death of Freddie Gray was a recent development and the riots were still paralyzing the city of Baltimore, it seemed to us that Marilyn Mosby was acting more like a political celebrity than she was like a prosecutor. When people riot and demand certain decisions by a prosecutor, the prosecutor is not supposed to take her marching orders from the rioters. She's supposed to operate based on the evidence. So when Mosby charged six Baltimore cops in Gray's death, it certainly appeared at the time like she was giving the mob what they wanted rather than following where the evidence led her. And if that was the case, we thought, she would have an awfully difficult time getting convictions. Ahem:

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Legal analysts described the mistrial as a major setback for the prosecution that could affect its efforts to convict the other five officers set to stand trial. The analysts said Porter -- who prosecutors said failed Gray, including by not making sure he wore a seat belt and not calling a medic sooner -- could have testified in those other cases or his statements in his own trial could have been used against the other officers. Now, though, everything is up in the air. One main order of business is determining when, or if, Porter will stand trial again. A new trial date could be determined at one or more scheduling conferences Judge Barry Williams may hold with the prosecution and defense in his chambers, the court's communications office said.

This leaves the prosecution is a very difficult position because they were counting on Porter's conviction to help clear the way for the the others. With that first step now in jeopardy, they're pretty much making it up on the fly:

"A hung jury is a defeat for the prosecution, especially when they needed Porter to make some of these other cases," Toobin said.

"Now there are lots of strategic decisions ahead. They may decide to give up on prosecuting Porter, give him immunity and use him as a witness anyway, but that's obviously not a solution they wanted. All of these issues will have to be debated, and the prosecution here is in serious trouble." Porter was picked to go ahead of the other officers, at least in part, because prosecutors wanted to have him as a witness, according to Andrew Alperstein, a Baltimore defense attorney and former prosecutor. "Their thinking, seemingly, was if he was convicted maybe they could flip him and get him to become a witness for the state. ... On the other hand, if he was acquitted, he became what's called a compellable witness. He could be forced to testify," Alperstein said. "This hung jury is, really, I think, a major setback for the state because they have neither option available."

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If this is Michael Brown or Rodney King all over again, it serves both the prosecution and the rioters right - although I don't imagine most of the rioters really care, since all they wanted was an excuse to riot, and in fact the prosecutions failure may well give them another one. But the media also bear a lot of responsibility here. Every time a black suspect is injured or killed in a confrontation with police, the media immediately jump on the cops-brutalize-blacks narrative without any regard for what actually happened - essentially green-lighting the rioters, from whom prosecutors and politicians then take their cue. They managed to completely destroy Darren Wilson's career through this song and dance, and if Porter and the other Baltimore cops charged in this case are going to have any shot whatsoever at fairness in the system, it's apparently going to depend on juries who aren't influenced by the politics or the emotion of the situation. Someone has to stand up to the rioters and not just tell them to calm down because they've been heard, but tell them they have not and will not be heard. Prosecutors and juries have to operate on evidence and nothing else, and the opinions of thugs burning car dealerships are not worth considering. Unfortunately, we have people running our criminal justice system like Marilyn Mosby, who neither understand nor care about these principles.

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