Officer charged in Freddie Gray's death insists arrest was legitimate and challenges prosecutor to produce switchblade he was arrested for

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Officer Edward Nero filed papers claiming Freddie Gray had an illegal switchblade during his arrest

One of the six Baltimore police officers who arrested Freddie Gray filed court papers claiming it was perfectly legal to take the 25-year-old into custody on April 12 because he had an illegal switchblade in his pocket.

Lawyers for Officer Edward Nero, 29, want the police department and prosecutor to produce the knife that was the reason for Gray's arrest.

The motion was filed Monday in Baltimore District Court, the day before US Attorney General Loretta Lynch pledged to improve the city's police department after meeting with Gray's family.

The city's top prosecutor, Marilyn Mosby, said Friday in charging Nero and five others that the knife was legal under Maryland law, meaning they had arrested Gray illegally.

Nero is charged with second-degree assault, misconduct in office and false imprisonment - charges that can only be proven if Gray was wrongly arrested, said Andy Alperstein, a Baltimore attorney who has represented police officers but is not involved in the Gray case. 

If the knife was illegal, 'there is no case' against Nero and another officer, he said.

Alperstein said: 'If the facts were that the knife was illegal then the Gray arrest would be justified. 

'Even if it wasn't illegal and the officers acted in good faith, it would be the same result. 

'All charges fail.'

Six cops are charged with misdemeanors and felonies ranging from manslaughter to murder in Gray's arrest

Freddie Gray, 25, died on April 19, one week after he received a spinal injury while in the custody of police 

Attorney General Lynch met privately at the University of Baltimore with Freddie Gray's family on Tuesday 

Nero and Officer Garrett Miller are charged with misdemeanors. 

Four others - Sgt Alicia White, Lt Brian Rice and officers Caesar Goodson and William Porter - are charged with felonies ranging from manslaughter to second-degree 'depraved-heart' murder. 

Mosby announced the charges after receiving the investigative report from the police department. 

She said Gray was handcuffed and wearing leg restraints when he was placed face-down in the back of a police transport van.

When Gray arrived at the police station roughly 45 minutes after his arrest, he was unresponsive.

Gray died April 19, one week after he received a spinal injury while in police custody. 

On Tuesday Mosby said 'the evidence we have obtained through our independent investigation does substantiate the elements of the charges filed' in a statement, the Baltimore Sun reported. 

She criticized the leaking of information by those in 'law enforcement with access to trial evidence'.

Mosby said: 'These unethical disclosures are only damaging our ability to conduct a fair and impartial process for all parties involved.' 

Freddie Gray's mother Gloria Darden, his stepfather Richard Shipley and twin sister Fredricka (left to right) 

People gathered for a rally near City Hall in Baltimore on May 3 and called for peace after the violent riots

Attorney General Lynch met privately at the University of Baltimore with Gray's family, days after his death sparked protests and riots that prompted Maryland's governor to bring in the National Guard.

Lynch was joined by the head of the Civil Rights Division, Vanita Gupta, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services Director Ronald Davis and Community Relations Service Director Grande Lum. 

She said in a meeting with faith and community leaders: 'We're here to hold your hands and provide support.

'This is a flashpoint situation.

'We lost a young man's life and it begins to represent so many things.'

Lynch, who is in just her second week on the job, has spoken repeatedly of the need to mend relationships between police and minority communities. 

At her January confirmation hearing, she described herself as being personally 'pained' by the ongoing tensions, and spoke at her swearing-in ceremony last week of the need to 'restore trust and faith both in our laws and in those of us who enforce them.'

Thousands of cops threw tear gas and fired rubber bullets as they marched on protesters during the riots 

Baltimore prosecutor Marilyn Mosby said the knife was legal under Maryland law, making the arrest illegal

Gray's death and the Baltimore riots led 61 per cent of Americans to say race relations are a serious issue

Marc Zayon, Nero's attorney, argued in his motion that the knife in Gray's pocket - described in charging documents as 'a spring assisted, one hand operated knife' - is illegal under both Baltimore's switchblade ordinance and state law. 

Gray was charged under the city ordinance, which has a different definition than the state law of what constitutes a switchblade.

A city ordinance says any knife with an automatic spring or other device to open and close the blade is illegal. 

State law says a knife is illegal if it opens automatically by pushing a button, spring or other device in the handle.

Some spring-assisted knives are opened by pushing a thumb stud attached to the blade. 

FREDDIE GRAY: THE CHARGES AND THEIR MAXIMUM SENTENCES

 

Officer Caesar R. Goodson Jr

1. Second degree depraved heart murder. Maximum sentence: 30 years

2. Manslaughter (involuntary). Ten years.

3. Assault / second degree. Ten years.

4. Manslaughter by vehicle (gross negligence). Ten years.

5. Manslaughter by vehicle (criminal negligence). Three years.

6. Misconduct in office. At court's discretion. 

Sgt Alicia D. White

1. Manslaughter (involuntary). Ten years.

2. Assault / second degree. Ten years.

3. Misconduct in office. At court's discretion.

Officer Garret E. Miller

1. Assault / second degree. Ten years.

2. Assault / second degree. Ten years.

3. Misconduct in office. At court's discretion.

4. Misconduct in office. At court's discretion.

5. False imprisonment. At court's discretion.  

Lt Brian W. Rice 

1. Manslaughter (involuntary). Ten years.

2. Assault / second degree. Ten years.

3. Assault / second degree. Ten years.

4. Misconduct in office. At court's discretion.

5. Misconduct in office. At court's discretion.

6. False imprisonment. At court's discretion.

Officer William G. Porter

1. Manslaughter (involuntary). Ten years.

2. Assault / second degree. Ten years.

3. Misconduct in office. At court's discretion.

Officer Edward M. Nero

1. Assault / second degree. Ten years.

2. Assault / second degree. Ten years.

3. Misconduct in office. At court's discretion.

4. Misconduct in office. At court's discretion.

5. False imprisonment. At court's discretion.   

Mugshots of the officers were released by Baltimore Police. They are top, left to right: Ceasar Goodson, Garrett Miller and Edward Nero; and bottom, left to right: William Portner, Brian Rice and Alicia White

Police said officers chased Gray two blocks after making eye contact with him and subsequently arrested him after finding the knife in his pocket.

The Associated Press has made repeated requests to the police department for a physical description of the knife as well as photographs. 

Police later referred the request to the state's attorney's office.  

The FBI and the Justice Department are investigating Gray's death for potential civil rights violations. 

The Justice Department is expected to release results of a separate review of the police department's use of force practices in the coming weeks. 

The department said Lynch wants to make it clear she doesn't want the image of the many officers who valiantly protect communities to be tainted by accusations against a few officers.