Former Police Officer Reacts To Freddie Gray Verdict
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Author, cable news contributor and former Las Vegas police officer, Randy Sutton, reacted to the acquittal of an officer in Baltimore charged in the death of Freddie Gray, accusing Maryland State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby of playing politics and blaming Gray for his own death.
Sutton told Dom Giordano on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT that the jury reached the right verdict in the case against Edward Nero.
"My biggest take away is that there was justice in Baltimore. The justice being that the police officer was acquitted of all charges. But, unfortunately, this is going to linger on because even though he's acquitted, his police department will not put him back to work. He's shuffling papers somewhere and they are continuing their efforts because of political pressure."
He accused Mosby of attempting to exploit the Gray case to boost her own profile.
"The civil aspect is exactly the proper judicial way to handle this. This should never have been charged criminally but Marilyn Mosby, who is the State's attorney over there, used this as political leverage in order for her own career. I think that she took an opportunity to appeal to a base of people in Baltimore who were rabid and, basically, wanted a witch hunt."
Sutton also believes Gray is probably responsible for his injuries, not the officers that arrested him.
"People die from causes and in this particular case, it still has not been proven that his injury was caused purposefully. Remember that he had several drugs in his system. He was combative. He was heard by another prisoner banging himself around. There's a very good possibility that he did these injuries to himself."