Supreme Court declines to hear officers’ appeal in Freddie Gray case News
© WikiMedia (Elvert Barnes)
Supreme Court declines to hear officers’ appeal in Freddie Gray case

The US Supreme Court denied certiorari Tuesday in the appeal of five Baltimore city police officers who sued Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby alleging she had illegally and maliciously prosecuted them following the death of Freddie Gray in 2015.

In January 2017 US District Judge Marvin Garbis ruled that charges, including malicious prosecution, defamation and invasion of privacy, could move forward against Mosby. The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed the district court’s decision because of Mosby’s prosecutorial immunity from retaliatory lawsuits.

“We resoundingly reject the invitation to cast aside decades of Supreme Court and circuit precedent to narrow the immunity prosecutors enjoy. And we find no justification for denying Mosby the protection from suit that the Maryland legislature has granted her,” wrote Fourth Circuit Chief Judge Robert Gregory in May.

Because of the Supreme Court’s denial Tuesday, the Fourth Circuit’s decision will stand.

Gray died after sustaining a spinal cord injury while in police custody in 2015, and six officers were charged in his death. Three officers were acquitted of all charges in MayJune and July 2016, and the charges against the other three of these officers were dropped shortly after. The US Department of Justice reached an agreement with the city of Baltimore to reform its police department in January 2017.