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Originally Posted by Stillriledup
Is it possible that they just "Arrested" everyone to calm the riots but purposely made "mistakes" so that eventually this stuff would get tossed out somewhere down the line due to "poor police prodedure" ?
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I don't know about the second part of that, but it seems obvious that calming the mobs was very much on the mind of the DA. As I remember, the charges were filed by the DA the same day that she got the results of the investigation, which doesn't give much time for thinking about getting it right.
Alan Dershowitz calls it crowd control, and suggests that the process may have violated the officers' rights to due process. More grounds for dismissal or appeal?
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WHEN BALTIMORE’S STATE attorney Marilyn Mosby announced charges last week against six officers in the death of Freddie Gray and proclaimed to the city that “I heard your call for ‘no justice, no peace,’” it’s possible that her decisions were based, at least in part, on the understandable goal of preventing further riots. This goal is commendable, but the mean selected to achieve it — hearing the call of demonstrators — raises fundamental questions regarding the due process right of those charged with serious crimes.
No decision on charges should ever be made on the basis of satisfying the demands of demonstrators or under the threat of violent demonstrations. Crowd control is not a proper component of prosecutorial discretion and is inconsistent with due process. Prosecutorial discretion should be exercised on the basis of an objective application of the law to the facts and not on the basis of the impact it may have on the crowd.
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http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/e...LjN/story.html
