BALTIMORE, Sept. 10 (UPI) — A judge in Baltimore ruled Thursday that the trial against the six officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray will not be moved out of the city.
“The citizens of Baltimore are not monolithic. They think for themselves,” Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Barry G. Williams said during the pre-motion hearing, CNN reported.
Williams needed to decide if he was to move the trial as a way to steer clear of the intense publicity surrounding the case, sparked by a decision to try each officer separately.
The city of Baltimore is accepting all liability in Gray’s wrongful death, but it does not acknowledge wrongdoing by police officers.
Baltimore on Tuesday reached a $6.4 million wrongful death settlement with the family of Gray, the 25-year-old who died in a police van. Six officers involved in Gray’s death were charged with multiple crimes ranging from murder to assault. All have pleaded not guilty.
Gray sustained a severe spinal cord injury while in police custody after being arrested on April 12. In the hours following his funeral on April 27, the city erupted into rioting, arson and looting, prompting the National Guard to be called in for help and the establishment of a citywide curfew.
