Op-Ed: Baltimore pays off Gray family before trial has begun on 6 BPD officers in Gray's death.

By Rob Janicki
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake signed off on a settlement
with the family of Freddie Gray, who died a week after having been
taken into police custody.  Baltimore's City Council made the $6.4
million dollar settlement official when it approved the deal.

What is curious is why a settlement now?  The trial of the six
Baltimore Police Department officers has yet to begin.  Many legal
scholars believe that the six officers, three white and three black,
have been overcharged in a race to judgment by the Baltimore State's
Attorney Marilyn Mosby.

Legal scholars are concerned that such a settlement may have an
adverse effect upon the trials of the six police officers.  Any effect
would be speculation at this time, but the greatest concern is that
the settlement may have a negative effect on the minds of prospective
jurors as they sit in judgment as to the guilt or innocence of the
officers and thus prejudice the outcome of the trial.  Jurors would,
by trial, know that the City of Baltimore had settled with the Freddie
Gray family, thus accepting responsibility and liability for the
actions of the six police officers.

Is Mayor Rawlings-Blake more interested in putting this whole incident
behind her, including the horrendous rioting that resulted from her
direct orders to BPD officers not to engage rioters so that they might
let off steam?  The Mayor's handling of the Freddie Gray issue has
been an abominable demonstration of incompetence, or, at the very
least, a failure of leadership.  Had Rawlings-Blake been a white mayor
she would have been fired by the City Council in short order.  But,
Baltimore is essentially a black city lead by elected black officer
holders and appointees, so Rawlings-Blake appears to have gotten a
free pass in arranging this settlement.

Some say it will take a generation before Baltimore recovers from the
rioting permitted by Rawlings-Blake. By that time the mayor will be
long gone and will not be held responsible for the damages to property
and race relations, which have to be at an all time low since the
rioting and its aftermath.

Good luck Baltimore.  Your elected officials have let you down and now
you get to pay the price for their incompetency.