EVIDENCE OF THE BRAZEN HYPOCRISY OF MIDDLE CLASS AMERICA: THE TALL TALE OF OL’ LOOSE NECK FREDDIE

Two days ago I posted a blog regarding the public and media sentiments towards the events in Baltimore. The premise was not to pick a side; yet, to point out the inherent need for a large number of Americans to push the rhetoric in a direction which is entirely irrelevant to the underlying issues. Over the last two days, while I have received a number of praises, I have also received a number of challenges. Challenges that essentially claim that my statement regarding conservative sources is non-existent, an absolute fallacy. Challenges which have claimed that, “You have no idea what you are talking about, this doesn’t happen dipshit.” While I appreciate the throwback to the word, “dipshit,” as I have not been called that in approximately twenty years, I sat back. All I had to do was wait.

Almost immediately following the beginning of the riots in Baltimore I came across an article titled, “FREDDIE GRAY’S ARREST RECORD: Here’s The Rap Sheet Of The Dude They’re Destroying Baltimore Over.” I will include the link to this piece at the end of the post. The “article” cited the Maryland Department of Justice (MDJ) and alleged that Freddie Gray was arrested for twenty-three different charges. Twenty of the charges were related to either possession, manufacture, or distribution of narcotics. Not surprisingly, the article is incredibly misleading. First and foremost, the list is inaccurate if it claims to be a list of Mr. Gray’s arrests.

The true list of his arrests, a list that was actually compiled by myself through the use of the Maryland Justice Departments Public Docket resource, is much longer. In fact, Mr. Gray was arrested and initially charged with fifty-one different charges over the course of approximately eight years. A vast majority of these charges came under Maryland’s Controlled Dangerous Substance statute, Maryland Criminal Code 5-601 and 5-602. Mr. Gray was, for lack of a better term, a drug dealer.

Seven of the charges were not drug related. These charges include: Firearm Possession with a Felony Conviction, two separate charges for Trespass, Gaming (Cards/Dice/Etc.), Violation of Probation, False Statements to a Peace Officer, Malicious Destruction of Property, Second Degree Assault, and Burglary. Clearly Mr. Gray was the hardened criminal that those in the conservative media were hoping he would be. Certainly this prior criminal conduct justifies the death of a man by a state actor in a state that does not carry capital punishment!

However, of all of Mr. Gray’s charges, he was only convicted of five crimes. Per the MDJ’s extremely disorganized and archaic public records, in August of 2007, Mr. Gray was arrested with charges of Possession of Marijuana, Attempt to Distribute, and False Statements to a Peace Officer. He was eighteen years and one week old. The case was moved from District to Circuit Court (essentially Municipal to Common Pleas/County for Ohio readers), and ultimately it appears Mr. Gray took a plea deal pleading guilty and being convicted ONLY of the possession of marijuana charge. Mr. Gray, as many young men with a criminal history do, began selling narcotics again and was arrested only one month later. He faced charges of Possession with Intent to Distribute and Manufacture, Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Dangerous Substance, and Violation of Probation. Ultimately, through what appears to have been a plea bargain, Mr. Gray plead guilty to the Possession with Intent to Distribute and the Violation of Probation charges. The Unlawful Possession charge was dropped. Freddie Grey was once again on probation.

Mr. Gray did not have any run-ins with the police until March of 2008. He was arrested on charges for Possession of Marijuana and three counts of drug related charges identical to the previous Unlawful Possession and Possession with Intent to Manufacture/Distribute charges. The case was moved to Circuit Court and Mr. Gray was found guilty of only the Unlawful Possession charge. He was sentenced to one month in prison. Subsequent to his release, Mr. Gray was arrested three more times in early 2008, and charged with six drug related offenses. All six charges were disposed nolle prosequi. Essentially, this is simply a claim that the prosecution will no longer pursue the charges. There is a number of reasons why a prosecutor may choose this route. Most often it is because the evidence is far too weak to take to trial.

After April of 2008, Mr. Gray seems to disappear from the radar of the criminal justice system. Not until March of 2012, was Mr. Gray again arrested. He was charged with 14 different counts of drug related charges and one count of Firearm Possession with a Felony Conviction.  Gray was convicted of only the firearm charge and all other charges were dismissed again nolle prosequi. Mr. Gray spent six months in prison and was given three years of probation. This was the last of Mr. Gray’s convictions.

Following the aforementioned final conviction, Freddie Gray was arrested ten more times and charged with twenty-one different crimes. Freddie Gray was not convicted of any of these charges. Between March of 2012 and his death last week, fourteen more charges were dismissed nolle prosequi. He was found not guilty by a jury in January of 2014 for a charge of Possession of Marijuana. Five drug related charges and the aforementioned charges of Malicious Destruction of Property and Second Degree Assault were abated due to his death.

By no means am I making Freddie Gray out to be a model citizen. He was a repeat criminal and any involvement in the sale of narcotics to the extent he allegedly was is nothing short of nauseating. Regardless, if Mr. Gray actually faced trial for whatever crime he was to be charged with pursuant to the arrest that lead to his death, not a single one of these cases would be relevant in his conviction. Per the Maryland Rules of Evidence § 609, which seemingly mimics the Federal Rules of Evidence, a prior conviction for a criminal defendant may only be presented to impeach the character of the defendant, IF, and only if, the defense puts the defendant’s character at issue.

That means, if a defendant takes the stand and tries to present themselves as a model citizen, the prosecution may introduce evidence of ONLY prior convictions to raise question to that defendant’s truthfulness. Furthermore, only convictions of felonies or crimes involving dishonesty, i.e. perjury, fraud, etc., that occurred within the last ten years are admissible. Per the previous accurate representation of Mr. Gray’s criminal history, only the gun related conviction and the Possession with Intent to Manufacture conviction would have been admissible. However, it is important to remember, a criminal defendant does not have to take the stand. It would be absolutely asinine for an attorney to allow Mr. Gray to do so. No prior conviction would likely have been admitted.

Moreover, as stated, thirty-eight of the charges Mr. Gray faced were dismissed nolle prosequi. Based on the history of the Baltimore Police Department and the facts that are known, coupled with the still unknown conduct that initiated the chase and arrest, there certainly is a question to how substantial these charges actually were.

Lastly, and most importantly, not one of these crimes warrants the death penalty in the state of Maryland. In 2013, then Governor Martin O’Malley signed into law a repeal of the death penalty for any future offenders. However, while the death penalty still exists for offenders prior to this date, the previous law only permitted the use of capital punishment for a conviction of First Degree Murder.

Since 1994, the Baltimore Police Department has been involved in the death of one hundred twenty-seven individuals. All of these deaths were deemed, “justified,” after investigation. Contrastingly, the State of Maryland has executed five individuals since 1994. Only four remain on death row. The Baltimore Police Department has been involved with the death of Baltimore residents at a rate 940% greater than that of the State of Maryland State wide, prior to any trial or convictions. In the last five years alone the City of Baltimore has paid out $5.7 million for victims of police brutality. The victims range from a 15 year old riding a dirt bike, a 65 year old deacon rolling a cigarette, and an 87 year old grandmother trying to find aid for her grandson whom had recently been shot. There is undeniably a systemic issue involving the excessive use of force in the Baltimore Police Department. The events in Baltimore are unmistakably larger than the death of Freddie Gray.

So, why is the outrage of (admittedly only from my observations) the white middle class so incessantly focused on Freddie Gray’s criminal history? Why do so many continue to deny the existence of an issue? Why is there obviously a concerted effort to push the dialogue to an irrelevant point?

Why do so many good and honest people refuse to see the larger representation of Freddie Gray’s death?

Again, I do not know. Once again, it makes me ill trying to figure it out. However, over the past two and a half days, many racially charged memes and comments have crossed not only the comment section of articles, but my feeds on social media. Memes such as these:

I grew up and live in Ashtabula County, Ohio. My brother and sister are both African American. I am no stranger to the effects of racist comments. However, the most inexplicable aspect of all of these comments, is the ignorance to some of how these things could actually be racist. As if these are statements of fact solidifying their erroneous position.

As the events in Baltimore continue; the memes, jokes, and comments of this nature continue to amass. As it seems from simple personal observation, the more outrageous the claim made in attempts to push the rhetoric, the greater number of these individuals sink in their feet. Immune from any objective reporting or facts.

Quite possibly the most frivolous attempt to move the discussion regarding the Baltimore Police comes in the form of an article from, Youngcons.com, titled, “Freddie Gray Records Indicate Possible Pre-Existing Spinal Injuries.” The piece attempts to illustrate through court records that Freddie Gray suffered a pre-existing neck injury in a motor vehicle accident and was receiving a structured settlement. The author points to the public docket which shows Freddie Gray’s attempt to sell his structured settlement for a lump sum to Peachtree Settlement Funding. This certainly is the one fact that justifies the Baltimore Police Department’s unlawful arrest and subsequent involvement of Freddie Gray’s death!

I’ll explain why this is absolutely daft in a moment, but the following is important.

Briefly, if you are confused, a structured settlement is a method used to avoid litigation. Most often, a structured settlement is seen in chemical exposure type cases or injuries caused by pharmaceuticals. Essentially, harmed individuals, there are often more than one instance of harm, bring a case to court alleging the product or acts of a large corporation caused them harm. Large corporations certainly cannot be bothered with this chicanery, so they offer a structured settlement to the victims. If accepted, the harmed party will receive an amount of money per year for a number of years, say $1,000.00 a year for 20 years. What often happens, is companies, like Peachtree or the more commonly known J.G. Wentworth, will purchase the rights to these settlements in exchange for a lump sum. Thus, one may sell their structured settlement for $17,000.00 in one lump sum payment. They receive less money overall, but will not have to wait twenty years to receive a significant portion.

That is what was occurring in the cited Peachtree/Freddie Gray court case. The article claims that the original settlement was related to the aforementioned motor vehicle accident. However, there appears to be zero public record that Freddie Gray was involved in a motor vehicle accident and sought litigation accordingly. What there is public record of, which follows much more closely with a typical structured settlement, is an action brought by Freddie Gray, his mother, and his sister for injuries caused by exposure to lead paint in 2008. Several corporations and real estate venturers were named defendants. Furthermore, what is available is a docket entry for said case which reports the case being settled and voluntarily dismissed on March 22, 2010. Most importantly, the attorney for the Grays has confirmed that this case is the basis for the attempted Peachtree settlement purchase.

However, this does not seem to matter to a large portion of social media. Claims that push the blame on Freddie Grey running around with an injured neck prior to his death as the real issue. YoungCons.com states:

“The media is leaving out much of the career criminal history of Freddie Gray in their reporting. It seems now that they may also be failing to discuss his very relevant medical history, one which may have included multiple surgeries for spinal injuries incurred in a car crash.

Health privacy laws limit the availability of medical information, but a public records search in the Howard Court Civil System website provides evidence that Gray had received a settlement and had engaged with Peachtree Funding to obtain a lump sum payment.

The media has been remiss in reporting this information, preferring to portray the career criminal as the victim of police misconduct. Other anonymous sources indicate that Gray may have had surgery as recently as ten days prior to the incident in which he was involved in a forty-five minute flee to evade the authorities. He could have easily re-injured himself in his reckless attempt to avoid capture.”

Beyond the fact that this author is certain of a media cover-up and the damned nature of Freddie Gray based on his obvious crimes, it once again is representative of the continued inherent desire to place the blame on the victim. Don’t blame the cops, it was ol’ Loose Neck Freddie’s fault.

Now here is why that is daft.

From a civil litigation perspective, which will be equally as important, there is a well-accepted doctrine of law commonly known as the, “Eggshell Plaintiff.” The rationale is one cannot avoid liability due to the unusually weak nature of the plaintiff. In brief, you take your plaintiff as you find them. That is, whether or not (more likely not) Freddie Gray had a pre-existing injury is wholly irrelevant. The cops willfully and wantonly caused him harm which lead to his death when he was not secured in the vehicle (again giving the police the benefit of the doubt). Civilly, a wrongful death suit would not fail based on this likely fallacious claim of pre-existing injury.

Furthermore, the injury is irrelevant from a criminal perspective as well. Pursuant to a case, Oxendine v. State, a broadly recognized doctrine is enumerated. The Oxendine case lays out the premise that if there are two separate injuries, the second injury, if it accelerates and is the cause of death of the victim, will leave the one that caused the second injury liable for the homicide. While the state of Freddie Gray inside the van is unknown, there are videos of the arrest which show Gray seemingly unable to move his legs while being loaded in the vehicle. This is the Ah-Ha! Moment all the young conservatives of the world were hoping for, he broke his neck running away from a pre-existing injury!

However, if that is the case, then why do all police accounts claim the, “suspect had no bodily injury.” Moreover, why is there an explanation that Gray fell inside the police vehicle and that was the cause of his injury? If you take the police at their word, which many on social media demand we do, then the fall, regardless of a neck injury (which apparently was non-existent before he entered the vehicle) accelerated his death. Thus, the Baltimore police involved are likely, at least, guilty of Vehicular Manslaughter as stated.

If the injuries occurred prior to that alleged fall, then what are the Baltimore police attempting to cover-up?

To the best of my research abilities, Maryland adheres to both of the previous doctrines of law.

Freddie Gray was not an upstanding citizen. He was a drug dealer. However, an allegedly healthy man per the word of the attending officers is now dead after he was placed in their custody. There is still absolutely zero explanation given as to how this occurred.

Coincidentally enough, the man who killed Jeffrey Dahmer in his prison cell, Christopher Scarver, recently spoke regarding his murder of Jeffrey Dahmer and a man Dahmer had befriended. Scarver beat both men’s head in with a weightlifting bar. He was later convicted of the murders and sentenced to two life sentences on top of his pre-existing life sentence. Dahmer’s name is synonymous with evil. The serial rapist, murderer, and cannibal was serving fifteen life sentences at the time of his death for his unprecedented criminal acts. Yet, Scarver still faced hefty punishment.

The law recognizes unjustified death regardless of the victim. Why can’t the middle class?

FREDDIE GRAY’S ARREST RECORD: Here’s The Rap Sheet Of The Dude They’re Destroying Baltimore Over

http://www.youngcons.com/freddie-gray-records-indicate-possible-pre-existing-spinal-injuries/

THE ENIGMATIC DEATH OF FREDDIE GRAY AND THE BRAZEN HYPOCRISY OF MIDDLE CLASS AMERICA

I woke this morning approximately two hours earlier than normal for work. I rolled out of bed and begrudgingly made my way to the Keurig. This morning I was tasked with picking up some clients and driving them to Cleveland Probate Court for trial. With mismatched socks and a drowsy malaise I rushed to my car, and at about 90 MPH I blazed down I-90 West en route to an address on the east side of Cleveland. Not surprisingly, I came upon a traffic jam around East 172 Street that forced me to take back roads until I hit Martin Luther King Boulevard and ultimately ended up on Hough Avenue. I was now running late and decided to cut across East 86^th Street to get to Euclid Avenue. Through the myriad of curse words shooting out of my mouth at both lackluster motorists and every traffic light which seemed to turn red on my approach, I began what is seemingly a daily routine, and simply accepted I was going to be late. I looked around and took in my surroundings, this was a neighborhood I had only driven through on two other occasions, both on the same day to Case Western for a recruiting visit. Coincidentally enough, I turned to my left, and saw this mural.

The mural is on the foundation of the African American History Museum of Cleveland and it depicts the Hough Riots of 1966. For six days the city of Cleveland, almost all predominantly in the Hough neighborhood, rioted over racial tensions that began over the denial to serve water to African Americans. The course of the riots left four African Americans dead, a number injured, and sparked hundreds of arrests and fires. More importantly, Hough never recovered. It was painfully obvious the pockmark that the incident left as I continued to drive past buildings whose prime passed at least two decades prior.

Yesterday, the City of Baltimore, a city that much like Hough rioted in the late-sixties, once again took to the streets. The death of an African American man, Freddie Gray, who died only after he was taken into police custody, served as the catalyst. Per the attorney for Gray’s estate, Mr. Gray suffered three fractured vertebrae, a crushed voice box, and an 80% severing of his spinal column. Other reports claim Gray’s leg appeared to be broken while he was being dragged to a police van where he ultimately suffered the aforementioned injuries to his neck. The attending officers attest that Mr. Gray fell in the van because he was not secured. What actually occurred inside the van is still under investigation.

Initially Gray was targeted by police for acting suspiciously in a high crime area. Reports state, that when an attending officer made eye contact with Gray he began to run which prompted a chase, leading to his arrest. A switchblade was found on Gray upon said arrest. Per Maryland Criminal Code § 4-101, while a switchblade is illegal to carry concealed, it is a misdemeanor that, at worst considering the facts, would carry a $1000.00 fine. Interestingly enough, two weapons are expressly not included in the, “Definition,” subsection of the code; a pocket knife and handguns.  Thus, there is a definite question as to what exactly gave the police the reasonable suspicion to initiate the stop before Mr. Gray began to run. However, that is an entirely different discussion.

Unfortunately, I frequent social media and watch television. The remainder of this piece will focus on both the public and media coverage of the events in Baltimore from the time Freddie Gray died to last night’s events. Immediately after the death of Mr. Gray every news outlet, major and minor, dedicated a portion of coverage to the events. Out of curiosity I mistakenly turned my attention to the comments section of an article from a local Cleveland publication. I was met with such gems as, “Maybe don’t break the law and you won’t die.” Apparently, this woman from Avon Lake, an affluent neighborhood on the west side of Cleveland, believes that any criminal act shall be met with capital punishment. While this is contrary to every notion of the American idea of jurisprudence. Furthermore, ironically enough, since 2013, Maryland does not have a death penalty for any crime. This was quite possibly the daftest form of ignorance I have ever read. I read on. Further down the thread a comment read,

“It’s only a matter of time before these idiots start doing what they do best, riot, burn and destroy the city. Bc that’s what they do best!! Don’t these people work? Oh yea, probably all on welfare with nothing better to do!!”

I believe the ignorance of the quote speaks for itself. However, this man, who lives in Westlake, another affluent town on the west side of Cleveland, was not alone. More importantly, he shockingly was not sequestered as the lone mouthpiece for the minority voice as many others shared sentiments that were strikingly similar to the previous quotes.

At this point I believe it is important to note that the severing of one’s spine, breaking a neck, has been, and likely always will be, considered particularly barbaric conduct. Likewise, while it seems highly unlikely based on the facts that Mr. Gray simply fell unprovoked, even if one is to take the officers’ account as true, the officers are still likely guilty of vehicular manslaughter. Vehicular manslaughter, per Maryland Criminal Code § 2-209, carries up to a ten year prison sentence. In this instance, which unfortunately is the norm across the country, the police conduct gravely outweighs the conduct that initiated the altercation. Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Walter Scott, John Crawford, and sadly many others, are all dead at the hands of police officers which began with low level offenses if anything at all.

As the riots began to erupt yesterday afternoon, media coverage quickly turned the dialogue into one of orchestrated chaos fueled by gang factions specifically targeting police officers. Conservative mouthpieces like Fox News headlines portrayed the current situation in Baltimore, stating, “Baltimore Burns: Maryland Gov. Calls National Guard As Gangs Attack Cops, Set Fire To City After Freddie Gray Funeral.” The three named gangs were the Bloods, the Crips, and the Black Guerrilla Family. While inexcusably destructive behavior and violence towards officers occurred, it was a product of people acting as individuals. This was not an armed revolution undoubtedly swirling towards a full-fledged race war at the hands of criminal masterminds.

If one looks at the rap sheet of a gang member, they are usually quite long and quite often crimes that involve the distribution or possession of either weapons or narcotics. Admittedly, there are most definitely those involved in gang activity that rape, murder, and traffic humans, even the other members are similarly nefarious individuals. However, they are not your prototypical example of revolutionaries. They lack the finesse, funding, and resources to do anything of the sort. More importantly, it seems incredibly misplaced for any news outlet to place the entire blame on these gangs, whose membership is almost exclusively African American, when the leaders of these gangs have come together and vehemently denied this as their doing.

Regardless, this type of media coverage continues the aforementioned individual dialogue that continues to fervently reject any notion of an underlying issue. Inexplicably, there is a large number of people that repeatedly push the rhetoric that based on the prior and past conduct this negates any systemic wrongdoing. Freddie Gray was a repeat narcotics pusher and had a switchblade at arrest, Michael Brown stole a cigarillo and was high on marijuana, Tamir Rice’s father hit his mother, Walter Scott literally ran from child support, and well, John Crawford just looked dangerous. Five African American men (really four men and one child) died at the hands of police officers with little to no provocation other than they committed fairly low level crimes with John Crawford committing no offense. Yet the discussion still focuses on the before and after of the victims and only the victims. In fact, any questioning of police policy by many on social media is unabashedly met with claims of unpatriotic conduct and “race baiting.”

The concept of “race baiting” is quite possibly the most disgusting accusation one can attribute to an individual. It entirely ignores any existence of an underlying problem and is simply a method to marginalize an entire group of people who have historically been treated not only poorly by those in power, but as mere property historically. The issue is so systemic that the highest form of law in the United States and highest judicial body have expressly afforded protection to African Americans. However, any African American that wishes to express their distaste for the status quo is simply, “playing the race card.” These individuals, “only want to make a quick buck.” Again, completely disregarding the systemic issue.

Many on this side of reasoning will affirm that White Americans are killed at a number that is twice that of African Americans on a yearly basis. While this may be true, they disregard the fact that White Americans outnumber African Americans five to one. Importantly, based on the numbers, African Americans are killed by the police at four times the rate of a White American. Furthermore, 47% of those African Americans killed are unarmed compared to the 16% of White Americans. Once more, there is obviously a concerted effort to negate the existence of a problem.

Riots happen throughout the White Community as well. However, interestingly enough, when riots occur throughout the White community, they are not usually sparked by social injustice. They are typically fueled by sports results. Most recently, in early April, the Kentucky Men’s Basketball Team had their undefeated streak snapped by Wisconsin in the Final Four. Masses of students at the University of Kentucky immediately took to the streets starting fires, chanting, “Fuck the police,” and injuring those involved. The night ended in only thirty-one arrests. The following headlines were written by Fox News, Breitbart, Hannity.com, and RushLimbaugh.com in regards to said events, “        .” That is not a typo. There were no headlines. In fact, all four outlets failed to even cover the story. The same goes for an incident in October 2014, when students at the University of West Virginia rioted after defeating Baylor in football causing over $45,000.00 worth of property damage. There simply was no comment from any of these sources.

So what justifies this type of police conduct but damns those that feel harmed? Why is there a conscious effort to discredit any voice from these groups which feel disenfranchised? Perhaps it’s the fear to admit such a premise as White Privilege might actually exist. It certainly has been written, exemplified and discussed throughout our system of law since the drafting of the Constitution, seen again in the XIII and XIV Amendments and as recently as the Supreme Court’s decision in the, Fisher v., University of Texas, decision in 2013. Maybe, it is rooted much deeper in an individual and people understand the ramifications of acting akin to what started the riots in Hough almost fifty years ago. Allowing this sort of systemic racism quells the need for any significant social change. I do not know the reason. Quite frankly, trying to ascertain any sort of explanation makes me physically ill.

What I do know is that Baltimore has an incredibly long history of this type of conduct. This issue, these riots, are far bigger than the death of Freddie Gray. Shockingly enough, a Fox News personality Sheppard Smith speaks somewhat to my sentiments in repeated responses to his co-hosts blaming Civil Rights leaders and the people of Baltimore themselves:

Not all police are bad. Not all protesters are bad. Some on both sides are very bad. Malcolm X affirmed in his book By Any Means Necessary,

“You’re not to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it.”

Many involved are wrong on both sides and that cannot be ignored. However, when the most watched news network in the country begins to place blame mere hours after these events on a group of people that certainly should not be to blame for the activity, it hearkens back to the familiar dialogue. A dialogue which seeks to sideline the cause of outrage and place the outrage itself at the forefront. Lastly, quoting Malcolm X,

“The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.”

A vast number of American’s are burying their heads in American flags and apple pie refusing to face the issue. Not only that, but the individuals we call, “the news,” are endorsing it.

“Pathology of power” and police brutality at “Occupy” protests

Philip Zimbardo: When a person feels “I am not personally responsible, I am not accountable; it’s the role I’m playing or these are the orders I’ve gotten,” then you allow yourself to do things you would never do under ordinary circumstances

Watching video of police officers beat, arrest, and pepper spray people – in response to Occupy Wall Street, and the protests it has inspired throughout the country – I can’t help but notice the similarities of the officers who have been violent and aggressive towards demonstrators. It’s almost as if they are acting like the military in foreign and hostile war zones, and less like civil-servants whose job it is to protect the citizens.